The Dauntless was the standard shipborne dive-bomber of the US Navy from mid-1940 until November 1943, when the first Curtiss Helldivers arrived to replace it. Between 1942-43, the Dauntless was pressed into service again and again, seeing action in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Guadalcanal campaign. It was, however, at the Battle of Midway, that the Dauntless came into its own, singlehandedly destroying four of the Imperial Japanese Navy's frontline carriers. The SBD (referred to, rather affectionately by her aircrews, as "Slow But Deadly") was gradually phased out during 1944. The June 20th, 1944 strike against the Japanese Mobile Fleet, known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, was the last major engagement in which it was used. From 1942 to 1944, the SBD was also used by several land-based Marine Corps squadrons.

Built as a two-seat, low-wing Navy scout bomber, the Dauntless was powered by a single Wright R1820 1200-horsepower engine. It became the mainstay of the Navy's air fleet in the Pacific, suffering the lowest loss ratio of any U.S. carrier-borne aircraft. A total of 5,936 SBDs were delivered to the Navy and Marine Corps between 1940 and the end of its production, in July 1944.

This particular 1:32 scale replica of a USN Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless dive-bomber that was piloted by Lieutenant Commander Howard Young, Commander of the Enterprise Air Group, and embarked upon the USS Enterprise (CV-6), on December 7th, 1941. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 15-3/4-inches
Length: 12-1/2-inches

Release Date: January 2023

Historical Account: "Distinguished Flying Cross" - Howard Young was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for "heroic conduct in aerial combat, as Commander of a carrier air group, when during the hours of darkness on the morning of February 1st, 1942, in enemy waters, he successfully led the scouting and bombing squadrons one hundred and seventy-five miles over enemy controlled waters to their objectives, which all planes reached and attacked on schedule, surprising and inflicting great damage on the enemy. Again after successfully returning his squadrons to the carrier, he led another flight of bombers against a fully alerted enemy stronghold and this attack, which was made in the face of heavy antiaircraft fire, caused great destruction to enemy installations."