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WWII Aircraft Listings - 2
72-WWII Douglas SBD Dauntless
72a-WWII-Douglas-SBD-Dauntless
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD was the United States Navy's main carrier-borne scout plane and dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. 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. The type earned its nickname "Slow But Deadly" during this period.
Maximum speed: 410.38 km/h (255 mph), Range: 1,205 mi, Maiden flight: 01 May 1940, Length: 33.10 ft, Wingspan: 41.54 ft, Type: Dive bomber
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The roots of the SBD lay in another plane, the Northrop BT-1, which entered service with the United States Navy (USN) during Spring 1938. A production version of the BT-1 was to be used as a prototype for a new dive bomber for naval use, which was designated XBT-2. However by the time this new plane entered production Northrop had been brought by the Douglas company and the designation of the plane was changed to SBD.
Whilst this new plane looked on the surface similar to the XBT-2 underneath it was a different story. Powered by a 1,000-hp Wright XR-1820-32 engine and featuring retractable undercarriage, dive brakes or 'Swiss cheese' flaps, featuring 3-inch holes punched into them and other numerous changes including watertight compartments.
Early testing of this new plane showed it's supremacy over the BT-1 and it's remarkable performance and flight characteristics showed it was a phenomenal aircraft at the time, yet just two years later in 1941 it would be considered obsolete. As a result an order was placed for 144 aircraft, 57 of these would be SBD-1s and the rest SBD-2s which featured revisions to their armament and expanded fuel capacity.
Towards the end of 1940 the SBD-1 started to enter service with the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Firstly equipping Marine Squadron VMB-2 with VMB-1 receiving their SBD's during the early months of 1941. The newer SBD-2s were delivered to the USN with squadron VB-6 aboard the USS Enterprise and VB-2 based on the USS Lexington receiving the new aircraft towards the end of 1941. In fact 18 SBD's from the USS Enterprise arrived at Pearl Harbour whilst it was being attacked and lost seven planes.
Development of the Dauntless continued and the next version designated SBD-3 started to see service in March 1941, once again the fuel capacity was increased and self-sealing tanks were added, the Wright R-1820-52 engine was used, although this still only produced 1,000-hp. The armament was also changed to what would become the standard configuration of two 0.50-in forward firing and two 0.30-in rear firing machine guns, increased protection was also added in the shape of a bullet proof windscreen and armour plating. With it's 12-volt electrical system upgraded to a 24-volt system the SBD-4 appeared, and with a total production of the SBD-3 and 4 of 1,364 these in demand planes were able to supply more USN and USMC squadrons.
The next version of the Dauntless the SBD-5, featured illuminated gun sights and flexibly mounted rear firing machine-guns. And it was this version that would be built the most with just under 2,500 being produced. A number of these would be supplied to the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during January 1945, designated Dauntless DB Mk 1, however they were never used by the FAA. Efforts now turned to the SBD-6, which would be the final production Dauntless, featuring a more powerful 1,350-hp Wright R-1820-66 engine and increased further the fuel capacity.
The USMC carrier-borne squadrons were also effective, especially when escorted by their Grumman F4F Wildcat teammates. The success of dive-bombing was due to two important circumstances:
1. The Japanese carriers were vulnerable, readying bombers for battle, with full fuel hoses and armed ordnance strewn across the hangar decks.
2. The torpedo aircraft squadrons from American carriers and Midway Atoll drew the Japanese fighter cover away, allowing the SBDs to attack freely.
SBDs played a major role in the six-months long Guadalcanal campaign, operating off carriers and from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. They were lethal to Japanese ships that failed to clear the slot by daylight. Losses inflicted included the carrier Ryūjō, sunk near the Solomon Islands, and three other carriers badly damaged. SBDs sank a cruiser and nine transports during the decisive naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
A re-modelling of the SBD-3 saw the A-24 Banshee appear, they were the same as the naval version of the SBD-3 but lacked an arrestor hook, and these began equipping the United States Army in the Summer of 1941. This variant came about due to the success of the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber which was used to great effect by the Germans during the war in Europe in 1940 and the US Army was vary aware of it's lack of dive-bombers so an order was placed for 168 aircraft.
While the aircraft proved highly effective for the US Navy, it was less so for the US Army Air Force. Though it saw combat over Bali, Java, and New Guinea during the early days of the war, it was not well received and squadrons suffered heavy casualties. Relegated to non-combat missions, the aircraft did not see action again until an improved version, the A-24B, entered service later in the war. The USAAF's complaints about the aircraft tended to cite its short range (by their standards) and slow speed.
By 1944 the U.S. Navy began replacing the SBD with the more powerful SB2C Helldiver. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the last major engagement for the SBDs. Marine squadrons continued to fly SBDs until the end of the war. Although the Curtiss Helldiver had a more powerful engine, a higher maximum speed and could carry nearly a thousand pounds more in bomb load, many of the dive bomber pilots preferred the SBD, which was lighter and had better low-speed handling characteristics, which were critical for carrier landings.
By the end of World War Two 5,936 SBDs had been produced and perhaps it's finest hour was during the Battle of Midway when dive bombing attacks either fatally damaged or sank the four Japanese aircraft carriers involved in the battle.
- Half the aircraft on U.S. carriers were Dauntlesses in the first year of the war.
