As a storm of TBD Devastators charged the Japanese carriers June 4th, 1942, taking heavy losses, the SDB Dauntless Dive Bombers lurking above were able to capitalize on their timely sacrifice. Fortuitously approaching just after the commotion of the unsuccessful Torpedo squadrons, they were able to achieve direct hits on carriers Soryu and Kaga. Then finally, Lieutenant Commander Richard Best swooped down from the cluttered skies in an SBD and released a 1000 pound bomb that went crashing through the deck, igniting the Akagi. Three of four Japanese carriers were out of commission.

The B5N Kate wreaked havoc on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and was the torpedo bomber of the Japanese Imperial Navy. One of the most feared and dangerous aircraft early in the war, the destructive Kate was well known for its accomplishments in the Pacific Theater. Lightweight, due to its limited armor, it was able to carry a powerful torpedo which could cripple enemy carriers. This hard-hitting plane was known for packing a punch, but often became easy prey for enemy fighters during its vulnerable attack run.

In 1941, the Navy assigned official nicknames to its aircraft, and the TBD became the “Devastator.” After war broke out towards the end of the year, Devastator squadrons participated in the earliest carrier strikes in the Pacific. Although torpedo crews eagerly expected the more advanced Grumman TBF Avenger, production delays meant that only a single squadron’s worth of the new type was available by the time of the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The carriers Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet would fight with their combined forty-one TBDs.

The SBD Dauntless was the Navy’s most effective dive bomber of World War II. It was responsible for more enemy ships sunk in the first half of the war than any other aircraft or ship in the fleet. Although nicknamed “Slow But Deadly” by its pilots, the SBD was a precise dive bomber which used special perforated dive brakes to make slower, controlled dives. The Dauntless is most famous as the aircraft that destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942.