By the advent of the TBF/TBM, the dive bombers had already taken their toll of the major Japanese surface ships. Until the TMF/TBM came along, the U.S. didn't have an effective torpedo bomber. The Avenger ended up dropping far more bombs and launched far more rockets in the invasion support role than in the anti-shipping role.

The sinking of the Musashi and the Yamato each took a combined force of dive and torpedo bombers, each ship taking multiple bomb and torpedo hits before succumbing. Of course, these two behemoths were pretty much unmatched in terms of sheer size.

tom