The battle of Gauladalaanal and the sea surrounding it, and finally the battle of the Philippine Sea. For the critical years of the war, from December 1941 through 1942 and into later 1943, it was the SBD Dauntless that carried the war load for dive bombing attacks on Japanese shipping and land installations.and its record spoke for itself during the battle of the Coral Sea, the battle of Midway where four Japanese carriers were sunk by Dauntless dive bombers, three of them fatally injured in a space of six minutes during the major attack. The USAAC had 948 of these aircraft built.Īltogether, 5,937 Dauntlesses were built and used in world War II, with production ceaseing in 1944 when the US began producing the newer, larger, faster, and more capable Hell diver.ĭespite its improvements, it came at a time in the war when the issue had pretty mnuch been decided, though there was still hard fighting to be accomplished. It lacked the tail hook used for carrier landings, and a pneumatic tire replaced the solid tail wheel. Army Air Corp had its own version of the SBD, called the A-24 Banshee. The final version, the SBD-6, had more improvements, but its production ended during the summer of 1944. Some SBDs were also flown by the Free French Air Force against the Nazi German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe. In addition to the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Air Force used them during the first few yers of he war, but then replaced them with the larger, faster, heavier and land-based Vought F4U Corsair. A few of them were shipped to the Royal Navy. This version was equipped with a 1,200 hp (890 kW) engine and an increased ammunition supply. The SBD-4 provided a 12-volt (up from 6-volt) electrical system.įinally, The most produced version, was the SBD-5, which was mainly built in the Douglas plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The next version was the SBD-3, which began manufacture in early 1941, with heavier armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, and a total of four machine guns. SBD-1 was for the Marine Corps, and the SBD-2 was for the Navy. Navy and Marine Corps placed orders for the new dive bomber, designated the SBD-1 and SBD-2 (the latter had increased fuel capacity and different armament). The aircraft was built at Douglass El Segundo, CA, plant and the company's Oklahoma City, OK, plant. In 1937, after Douglas bough Northrop, Douglas ordered modifications which provided the final basis of the SBD. The intital design on the Dauntless (initially called BT-1) began in 1935 with Northrop. It possessed long range, good handling characteristics, manuverability, potent bomb load, great diving characteristics, good defensive armament and ruggedness. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 when four Japanese caerriers were sunk, which turned the tide of war in favor of the United Statesĭuring its combat service, the SBD was an excellent naval scout plane and dive bomber. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-borne dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a World War II American naval dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. TESTOR'S KIT #693N 1/72 SCALE SBD DAUNTLESS REVIEW & BUILD
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