- On scouting missions, 18 SBDs flew in pairs, searching a 90-degree pie slice of the ocean. If they found the enemy, they would radio a report and, if feasible, attack
with 500-lb. bombs.
- On bombing missions, a squadron of Dauntlesses conducted high-precision/high-risk dive-bombing attacks, plunging almost vertically and releasing bombs at low
levels. In the critical first year of the war, SBDs sank or helped sink six carriers, one battleship, three cruisers, one submarine, and 14 transports. This was nearly 30
percent of the total tonnage of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s prewar fleet.
- In air combat, SBDs had a kill ratio of 3.2 to 1. During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, pilot Lt. John Leppla got four kills and his gunner, John Liska, three.
The next day, Stanley “Swede” Vejtasa shot down three Zeroes, adding to an earlier kill. Moved to fighters, Vejtasa shot down seven aircraft at the Battle of Santa
Cruz, during the Solomon Islands Campaign. This probably saved the heavily damaged USS Enterprise.
- Officially, SBD meant “scout/bomber from Douglas.” Air crews, however, often called it “Slow but Deadly.”
- During the first, critical year of the war, the Navy flew SBD-2s and SBD-3s. The SBD-2 had just two forward-firing .30-caliber machine guns and a single rear-facing
machine gun. Neither the SBD-2 nor the SBD-3 had a reflector bombsight. Instead, they had telescopic sights that tended to fog up in the Pacific. Finally, SBDs during
the first year of the war were painted blue/gray on their upper surfaces over light gray on the lower surfaces, not deep navy blue.
Performance
Maximum speed: 255 mph (222 knots, 410 km/h) at 14,000 ft (4,265 m)
Cruise speed: 185 mph (161 knots, 298 km/h)
Range: 1,115 mi (970 nmi, 1,795 km)
Service ceiling: 25,530 ft (7,780 m)
Rate of climb: 1,700 ft/min (8.6 m/s)
Wing loading: 32.9 lb/ft² (140.6 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.13 hp/lb (0.185 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns:
2 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) forward-firing synchronized Browning M2 machine guns in engine cowling
2 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) flexible-mounted Browning machine gun in rear
Bombs: 2,250 lb (1,020 kg) of bombs
General Characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 33 ft 1¼ in (10.09 m)
Wingspan: 41 ft 6⅜ in (12.66 m)
Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
Wing area: 325 ft² (30.19 m²)
Empty weight: 6,404 lb (2,905 kg)
Loaded weight: 9,359 lb (4,245 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 10,700 lb (4,853 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820-60 radial engine, 1,200 hp (895 kW)
Role: Dive bomber, Scout plane
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft
Designer: Ed Heinemann
First flight: 1 May 1940
Introduction: 1940
Retired: 1959 (Mexico)
Primary users: United States Navy
United States Marine Corps
United States Army Air Forces
Free French Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Produced: 1940–1944
Number built: 5,936
Developed from: Northrop BT
Operators
A No. 25 Squadron RNZAF SBD-4 on Espiritu Santo, 1944
One of nine SBD-5s supplied to the Royal Navy
Chile - Chilean Air Force operated A-24B Banshees.
France - French Air Force
French Navy
Mexico - Mexican Air Force
Morocco
Moroccan Desert Police
New Zealand - Royal New Zealand Air Force
No. 25 Squadron RNZAF
United Kingdom - Royal Air Force received aircraft for evaluation from the nine originally tested by the Fleet Air Arm.
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm received nine former United States Navy SBD-5s for evaluation.
United States - United States Army Air Forces
United States Marine Corps
United States Navy
SBD-2 "Commander Enterprise Group" BuNo 2162
LCDR Howard L. Young & LCDR Bromfield B. Nichol
Air Group Commander, USS Enterprise
7 December 1941, Pearl Harbor, TH
SBD-2 "White 2-B-6," BuNo 4628
VMSB-232
Ewa Mooring Mast Field, Territory of Hawaii
7 December 1941
SBD-3 "White 2-S-9," BuNo 4628
VS-2, USS Lexington
NRAB Oakland, California, 30 September 1941
SBD-1 2-MB-1, BuNo 1597
Squadron Commander’s Aircraft
VMB-2
MCAS Quantico, Virginia, 1940
SBD-3 "Black 10," BuNo 4690
LTJG Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa & RM3 Frank B. Wood
VS-5, USS Yorktown
Coral Sea, 8 May 1942
SBD-3 "Black B1" BuNo 4687
LT Richard H. Best & ACRM(PA) James F. Murray
VB-6, USS Enterprise
Midway, 4 June 1942
SBD-3 "Black 41-S-16"
VS-41, USS Ranger
Operation Torch, November 1942
SBD-4 "Sister"
VMSB-233
Guadalcanal, Spring 1943
A-24B-1-DO (SBD-5) 42-54298 "Bar Fly"
407th Bomb Group (Dive)
Amchitka, Territory of Alaska
July-August 1943
SBD-5 "White 1"
Maj. Elmer G. Glidden & MSgt James Boyle
VMSB-231 Commander
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Spring, 1944
SBD-5 "White B-5"
VMSB-331 Doodlebugs
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Spring 1944
SBD-5 "Gray S-1" "Barbara Jean"
Maj. Christian C. Lee
Commander, VMS-3
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Spring 1944