The Douglas SBD Dauntless took its #firstflight on May 1, 1940. The aircraft then went on to play a starring role in the war in the Pacific during WWII. The diving Dauntless saw action at Pearl Harbor – flying from the USS Enterprise, but are best known as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to Japanese carrier at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. In total, the Dauntless sank more enemy ships than any other Allied bomber, destroying 18 enemy warships, including a battleship and six carrie

Slow But Deadly: that’s the SBD Dauntless dive bomber, a mainstay of the US Navy during WWII. Slow but very, very effective and tough against the Imperial Japanese Navy. In one incident, an SBD got caught in a tangle with an A6M Zero and in an attempt to jink away from the fighter, the SBD’s wing sliced right through the lightly armored Zero 😳 #dauntless #midway #wwii #warbird #wow | Ryan Tykosh Photography