Underpowered, slow, limited in range, vulnerable to enemy fighters,
and laborious to fly, the SBD Dauntless was to become a legend and
an icon of the pacific war. Exceptional Control during a dive and
its rugged construction helped the aircraft to become a winning design,
a design which send more ships to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean than
any other aircraft of its type.
Overall the SBD-2 was essentially SBD-1 with a few corrections made
during production run. These corrections helped to levitate some of
the designs shortcomings.
Even though the aircraft still had many more problems the solutions applied
helped the aircraft in the main issue of range. Range was increased from less
than 900 nautical miles (actually effective combat radius of only 200) to over
1,200 nautical miles. This increase in range also help usher in an auto pilot
system for the long over water flights. Despite the added weight of fuel and
no armor protection for the crews or the fuel tanks, the United States
Navy took delivery
of 144 SBDs, 87 aircrafts being the SBD-2s.
The SBD-2 pictured here is the only known surviving aircraft from the Battle of Midway. Pulled out of Lake Michigan in 1994, then fully restored, it now sits on permanent display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. This is an excerpt taken from the National Naval Aviation Museum website describing its part in the battle:
“On the morning of 4 June 1942, with 1st Lieutenant
Daniel Iverson as pilot and Private First Class Wallace Reid manning the
.30-caliber machine
gun in the aft cockpit. The museum's aircraft was one of sixteen SBD-2s of
VMSB-241 launched to attack Japanese aircraft carriers to the west of Midway.
Approaching the enemy carrier Hiryu, the Marine planes came under fire from
antiaircraft gunners and fighters of the enemy combat air patrol. Iverson,
with two Japanese Zero fighters following him down in his dive, released
his bomb at an altitude of 800 feet. During his egress from the target area,
the pair of Zeroes on Iverson's tail were joined by two others, which pursued
the Dauntless for miles. Enemy fire holed Iverson's plane 219 times, knocking
out his hydraulic system and wounding Reid. One bullet came so close that
it clipped Iverson's throat microphone chord. Nevertheless, the pilot managed
to return to Midway, making a one-wheel landing on the atoll. His was one
of only eight SBD-2s of VMSB-241 to return from the attack against the Japanese
fleet. For their actions, Iverson received the Navy Cross and Reid was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross.”
The SBD Dauntless had its share of weaknesses, but when called to battle it
served with distinction and helped stop the Japanese Empire from conquering
the whole pacific theater. Old and slow but rugged and maneuverable during
a dive, newer designs that appear during the war never measured up to
the SBD Dauntless' prestige.
