John Charles Waldron was a United States Navy aviator who led a squadron of torpedo bombers in World War II. He was among the twenty-nine men in his squadron who perished in the Battle of Midway.
LCDR John C. Waldron
Waldron's TBD Devastator taking off from USS Hornet on 4 June 1942. He and his gunner, Chief Radioman Horace F. Dobbs, perished that day
A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight of a torpedo, and remained an important aircraft type until they were rendered obsolete by anti-ship missiles. They were an important element in many famous Second World War battles, notably the British attack at Taranto, the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck, the sinking of the British battleship HMS Prince Of Wales and the British battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
A Fairey Swordfish carrying a dummy torpedo
A formation of Fairey Barracudas during World War II
Short Folder 81 being hoisted aboard the cruiser HMS Hermes
A Sopwith Cuckoo dropping an aerial torpedo during World War I