Eighty-five years ago today, the Douglas SBD Dauntless made its first flight-ushering in an era of unmatched dive-bombing precision in naval aviation. Nicknamed "Slow But Deadly," the Dauntless ...

The Douglas SBD Dauntless played one of the most significant roles in the course of World War II. Although considered obsolete and scheduled for replacement before the war began, the SBD would live up ...

The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber was trapped inside the USS Yorktown with this bomb still attached to its cradle. The aircraft carrier was sunk by a Japanese submarine after the 1942 Battle ...

At least three planes were located within the aft Elevator #3 of USS Yorktown during the dive on April 20, including an overturned SBD Dauntless that was still armed with a bomb mounted to the ...

As a third Zero attacked the SBD in front of him, Leppla briefly rolled, fired and saw the Japanese disengage. He then resumed his dive, registering a near miss with his 1,000-pound bomb.

New and lethal at the war’s onset, by the middle of 1943, the SBD Dauntless was considered too vulnerable for some of the Navy’s most dangerous work and was relegated to non-combat roles.

The Dauntless had a max airspeed of 255 mph (410 km/h, 222 kn), a 2,250-lb. (10,20 kg) bomb load, two forward-firing nose-mounted Browning M2 “Ma Deuce” .50 caliber machine guns, and two ...