The aircraft was withdrawn from service shortly after Midway – replaced by the Grumman TBF Avenger. At Midway, 41 Devastators recorded zero torpedo hits and only six returned to their carriers, their only arguable success being the distraction of the enemy Zeros from the Dauntless Dive Bombers. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was sturdy enough for pilots to dive at a near-vertical 80 degrees. However, with rapidly evolving technology it was already outdated by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After modifications were made, including the addition of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine, the dive bomber was put into production and entered service in mid. The company was eventually taken over by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, who began construction of the SBD. The TBD Devastator entered service in 1937 and enjoyed a brief tenure as the most advanced flying aircraft for any navy in the world. The design of the Douglas SBD Dauntless was rooted in the earlier Northrop BT. Despite this performance, the type was phased out before war’s end, though it had only entered service in 1940. Despite relatively poor manoeuvrability and only adequate performance, it was this aircraft that crippled all four of the Japanese carriers in the theatre-defining Battle of Midway. The name Dauntless fits well to the aircrafts personality. The importance of the Douglas SBD Dauntless’ performance over the course of the war cannot be overstated. Douglas SBD Dauntless is one of the most popular American naval bomber of World War II era. At Midway, Dauntless aircraft crippled all four of the Japanese carriers. Known as the Slow but Deadly, the SBD Dauntless became infamous as the primary dive bomber of. In the pivotal Naval Battle of Midway in June of 1942, the Douglas SBD Dauntless turned the tide of the Pacific War in favor of the United States, and in the process helped to complete a paradigm shift in naval warfare tactics, effectively replacing battleships with carrier based air power as the primary attack force of U.S. In the end, the SBD Dauntless proved to be one of the most important planes in the Pacific Theater. Immediately the Navy began replacing SBD-2s with the SBD-3, giving its SBD-2s to the Marines. This made it better protected against enemy fire. At the Battle of Midway the US Navy relied on two aircraft: the SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber and TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber. This is a Digital product, NO parts or decals are included. The Dauntless played a pivotal role for the United States Navy during the early part of the war in the Pacific as its foremost dive bomber. Douglas’ next variant, the SBD-3, had improvements like self-sealing fuel tanks and armor.

Douglas dauntless