LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Scout Bomber: Midway Island
built 487 days ago
The SBD proved to be an excellent scout/dive bomber and it was instrumental in winning the Pacific War. It was Dauntless dive bombers that sank four Japanese attack carriers during the battle of Midway, the turning point of the Pacific War. SBD's ... formed the dive bomber component of the famed "Cactus Air Force" during the long and bitter battle of attrition for possession of Guadalcanal Island. For the first two years of the war the SDB was the only American dive bomber. It was operated from U.S. aircraft carriers at sea and from land bases by the U.S. Marine Corps. The Dauntless was also procured by the USAAF, where it was known as the A-24.
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Battle of Midway, June 1942 - An SBD-3 scout bomber, probably flown by the Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Maxwell F. Leslie, ditches alongside USS Astoria (CA-34) at about 1348 hrs on 4 June 1942. This was one of two VB-3 planes that ditched near Astoria after they were unable to land on the damaged USS Yorktown (CV-5). Photographed from atop Astoria's after superstructure. Note her port aircraft crane, and an SOC floatplane on her port catapult.
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At the beginning of 1942, Midway was now garrisoned by the 6th Defense Battalion, with substantial reinforcement from the 4th Defense Battalion, and one fighter and one scout bomber squadron. On Eastern Island the airstrip had now acquired facilities appropriate to a major airbase. Fortunately for pilot morale, the Marines on Midway were unaware that their elderly aircraft lagged far behind the combat performances of their Japanese counterparts, and especially, the nimble Zeke fighter, more commonly known as the Zero.
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After a year of intense training, he graduated in 1942 in Miami and went to North Island in San Diego, Calif. and flew a scout bomber by Douglas Aircraft. He practiced how to land on carrier ships, which were actually converted freighters.
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SBD scout bombers from Enterprise arrived during the attack. They had flown ahead of the returning task force that had just reinforced Midway Island. About five were lost to Japanese or ground fire and an equal number damaged.
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Midway Island