SET OF (6) AIRCRAFT

Historical note:            The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver. The aircraft was also operated by the United States Army as the A-24 Banshee. Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, it was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during World War II. U.S. Navy and Marine Corps SBDs saw their first action at Pearl Harbor. A total of 18 SBDs from the carrier USS Enterprise arrived over Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack, and Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) lost six aircraft, while Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) lost one. Most Marine SBDs of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 232 (VMSB-232) were destroyed on the ground at Ewa Mooring Mast Field. On 10 December 1941, Enterprise SBDs sank the Japanese submarine I-70. In February-March 1942, SBDs from the carriers USS Lexington, Yorktown and Enterprise took part in various strikes on Japanese installations in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, New Guinea, at Rabaul, on Wake and on Marcus Island. The type's first major use was in the Battle of the Coral Sea, when SBDs and TBDs sank the Japanese carrier Sh?h?. SBDs were also used as anti-torpedo combat air patrol (CAP) and scored several times against Japanese aircraft trying to attack Lexington and Yorktown. Their relatively heavy gun armamentåÑtwo forward firing .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns and either one or two rear flexible-mount ..30 in (7.62 mm) AN/M2 machine gunsåÑwas effective against the lightly built Japanese fighters, and many pilot-gunner combinations took an aggressive attitude to fighters which attacked them. One pilotåÑStanley "Swede" VejtasaåÑwas attacked by three Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters but managed to shoot two of them down and cut the wing of the third in a head-on pass with his wing tip.

Info:      SBD Dauntless - Battle of Midway, 1942, Set of Six, Set of Six (Pre-Assembled)