Figure 1.--.

Douglas Aircraft turned out one C-47 transport every 5 hours. While Douglas is probably most accociated with the C-47 during the War, it also produced combat aircraft, for both the Army and Navy. Douglas also manufactured the Scout Bomber Douglas (SBD) Dauntless. This little low-wing dive bomber became the U.S. Navy's main carrier-borne scout plane and dive bomber (mid-1940). The punch of the Imperial Navy was its torpedo bombers, for the Americans it was its dive bombers because of the low level attacks need to delver a torpedo was dangerous and American torpedos at the start of the war were unreliable. The Dauntlss is most notable for ripping the heart out of the Japanese Imperial Fleet. sinking four of their six main-line carriers at Midway 6-months after Pearl Harbor (June 1942). And this was accompished before the improved American aicraft types under production began reaching the fleet. The pilots that flew the Dauntless were just that. Besides the physical demands of dive bombing, the pilots and their back gunner flew in skies which the U.S. Navy did nt have air superiority. They could be savaged at any time by Japanese Zero fighters. That first year they operated against great odds. And being shot down in the vast Pacific was tantamount to death. And if the Xeros did not get them, there was the deadly flak which got worse the closer they came. And unlike modern aircraft, The Daunless had to deliver their bomb at what might be called point-blank range. The Dauntless SBD Dauntless was the produt of two grat minds. The first was Jack Northrop, thecreator of the 'flying wings'. The scond was engineer/designer Edward H. Heinemann. When it comes performance th Dauntless was not very impressive. No other plane of the war cn credi reversing the course of the War in one single sortee.

Douglas Aircaft

The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded Donald Wills Douglas in Long Beach California after World War I (1921). The company also had manufacturing plants in Rock Island, Illinois and Dayton, Ohio. The company developed ties with the military, both the Navy and Army, made a name for itself from a very early point. The U.S. Army Air Service decided on a headline grabbing mission, in part to gain public attention and greater allocations. They decided to conduct the first circumnavigate the earth by aircraft which they called 'World Flight'. Donald Douglas took a personal interest in the project, recognizing the importanc of making a name for his company. He also developed a relationship with the U.S. Navy. Douglas Aircraft turned out one C-47 transport every 5 hours. While Douglas is probably most accociated with the C-47 during the War, it also produced combat aircraft, for both the Army and Navy. Douglas also manufactured the Scout Bomber Douglas (SBD) Dauntless.

Development

The Dauntless SBD Dauntless was the produt of two great minds of American aviation technology. The first was Jack Northrop, the creator of the 'flying wings'. The scond was engineer/designer Edward H. Heinemann.

Deployment

This little low-wing dive bomber became the U.S. Navy's main carrier-borne scout plane and dive bomber (mid-1940).

Tactical Doctrine

The punch of the Imperial Navy was its torpedo bombers, for the Americans it was its dive bombers because of the low level attacks need to delver a torpedo was dangerous and American torpedos at the start of the war were unreliable.

Operational History

A Dauntless sqaudron from Enterprise inadvetently flews into the caudron of Pearl Harbor and saw the terrible desyruction. They were then shor to pieces bt trigger happy anti-aircraft gunners. A thord of the suadron was destroyed. The Sauntless aviators were in the forefront of the U.S. Navy's opperations. The carriers were the only capital ships to escape the Pearl Harbor disaster. They were the only military group left with a sinificant offensive punch. As a resukt they were in costant actionnand took serious casualties. They hit the Japanese in the Marshalls. They sank the first Japanese warship. They were below deck ready tor action fter the Doolittle bombers were launhed. And then came the settling of scores. The Dauntlss is most notable for ripping the heart out of the Japanese Imperial Fleet. sinking four of their six main-line carriers at Midway 6-months after Pearl Harbor (June 1942). And this was accompished before the improved American aicraft types under production began reaching the fleet. When it comes performance th Dauntless was not very impressive. No other plane of the war can claim to reversing the course of the War in one single sortee.

Combat Environment

The pilots that flew the Dauntless were just that. Besides the physical demands of dive bombing, the pilots and their back gunner flew in skies which the U.S. Navy did nt have air superiority. They could be savaged at any time by Japanese Zero fighters. That first year they operated against great odds. And being shot down in the vast Pacific was tantamount to death. And if the Zeros did not get them, there was the deadly flak which got worse the closer they came. And unlike modern aircraft, the Daunless had to deliver their pay load bomb at what might be called point-blank range. An admiring historian describes the pilot's task, "
It was no small feat, to score a direct hit on a moving vessel with a dive bomber. Dauntless pilots pushed over into their dives fom a height of more than two miles above enemy warships. The initial descent was vertcal--ninety degrees. The pilot generally pulled back theangle to seventy degrees as his SBD reached aoint between 5,000 and 3,500 fweet above the target, allowing him to safely toggle his bombto clear the propeller. There was no use of the plane;s til rudder, which could cause the bomb to yaw and miss the target. The oilot kept his trget ship in lone simply by using the stick to spin the airplane like a cookcrew to line up the target's advance on the ocean floor below. The effort more often than not tto place as both the pilot and rear gunner were being subjected to murderous antiaircraft from below, while fighter olnes slashed at them from behind and above." [Moore]

Sources

Moore, Stephen L. Pacific Payback: The Carrier Aviators Who Avenged Pearl Harborat the Battle of Midway(2014), 448p.

Created: 12:19 AM 7/29/2014
Last updated: 12:19 AM 7/29/2014