2194days

Aircraft · United States · 1940-1944

Douglas SBD Dauntless

carrier dive bomber

Slow and unglamorous next to the fighters it flew alongside, the Dauntless sank more Japanese shipping than any other Allied aircraft of the Pacific war. Its dive bombers crippled three Japanese fleet carriers in about six minutes on the morning of 4 June 1942 at Midway and caught the fourth, Hiryu, that afternoon, the single most decisive strike of the naval war. It flew on from Henderson Field through the whole Guadalcanal campaign before the Helldiver replaced it.

Wikipedia

crew2
top speed410 km/h
armament2x 12.7mm MG, 2x 7.62mm MG
bomb load1,020 kg
produced5,936

Pacific

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless from the Planes of Fame Air Museum Chino CA.
Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless from the Planes of Fame Air Museum Chino CA.Tomás Del Coro · CC BY-SA 2.5 · source
A USAAF Douglas A-24B-5-DT (S/N 42-54459) Banshee of the 531st Fighter Squadron taxis on 13 December 1943. This was the first A-24B to arrive on Makin in the Gilbert Island Chain.
A USAAF Douglas A-24B-5-DT (S/N 42-54459) Banshee of the 531st Fighter Squadron taxis on 13 December 1943. This was the first A-24B to arrive on Makin in the Gilbert Island Chain.USAAF · Public domain · source
A-24 rear gunner position; the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
A-24 rear gunner position; the National Museum of the United States Air Force.Wilson44691 · CC0 · source

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