Type: two-seat carrier-based scout and dive-bomber
Bureau Number: 36173
Powerplant: one 895-kW (1200-hp) Wright R-1820-60 Cyclone air-cooled radial piston engine
Maximum speed: 410 km/h (254 mph) at 3050 m (10,000 ft)
Initial climb rate: 518 m (1700 fpm) per minute
Range: 730 km (453 miles) on a bombing mission; 1244 km (771 miles) on a scouting mission
Service ceiling: 7400 m (24,275 ft)
Armament: two 12.7-mm (.50-cal) fixed machine guns in the nose and two 7.62-mm (.30-cal) manually aimed machine guns in the rear crewman’s position, plus up to 725 kg (1600 lb) of bombs under the fuselage and 295 kg (650 lb) of bombs under the wings
Dimensions:
Span: 12.66 m (42 ft)
Length: 10.09 m (33 ft)
Height: 4.14 m (14 ft)
Wing area: 30.19 m2 (325 sq ft)
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was involved in the WWII Pacific theater from day one. In service for roughly six months prior to Pearl Harbor, the SBD Dauntless was the Navy's primary dive bomber in the early years of the war and has been credited with sinking one of the first enemy ships of WWII. The aircraft's greatest performance may have come during the pivotal Battle of Midway in June, 1942. SBD dive bombers helped sink four Japanese aircraft carriers and heavily damage two enemy cruisers.
One of the most notible features of the SBD Dauntless is the "Swiss cheese" wing flaps, in essence, dive brakes punched with three inch holes that helped achieve a high degree of accuracy in steep dive attacks.
In spite of a less than flattering nickname for the SBD (Slow But Deadly), the Dauntless was revered by carrier aviators and quickly secured its place as one of the most import aircraft in Pacific theater.
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The USS Yorktown participated in the recovery of NASA's Apollo 8 crew in 1968.
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