Signs taped to the vertical stabilizers indicate the SBD variant, its Navy Bureau Number (BuNo), and its Douglas construction number. The five nearest airframes are SBD-2s, followed by three SBD-3s, then six more SBD-2s in the rear. By comparison, the Helldiver was nicknamed the "Beast" and continued to have problems throughout its operational career.Īt least 14 Dauntless airframes are in advanced stages of production at Douglas' El Segundo, California production line in early 1941. The Dauntless, although slow and lacking sufficient defensive armament, was loved by the men who flew and serviced it. But even after the Helldiver replaced the Dauntless in front line squadrons, it did not replace it in the hearts of its crews. Already considered obsolete by the Navy when Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Dauntless remained in action throughout the war, in part because of problems encountered with its replacement, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. But during World War II, the words Slow But Deadly were more often associated with the designation for the Dauntless scout and dive bomber. SBD in official Navy terminology these letters stand for Scout-Bomber, Douglas, denoting both the aircraft's type and its builder. At Midway alone, three SBD squadrons reversed the course of the Pacific War, whilst the Dauntless's contribution both before and after this pivotal action added greater luster to the name. No other carrier-based attack airplane has exerted such a far-ranging effect on world history. Midway, Guadalcanal, the Marianas and the Philippines - All were milestones in the combat career of the Douglas SBD Dauntless, arguably the most important naval strike aircraft of all time. This victory effectively turned the tide of the Pacific war. In June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, the two aircraft types again attacked the Japanese fleet, and it was the SBDs from the carriers Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown that sunk the Japanese carriers Akogi, Kaga, and Soryu, and damaged the Hiryu so badly that she had to be sunk by her own forces. In May 1 942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, SBDs joined with TBD Devastator torpedo aircraft to sink the Japanese carrier Shoho and damage the carrier Shokaku.
Douglas dauntless series#
Continued from above… from the carriers Lexington and Yorktown carried out a series of attacks against the Japanese.
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