Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless was 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 U . S . Navy ' s main carrier - borne scout plane and dive bomber from mid - 1940 through mid - 1944 . The SBD was also flown by the U . S . Marine Corps , both from land air base s and aircraft carrier s . 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 . During the time of its combat service the SBD was an excellent naval scout plane and arguably the world ' s best dive bomber . It possessed long range , good handling characteristics , maneuverability , potent bomb load capacity , great diving characteristics , defensive armament and ruggedness . In most of these characteristics , the SBD was superior to the German Junkers Ju 87 , the Japanese Aichi D3A " Val " , and any dive bomber possessed by the Royal Air Force or the Soviet Air Force . A variant was a purpose - built design for the U . S . Army Air Forces , which used the SBD without an arrestor hook as the A - 24 Banshee . Design and development . Design 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 . 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 Wright Cyclone engine . One year earlier , both the U . S . 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 went to the Navy in early 1941 . The distinctive perforated split flaps or " dive - brakes " had been incorporated into the BT - 1 to eliminate tail buffeting during diving maneuvers . The next version was the SBD - 3 , which began manufacture in early 1941 . It had increased armor , self - sealing fuel tank s , and four machine gun s . 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 engine and an increased ammunition supply . Over 2 , 400 of these were built and 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 Force — but the RNZAF soon replaced them with the larger , faster , heavier and land - based Vought F4U Corsair . Some SBDs were also flown by the Free French Air Force against the Nazi German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe . SBDs were also sold to Mexico . The final version of the " Dauntless " , the SBD - 6 , had more improvements , but its production ended during the summer of 1944 . The U . S . Army Air Force 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 . Operational history . U . S . Navy and Marine Corps . U . S . Navy and Marine Corps SBDs saw their first action at Pearl Harbor . A total of 18 SBDs from the aircraft carrier arrived over Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack , and Scouting Squadron Six ( VS - 6 ) lost six aircraft , while Bombing Squadron Six ( VB - 6 ) lost one . Most of the Marine Corps SBDs of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 232 ( VMSB - 232 ) were destroyed on the ground at Ewa Mooring Mast Field . On 10 December 1941 , SBDs from the " Enterprise " sank the Japanese submarine . In February – March 1942 , SBDs from the carriers , USS , and USS " Enterprise " took part in various raids on Japanese installations in the Gilbert Islands , the Marshall Islands , New Guinea , Rabaul , Wake Island , and Marcus Island . Later , SBDs painted to resemble Japanese aircraft appeared in the John Ford film " December 7th " ( 1943 ) . The first major use of the SBD in combat was at the Battle of the Coral Sea where SBDs and TBD Devastators sank the Japanese light aircraft carrier ( CVL ) and damaged the Japanese fleet carrier . SBDs were also used for antitorpedo combat air patrol s ( CAP ) and these scored several victories against Japanese aircraft trying to attack the " Lexington " and the " Yorktown " . Their relatively heavy gun armament — with two forward - firing M2 Browning machine gun s and either one or two rear flexible - mount AN / M2 machine guns — was effective against the lightly - built Japanese fighters , and many pilots and gunners took aggressive attitudes to the fighters that attacked them . One pilot — Stanley " Swede " Vejtasa — was attacked by three A6M2 " Zero " fighters ; he shot two of them down and cut off the wing of the third in a head - on pass with his wingtip . The SBD ' s most important contribution to the American war effort , doubtless , came during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 . Four squadron s of Navy SBD dive bombers attacked and sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese fleet carriers present — three of them in the span of just six minutes ( , , and , later in the day , ) . They also caught the Midway bombardment group of four heavy cruiser s , heavily damaging two of them , the so badly that she had to be scuttled . At the Battle of Midway , Marine Corps SBDs were not as effective . One squadron , VMSB - 241 , flying from Midway Atoll , was not trained in the techniques of dive - bombing with their new Dauntlesses ( having just partially converted from the SB2U Vindicator ) . Instead , its pilots resorted to the slower but easier glide bombing technique . This led to many of the SBDs being shot down , although one survivor from these attacks is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum and is the last surviving aircraft to fly in the battle . On the other hand , the carrier - borne squadrons were effective , especially when they were escorted by their Grumman F4F Wildcat teammates . The success of dive bombing was due to two important circumstances : SBDs played a major role in the Guadalcanal campaign , operating off both American carriers and from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal . SBDs attacked Japanese shipping throughout the campaign , and proved lethal to Japanese shipping that failed to clear the slot by daylight . Losses inflicted included the carrier , sunk near the Solomon Islands on 24 August . Three other Japanese carriers were damaged during the six - month campaign . SBDs sank a cruiser and nine transports during the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal . During the decisive period of the War in the Pacific , the SBD ' s strengths and weaknesses became evident . While the American strength was dive bombing , the Japanese stressed their Nakajima B5N 2 " Kate " torpedo bomber s , which had caused the bulk of the damage during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . In the Atlantic Ocean the SBD saw action during Operation Torch , the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942 . The SBDs flew from the and two escort carrier s . Eleven months later , during Operation Leader , the SBDs saw their European debut when aircraft from the " Ranger " attacked Nazi German shipping around Bodø , Norway . By 1944 the U . S . Navy began replacing the SBD with the more powerful SB2C " Helldiver " . During the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 , a long range twilight strike was made against the retreating Japanese fleet , at ( or beyond ) the limit of the attacking airplanes ' combat radius . The force had about twenty minutes of daylight over their targets before attempting the long return in the dark . Of the 215 aircraft , only 115 made it back . Twenty were lost to enemy action in the attack , while 80 more were lost when one by one they expended their fuel and had to ditch into the sea . In the attack , however , were 26 SBDs , all of which made it back to the carriers . The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the last major engagement where SBDs made up a significant part of the carrier - borne bomber force . Marine squadrons continued to fly SBDs until the end of the war . Although the Curtiss Helldiver had a more powerful engine , a higher maximum speed and could carry nearly a thousand pounds more in bomb load , many of the dive bomber pilots preferred the SBD , which was lighter and had better low - speed handling characteristics , critical for carrier landings . The " Dauntless " was one of the most important aircraft in the Pacific Theatre of World War II , sinking more enemy shipping in the War in the Pacific than any other Allied bomber . In addition , Barrett Tillman , in his book on the " Dauntless " , claims that it has a " plus " score against enemy aircraft , considered to be a rare event for a nominal " bomber " . A total of 5 , 936 SBDs were produced during the War . The last SBD rolled off the assembly lines at the Douglas Aircraft plant in El Segundo , California , on 21 July 1944 . The Navy placed emphasis on the heavier , faster , and longer - ranged SB2C . From Pearl Harbor through April 1944 , SBDs had flown 1 , 189 , 473 operational hours , with 25 percent of all operational hours flown off aircraft carriers being in SBDs . Its battle record shows that in addition to six Japanese carriers , 14 enemy cruiser s had been sunk , along with six destroyer s , 15 transports or cargo ships and scores of various lesser craft . United States Army Air Forces . The U . S . Army Air Forces sent 52 A - 24 " Banshees " in crates to the Philippines in the fall of 1941 to equip the 27th Bombardment Group , whose personnel were sent separately . However , after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , these bomber s were diverted to Australia and the 27th BG fought on the Bataan Peninsula as infantry . While in Australia the aircraft were reassembled for flight to the Philippines but their missing parts , including solenoids , trigger motors and gun mounts delayed their shipment . Plagued with mechanical problems , the A - 24s were diverted to the 91st Bombardment Squadron and designated for assignment to Java Island instead . Referring to themselves as " Blue Rock Clay Pigeons " , the 91st BS attacked the enemy harbor and airbase at Bali and damaged or sank numerous ships around Java . After the Japanese downed two A - 24s and damaged three so badly that they could no longer fly , the 91st received orders to evacuate Java in early March . The A - 24s remaining in Australia were assigned to the 8th Bombardment Squadron of 3d Bombardment Group , to defend New Guinea . On 26 July 1942 , seven A - 24s attacked a convoy off Bun , but only one survived : the Japanese shot down five of them and damaged the sixth so badly that it did not make it back to base . Regarded by many pilots as too slow , short ranged and poorly armed , the remaining A - 24s were relegated to non - combat missions . In the U . S . , the A - 24s became training aircraft or towed targets for aerial gunnery training . The more powerful A - 24B was used later against the Japanese forces in the Gilbert Islands . A handful of A - 24s survived in the inventory of the USAAF long enough to be taken over by the Air Force when that service became independent of the Army in September 1947 . The USAF established a new designation system for its aircraft , eliminating the " A - for - Attack " category , through 1962 . The twin - engined " A " versions were redesignated as bombers , with another Douglas Aircraft design , the A - 26 " Invader " becoming the B - 26 " Invader " . Most of the single - engined " A " aircraft were either classified as fighters , or scrapped . As a result , the " Banshee " was called the F - 24 " Banshee " , although this aircraft was scrapped in 1950 . French Air Force and Naval Aviation ( Aeronavale ) . The first production Dauntless sent into action was the " SBD - 3 " , which was produced for the French Naval Aviation . A total of 174 " Dauntlesses " were ordered by the French Navy , but with the fall of France in the spring of 1940 that production batch was diverted to the U . S . Navy , which ordered 410 more . The Free French received about 80 SBD - 5s and A - 24Bs from the United States in 1944 . They were used as trainers and close - support aircraft . Squadron I / 17 Picardie used a few A - 24Bs for coastal patrol . The most combat - experienced of the Banshee units was GC 1 / 18 Vendee , which flew A - 24Bs in support of Allied forces in southern France and also experienced how deadly German flak was , losing several aircraft in 1944 . This squadron flew from North Africa to recently liberated Toulouse to support Allied and French resistance troops . Later , the unit was assigned to support attacks on cities occupied by the Germans on the French Atlantic coast . In April 1945 each SBD - 5 averaged three missions a day in the European theater . In 1946 the French Air Force based its A - 24Bs in Morocco as trainers . French Navy " Dauntlesses " were based in Cognac at the end of 1944 . The French Navy " Dauntlesses " were the last ones to see combat , during the Indochina War , flying from the carrier " Arromanches " ( the former Royal Navy carrier " Colossus " ) . In late 1947 during one operation in the Indochina War , Flotille 4F flew 200 missions and dropped 65 tons of bombs . By 1949 , the French Navy removed the " Dauntless " from combat status although the type was still flown as a trainer through 1953 . Royal New Zealand Air Force . The Royal New Zealand Air Force received 18 SBD - 3s and 23 SDB - 4s , and RNZAF 25 Squadron did use them successfully in combat over the South Pacific . Under the original plan , four Squadrons ( 25 , 26 , 27 and 28 Sqn ) of the RNZAF were going to be equipped with the Dauntless , but only 25 Sqn used them . The RNZAF soon replaced them with F - 4U Corsairs .