June 4, 1942.
Its the height of the Pacific War, and Admiral Chuichi Nagumo stands on Akagis bridge.
Below him stretches the pride of Japans navy, four aircraft carriers that struck Pearl Harbor just months earlier, now slicing through open water toward Midway Atoll.
The plan is simple: crush the islands defenses, then lure out and destroy whats left of Americas carriers.
So far, everything is going according to plan.For over two hours, wave after wave of American aircraft hurl themselves at the fleet.
Brave, but hopeless against the enemy fighters.
Back on Akagis flight deck, ground crews scramble to arm the next strike.
Victory feels close.Above, Zero fighters twist through the clouds, shredding every formation of American torpedo planes.
On Akagis deck, crews rush to load the next strike.Just as the last torpedo bombers limp away over the waves, high above the formation, breaking out of the blinding sun, dozens of aircraft with screaming engines fall from the sky in near-vertical dives.The Japanese carriers are wide open.
Their decks are packed with fueled and armed planes.
Zeros scramble for altitude after chasing the torpedo planes to sea level; theyre too late.American dive bombers lock on to their targets, and at fifteen hundred feet, the bay doors finally swing open.The Slow But Deadlys have arrived.The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944.
The SBD (Scout Bomber Douglas) was the United States Navys main carrier-based scout/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 (from its SBD initials) during this period.During its combat service, the SBD proved to be an effective naval scout plane and dive bomber.
It possessed long range, good handling characteristics, maneuverability, potent bomb load, great diving characteristics from the perforated dive brakes.
By the middle months of 1943 the bomber was considered by pilots to be too vulnerable for service owing to its armament and slow speed, and was relegated to non-combat roles.
One land-based variant of the SBD omitting the arrestor hook was purpose-built for the United States Army Air Forces, as the A-24 Banshee.Design and DevelopmentDesign work on the Northrop BT-1 began in 1935.
In 1937, the Northrop Corporation was taken over by Douglas, and the active Northrop projects continued under Douglas Aircraft Corporation.[3] The Northrop BT-2 was developed from the BT-1 by modifications ordered in November 1937, and provided the basis of the SBD, which first entered service in mid-1939.
Ed Heinemann led a team of designers who considered a development with a 1,000 hp (750 kW) Wright Cyclone engine.The plane was developed at the Douglas El Segundo, California, plant, and that facility, along with the companys Oklahoma City plant, built almost all the SBDs produced.
One year earlier, both the United States Navy and Marine Corps had placed orders for the new dive bomber, designated the SBD-1 and SBD-2 (the latter had increased fuel capacity and different armament).
The SBD-1 went to the Marine Corps in late 1940, and the SBD-2 to the Navy in early 1941, replacing the SBU Corsair and Curtiss SBC Helldiver squadrons on US carriers.Distinctive perforated split flaps or dive-brakes had been incorporated into the BT-1 to eliminate tail buffeting during diving maneuvers.
Unusual for carrier aircraft, folding wings were not chosen for the design, opting instead for structural strength.A United States Navy SBD releasing a bomb with extended dive brakes on the trailing edgesThe next version was the SBD-3, which began manufacture in early 1941.
It had increased armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, and four machine guns.
The SBD-4 provided a 12-volt (up from 6-volt) electrical system, and a few were converted into SBD-4P reconnaissance aircraft.The next (and most produced) version, the SBD-5, was produced mostly in the Douglas plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This version was equipped with a 1,200 hp (890 kW) engine and an increased ammunition supply.
Over 2,400 of these were built.
A few of them were shipped to the Royal Navy for evaluation.
In addition to American service, the SBD saw combat against the Japanese Army and Navy with No.
25 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Forcebut the RNZAF soon replaced them with the larger, faster, heavier and land-based Vought F4U Corsairs.Some SBDs were also flown by the Free French Air Force against the German Heer and Luftwaffe.
SBDs were also sold to Mexico.The final version, the SBD-6, had more improvements, but its production ended during the summer of 1944.A Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless on display at the Air Zoo at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in Portage, MichiganThe United States Army Air Forces had its own version of the SBD, called the A-24 Banshee.
It lacked the tail hook used for carrier landings, and a pneumatic tire replaced the solid tail wheel.
First assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group (Light) at Hunter Field, Georgia, A-24s flew in the Louisiana maneuvers of September 1941.
There were three versions of the Banshee (A-24, A-24A and A-24B) flown by the army to a very minor degree in the early stages of the war.
The USAAF used 948 of the 5,937 Dauntlesses built.Top Photo: Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless from the Planes of Fame Air Museum Chino CA.Sources: YouTube; Wikipedia