Aircraft Gallery
SBD Dauntless
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Crew: 2
- Length: 33 ft 1¼ in (10.09 m)
- Wingspan: 41 ft 6⅜ in (12.66 m)
- Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
- Empty weight: 6,404 lb (2,905 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820-60 radial engine, 1,200 hp (895 kW)Maximum speed: 255 mph (222 knots, 410 km/h) at 14,000 ft (4,265 m)
- Cruise speed: 185 mph (161 knots, 298 km/h)
- Range: 1,115 mi (970 nmi, 1,795 km)
- Service ceiling: 25,530 ft (7,780 m)
- Power/mass: 8.92 lb/hp (5.42 kg/kW)
- Guns:2 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) forward-firing synchronized Browning M2 machine guns in engine cowling. 2 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) flexible-mounted Browning machine gun in rear
- Bombs: 2,250 lb (1,020 kg) of bombs
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.
