The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated Vultee Vengeance dive bombers during World War II. The Australian Government ordered 297 of the type in late 1941 as part of efforts to expand the RAAF. This order was later increased to 400 aircraft. A few Vengeances arrived in Australia during 1942, and large-scale deliveries commenced in early 1943; further orders were cancelled in 1944 after 342 had been delivered.
The RAAF was slow to bring its Vengeances into service, their first combat missions being flown in June 1943. The main deployment of the type took place between mid-January and early March 1944, when squadrons operated in support of Australian and United States Army forces in New Guinea. This force was withdrawn after only six weeks as the Vengeance was considered inferior to other aircraft available to the Allied air forces. All of the RAAF's five Vengeance-equipped squadrons were re-equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Vengeances continued to be used in training and support roles with the RAAF until 1946, and some were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy for ground training between 1948 and 1950.
Historians' assessments of the Vengeance's career in Australian service differ. While there is consensus that the type was obsolete, some argue that it nevertheless proved successful. Others, including the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre, have judged that the Vengeance's performance was mixed and the type was not suited to Australia's requirements.
Acquisition
The Vultee Vengeance was a dive bomber designed and built in the United States. It was crewed by a pilot and another airman who served as both a radio operator and rear gunner. Vultee developed the type in the late 1930s for the export market, orders being placed by Brazil, China, France, Turkey and the Soviet Union. In 1940, during the early months of World War II, Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) took over the French order for 700 aircraft, before the prototype had flown. Flight testing began in July 1941. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) ordered another 300 Vengeances for the RAF under the terms of the Lend-Lease program. Following the United States' entry in the war the USAAF re-possessed at least 243 Vengeances, but never used them operationally as it considered the type inferior to its other attack aircraft and unfit for combat. Several RAF squadrons equipped with the Vengeance saw combat during the Burma Campaign. The type proved successful in this theatre, but was soon withdrawn from service.
In mid-1940 the Australian Government placed an order for 243 Brewster Bermuda dive bombers for the RAAF. This type was still under development, and the program to produce it experienced repeated delays. On 28 September 1941 the British Government offered to provide Vultee Vengeances from its allocation if the RAAF considered them suitable. The Australian War Cabinet authorised the purchase of 297 Vultee Vengeances on 22 October 1941 and cancelled the Bermuda order. By March 1942, the order had been slightly increased to 300 aircraft, of which 57 were to be provided by the United States Government under Lend-Lease and the other 243 paid for by the Australian Government. Australia eventually ordered 400 Vengeances. The price for each of the aircraft purchased by Australia was A£90,000.
Deliveries of the Vengeances to Australia were much delayed. Following Australia's entry into Pacific War in December 1941, the RAAF order still stood at 297 Vengeances. These aircraft were scheduled to be delivered between January and December 1942. No Vengeances had arrived by 8 May 1942, though the RAAF's order had been increased to 367. A small number of the type arrived in Australia in late May 1942, but subsequent deliveries were slow. This was because the USAAF was also rapidly expanding at this time, which limited the number and types of aircraft available to its allies. Attempts by the Australian Government to obtain Vengeances from USAAF allocations in March 1942, when the country faced a possible Japanese invasion, were unsuccessful. In April that year the Minister for External Affairs H. V. Evatt visited Washington, D.C. to lobby for increased allocations of aircraft. The US Government agreed to provide 475 aircraft, including some Vengeances. Evatt was not concerned with the types of aircraft which were delivered, and the Australian Government was willing to accept aircraft the US military judged unsuitable for its own needs.
The majority of the dive bombers arrived after April 1943; by this time the threat of invasion had passed. Overall, Australia received 15 Vengeances in 1942, 227 in 1943 and 100 during 1944. Many of the aircraft required maintenance upon arrival as they had already been used by the American military or suffered from defects. This led to delays in introducing them into service, and caused the type to have a relatively low serviceability rate.
Three different models of the Vengeance were acquired by the RAAF: 99 Mark I aircraft (given serial numbers A27-1 to A27-99), 122 Mark IIs (A27-200 to A27-321) and 121 Mark IVs (A27-500/549, A27-560/566 and A27-600/640). The Marks I and II differed only in that they were built by Northrop and Vultee respectively, and were continuations of the British orders. These variants of the Vengeance were armed with six 0.303 calibre M1919 Browning machine guns (two mounted in each wing, and a pair in the rear cockpit) and powered by a Wright R-2600-A5 engine. The Mark IV variant was designed to meet USAAF standards. It was armed with six 0.5 calibre M2 Browning machine guns in the same configuration as Marks I and II, and used the more powerful Wright R-2600-13 engine. All of the variants could carry up to of bombs.
