I had here of this drone before but didn't know that it was actually used in combat. Robert
TDR-1
"While the guidance systems used with Azon, Glomb, and Bat provided a fair amount of accuracy, another technology promised to take them all to the next level: television. Developed in the years prior to the war by the Radio Corporation of America at a cost later estimated to be around $50 USD million, TV's arrival in American homes was indefinitely postponed by Pearl Harbor. It seems only natural then that David Sarnoff, head of R.C.A., offered to assist the Department of War in adapting the technology for tactical use. Thus, nearly every missile developed during the war had a TV-guided variant either tested or on the drawing boards. The Roc, a TV-guided glide bomb, demonstrated an accuracy rate nearly six times that of a conventional bomb in tests, but it wasn't ready by VJ-Day.
One TV guided missile – the world's first -- actually made it into the fray. The TDR-1, or Torpedo Drone, grew out of an on-going Navy program headed by Capt. Delmer Fahrney which involved the use of drone aircraft as artillery targets. Fahrney envisioned adding TV to a streamlined drone and using it to fly into enemy ships. What emerged in late ‘42 was the first viable weapons system built entirely around the "tube" and one of the most visionary weapons of WWII. Equipped with a camera developed by R.C.A.'s chief scientist Dr. Vladimir Zworykin, the TDR-1 could beam a forward-looking picture to a miniaturized receiver on a control airplane nearly 50 miles away.
Due to its experimental nature, the development of the TDR-1 was severely hamstrung. To save vital materials for more significant projects, the final version of the missile featured an airframe constructed almost entirely from wood. It was very slow, carrying twin non-military 230 h.p. engines, although with its big wings it proved nearly impossible to stall. In many respects the TDR-1 resembled a small plane. It actually could be flown like one, courtesy of a removable cockpit which allowed a pilot to ferry it from place to place.
In August of 1943 a variant of the TDR-1 demonstrated carrier launchings from the "Great Lakes flattop" USS Sable. But just when it looked like the Torpedo Drone might enter combat, Admiral Nimitz declared that he would not brook any such experimental weapon aboard his fleet carriers.
The missile did receive a reprieve of sorts. In September of ‘44 orders arrived for the Torpedo Drone unit, known as STAG-1, to take up station in the Russell Islands and conduct a large scale test of the missiles. They proceeded to undertake nearly 50 missions against Japanese installations using TBM-1c Avengers as control planes. Their targets, all on islands "hopped over" by the Allied campaign, included anti-aircraft sites, bridges and a couple of grounded ships. About 50% of the attacks were judged to be successful. Tokyo Rose herself commented on the strikes, labeling the drones "American Kamikazes." The Japanese failed to realize the planes had no pilots!
Despite the success of the TDR-1, it was withdrawn from combat after less than two months. The final assault on Japan loomed, and it was becoming increasingly clear that brute force, and not precision strikes, would be needed to crush the enemy. Still, the Torpedo Drone provided valuable experience and is gaining recognition as America's (if not the world's) first legitimate guided cruise missile."
link
daytonipms.com/walks/tdr/tdr.htm 
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
