How many B-17s took off from Midway for the first air attack ?
These included six Grumman Avengers , detached to Midway from the s VT-8 ( Midway was the first combat mission for the VT-8 airmen , and it was the combat debut of the TBF ) , Marine Scout - Bombing Squadron 241 ( VMSB-241 ) , consisting of eleven SB2U-3s and sixteen SBDs , plus four USAAF B-26s , armed with torpedoes , and fifteen B-17s .