Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless

The Barge or the Clunk and other epithets bestowed on the Douglas Dauntless by its crews were legion and for the most part derogatory yet possessing an element of affection. The Dauntless was underpowered, painfully slow, short on range, woefully vulnerable to fighters, and uncomfortable and fatiguing to fly for any length of time, being inherently noisy and draughty. But it did possess certain invaluable assets that mitigated these shortcomings. Its handling characteristics were, for the most part, innocuous and it was responsive; it was dependable and extremely sturdy, capable of absorbing considerable battle damage and remaining airborne, and, most important, it was an accurate dive bomber.

A product of John Northrop's influence on Douglas design philosophy, the Dauntless stemmed from the Northrop BT-1 which began to enter service with the US Navy in spring 1938. One of the production BT-1s served as the prototype for a new naval dive-bomber, allocated the designation XBT-2, however, by the time that this entered production in 1940, Northrop had become a division of the Douglas Company, resulting in the SBD designation to identify Douglas as the manufacturer of the new scout / dive bomber.

There had been structural and engine changes, and while the SBD retained a general family likeness to its progenitor, it was really a very different airplane. Of low-wing cantilever configuration, it was of all-metal construction except for fabric-covered control surfaces. Features of the wing design included slots adjacent to the leading edge forward of the ailerons, and hydraulically actuated perforated dive-brakes above and below the trailing edge of the wing. Fuselage construction included a number of watertight compartments, the tail gear was fixed but the main landing gear retracted inward to lie flush within wells formed in the wing center section. Arrester gear was provided for shipboard operation. Accommodation was provided for a crew of two in tandem cockpits, housed beneath a continuous transparent canopy, and provided with dual controls. The powerplant of the prototype was a 1,000 hp (746 kW) Wright XR-1820-32 Cyclone radial engine.

Testing of the prototype showed not only its superiority over the earlier Northrop BT-1, but performance and flight characteristics that immediately singled it out as an exceptional aircraft. Initial production orders for 57 SBD-1s and 87 SBD-2s were placed on 8 April 1939, the SBD-2s differing by having increased fuel capacity and armament revisions. SBD-1s began to enter service with the US Marine Corps in late 1940, equipping Marine Squadron VMB-2, with deliveries to VMB-1 following in early 1941. The SBD-2s went to the US Navy, and by the end of 1941 were serving aboard the USS Enterprise with Squadron VB-6, and with VB-2 on the USS Lexington.

From December 1941, when Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US fully and finally into World War II, the principal carrier-based bomber available to Navy squadrons was the Douglas SBD Dauntless. In 1942-43, at the Battle of the Coral Sea, in the bitter Guadalcanal campaign and most of all in the decisive Battle of Midway, the Dauntless did more than any other aircraft to turn the tide of the Pacific War. At Midway on 4 June 1942 it wrecked all four Japanese carriers, and later in the battle sank a heavy cruiser and severely damaged another. From 1942 through to 1945, in addition to its shipboard service, the SBD saw intensive use with the US Marine Corps, flying from island bases.

In the Guadalcanal Campaign the Dauntless, operating from US carriers and from Henderson Field on the island of Guadalcanal itself, took a huge toll of Japanese shipping. SBDs sank the carrier Ryujo in the battle of the Eastern Solomons and damaged three other carriers in that battle and the battle of Santa Cruz. In the epic Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-15 November 1942, SBDs sank the heavy cruiser Kinugasa and, supported by TBD Avengers, sank nine transports.

The Dauntless was older and slower than its Japanese opposite, the Aichi D3A2 "Val" - but the SBD was far more resistant to battle damage, and its flying qualities perfectly suited it to its role. In particular - as its pilots testified - it was very steady in a dive. When the more modern and powerfully engined Helldiver went into action alongside the SBD it was soon realized, particularly at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, that the new aircraft was inferior to the Dauntless. But the Helldiver was already in large-scale production and it was too late to reverse the decision that it should supplant the Dauntless in shipboard service. The SBD nonetheless continued to be used effectively by the Marine Corps right up to the end of hostilities in August 1945.

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