Entry into service
Five frontline RAAF units were equipped with Vengeance dive bombers: Nos. 12, 21, 23, 24 and 25 Squadrons. No. 12 Squadron was the first Vengeance unit, replacing its CAC Wirraways with the type at Batchelor, Northern Territory, in September 1942. The same month, No. 21 Squadron was re-formed at Gawler, South Australia, equipped with Vengeances. No. 25 Squadron, located at RAAF Station Pearce in Western Australia, received some Vengeances in late 1942, but mainly operated Wirraways until being completely re-equipped with the dive bombers in August 1943. This squadron was the only RAAF unit to be equipped with Mark IV aircraft, which provided far superior performance to the other variants. The next unit to receive Vengeances was No. 24 Squadron, which transitioned to the type at Bankstown, New South Wales, between May and August 1943. The final combat unit to receive Vengeances was No. 23 Squadron, which began its conversion in June 1943 at Lowood, Queensland. While preparing for combat, Vengeance aircraft were at times used to counter attacks on shipping off the Australian coast; on 18 June 1943, four aircraft from No. 24 Squadron and a pair from No. 23 Squadron were held at readiness to strike the submarine that had attacked Convoy GP55 off Smoky Cape if it was located by patrolling Avro Ansons.
Two training units also operated the Vengeance. No. 2 Operational Training Unit received several of the type in 1942. On 1 October 1942, No. 4 Operational Training Unit (No. 4 OTU) was formed at RAAF Station Williamtown to train aircrews to operate the Vengeance in combat. The unit began its first operational conversion training course on 28 October that year. No. 4 OTU's fleet of Vengeances was augmented with several Wirraways in January 1943; from this time crews began their training on the simple-to-operate Wirraway before progressing onto the Vengeance. Two of the dive bombers were destroyed in flying accidents during August and September 1943, resulting in the deaths of their crews.
Despite the rapid expansion of the Vengeance force, by late 1942 the RAAF was aware that the type was obsolete and other Allied air forces' experiences had demonstrated that dive bombing was an inefficient tactic. Combat experience in Europe showed that dedicated dive bombers were highly vulnerable to attack from fighter aircraft, especially when preparing to dive on targets. Few USAAF officers regarded dive bombers as effective, though they were frequently used by the United States Navy. A USAAF squadron equipped with Douglas A-24 Banshee dive bombers was deployed to New Guinea in April 1942, but was withdrawn from combat at the end of May that year after flying only a few combat sorties. The USAAF regarded this type as unsuited to conditions in the theatre, though the US Navy operated it very successfully from its aircraft carriers as the Douglas SBD Dauntless. The USAAF preferred to use fighter-bombers and light bombers to support ground troops in New Guinea. Fighter-bombers were considered particularly useful as they could strafe and skip bomb Japanese positions as well as employ dive-bombing tactics. Similarly, by late 1942 the RAAF preferred to use the light bombers that it was now beginning to receive to provide tactical support for the Army. An order for 150 Curtiss Shrike dive bombers was cancelled after the first ten of these aircraft were delivered to Australia in November 1942, making the Vengeance the only dedicated dive bomber operated by the RAAF.
Operational service
No. 12 Squadron No. 12 Squadron was the first Vengeance-equipped RAAF unit to see combat. After converting to the dive bomber, the squadron was used on routine patrol and search-and-rescue tasks off the coast of the Northern Territory. On 18 June 1943, twelve Vengeances from the squadron, escorted by six No. 31 Squadron Bristol Beaufighters, were dispatched to attack two villages on Selaru island in the occupied Netherlands East Indies that were believed to be housing workers engaged in constructing an airfield. This operation was successful, and all the dive bombers returned to base.
In July 1943 the squadron began moving from Darwin to Merauke in Netherlands New Guinea, where it was to operate as part of No. 72 Wing. A party of 270 ground crew arrived at Merauke early that month, but little of the infrastructure needed to support the unit's aircraft was ready. As a result, No. 12 Squadron's Vengeances and air crew were stationed at Cooktown, Queensland, from where they conducted anti-submarine patrols and escorted shipping. The aircraft were redeployed to Merauke over the course of September, and began regular patrol duties on the 28th of the month. No. 12 Squadron's only combat during this deployment occurred on 9 October 1943, when a Vengeance exchanged machine-gun fire with a Japanese Aichi E13A reconnaissance aircraft. The Vengeances proved unsuited to the maritime patrol tasks they were assigned while at Cooktown and Merauke.
Initial New Guinea operations