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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.