U.S. Navy and Marine Corps U.S. Navy and Marine Corps SBDs saw their first action at
Pearl Harbor, when most of the Marine Corps SBDs of
Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 232 (VMSB-232) were destroyed on the ground at
Ewa Mooring Mast Field. Most U.S. Navy SBDs flew from their
aircraft carriers, which did not operate in close cooperation with the rest of the fleet. Most Navy SBDs at Pearl Harbor, like their Marine Corps counterparts, were destroyed on the ground. On 10 December 1941, SBDs from sank the
Japanese submarine I-70. In February–March 1942, SBDs from the carriers , , and , took part in various raids on Japanese installations in the
Gilbert Islands, the
Marshall Islands,
New Guinea,
Rabaul,
Wake Island, and
Marcus Island. 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 patrols, and these scored several victories against Japanese aircraft trying to attack
Lexington and
Yorktown. Their relatively heavy gun armament with two forward-firing .50 BMG|
M2 Browning machine guns and either one or two rear flexible-mount .30-06 Springfield|
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. SBD pilot
Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa was attacked by three
A6M2 Zero fighters; he shot down two of them 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 came during the
Battle of Midway in early June 1942. Four
squadrons of Navy SBD dive bombers attacked and sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese fleet carriers present, disabling three of them in the span of just 6 minutes (, , ), and later in the day, . They also caught two straggling
heavy cruisers of the Midway bombardment group of four, heavily damaging them, with eventually sinking. 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). Its pilots resorted to the slower but easier
glide bombing technique. This led to many of the SBDs being shot down during their glide, although one survivor from these attacks, now on display at the
National Naval Aviation Museum, is the last surviving aircraft to have flown in the battle. The carrier-borne squadrons were effective, especially when they were escorted by
Grumman F4F Wildcats. The success of dive bombing resulted from one important factor, , early October 1943 SBDs played a major role in the
Guadalcanal campaign, operating off both American carriers and from
Henderson Field on
Guadalcanal. SBDs proved lethal to Japanese shipping that failed to clear
New Georgia Sound (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
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In the Atlantic Ocean, the SBD saw action during
Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942. The SBDs flew from and two
escort carriers. Eleven months later, during
Operation Leader, the SBDs had their European debut, when aircraft from
Ranger attacked Nazi German shipping around
Bodø,
Norway. ,
Norway, 4 October 1943 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 combat radius of the aircraft. The force had about 20 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, and 80 were lost as one-by-one they expended their fuel and had to ditch into the sea. In the attack were 26 SBDs, all of which made it back to the carriers. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the last major engagement of the carrier-borne SBDs. 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 1000 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 War, sinking more enemy shipping in the Pacific than any other Allied bomber.
Barrett Tillman, in his book on the Dauntless, claims that it has a "plus" score against enemy aircraft, meaning it was credited with more victories over enemy planes than losses from enemy action. This is considered to be a rare event for a nominal "bomber". A total of 5,936 SBDs was 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% of all operational hours flown off aircraft carriers being in SBDs. Its battle record shows that in addition to six Japanese carriers, 14 enemy
cruisers had been sunk, along with six
destroyers, 15 transports or cargo ships, and scores of various lesser craft. crash landing
United States Army Air Forces , 1943 The USAAF 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 bombers 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 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, instead. Referring to themselves as "Blue Rock Clay Pigeons" (after a brand of
trap shooting targets), the 91st BS based at
Malang attacked the enemy-held harbor and airbase at
Bali and damaged or sank numerous ships around Java during the
Dutch East Indies campaign. 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 1942. The A-24s remaining in Australia were assigned to the
8th Bombardment Squadron of
3d Bombardment Group, to defend
New Guinea. On 29 July 1942, seven A-24s attacked a convoy off
Buna, 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 noncombat 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.
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 was 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. • Free French squadrons received 40 to 50 A-24Bs in
Morocco and
Algeria during 1943. • French Naval Aviation (
Aeronautique Navale) received 32 in late 1944 for Flotilles 3FB and 4FB (16 SBD-5s for each). 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 In 1943, the
Royal New Zealand Air Force received several SBD-3s and SBD-4s for use in training by
No. 25 Squadron. The following year, the squadron used the SBD-5 in combat operations during the
Solomon Islands campaign. It had been intended to equip four squadrons of the RNZAF with the Dauntless, but only No. 25 Squadron used them. The RNZAF soon replaced them with F4U Corsairs. ==Variants==