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“The Kill” by Robert Benny. In this dramatic presentation of a sea-sky battle, a Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber, bomb bay doors open, leaves death in its wake as it zooms away from a conclusive attack on a surfaced enemy submarine. All the vivid action in this scene was repeated many times in actual combat by U.S. Navy airmen. Navy planes from escort aircraft carriers wreaked havoc on submarine wolf packs attacking Atlantic convoys, and they virtually blasted them from the ocean for many months. Bombers were fitted with depth charges, one of which is pictured exploding off the U-boat’s beam here. In the attack, the plane’s rear “stinger” gun spits death at gun crews attempting to ward off these lethal hawks from the sky.
Born in New York City in 1904, Robert Benny studied at some of the city’s most prominent art schools before opening his own studio at the age of 19. In 1943 Abbot Laboratories hired him to work on paintings depicting the Naval Aviation Department’s role in the major battles of the Pacific. In 1968, he offered his services as a war correspondent and served with the Marines in Vietnam. Benny’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library; his artwork is also held in the Combat Art collections of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. |
