I'm curious to know if the prototype ever got off the water with the added weight and drag of the floats. The production version of the plane was so underpowered that it needed a full deck run just to get airborne when carrying a "fish". I know, at Midway, the Japanese couldn't figure out why the Devastators didn't make a high speed "dash" to get into position for an effective attack. What they didn't know is that the only "effective" torpedo planes they faced were the first ones to attack at around 7:00am, six new TBF-1 Avengers and four modified B26 Marauders. Of these 10 aircraft, only one badly damaged Avenger made it back to Midway. The rest were shot down by Japanese fighters, losing two of their own in the process, as the Avenger and Marauder gunners took down a fighter each and almost destroyed the Akagi's island when a damaged Marauder just missed flying into it prior to going down