![]() ![]() The success of dive-bombing was due to two important circumstances: The USMC carrier-borne squadrons were also effective, especially when escorted by their Grumman F4F Wildcat teammates. They also caught the Midway bombardment group of four heavy cruisers, heavily damaging two of them, the Mikuma so badly that she had to be scuttled. Four squadrons of Navy SBD dive-bombers attacked and sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese fleet carriers present-three of them in the span of just six minutes (Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and, later in the day, Hiryū). The SBD’s most important contribution to the American war effort came during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942. Their two forward-firing machine guns and one or two rear flexible-mount machine guns were effective against the lightly-built Japanese fighters. The SBD had long range, good handling characteristics, maneuverability, potent bomb load capacity, great diving characteristics, defensive armament and ruggedness. SBDs sank six Japanese carriers, 14 enemy cruisers, six destroyers, 15 transports or cargo ships and scores of lesser craft. In total, the Dauntless sank more enemy shipping than any other Allied bomber.įrom Pearl Harbor through April 1944, SBDs flew 1,189,473 operational hours, with 25 percent flown off aircraft carriers. They first saw action at Pearl Harbor flying off the USS Enterprise, but are best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Navy and Marine Corps scout plane and dive-bomber from 1940 to 1944. The SBD (“Scout Bomber Douglas”) was the U.S. The Dauntless played a starring role in the war in the Pacific. ![]()
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