![]() But the Dauntless was built to deliver bombs with precision, so the aircraft was equipped with under wing ordnance mounting points. machine gun to protect the aircraft from a tail attack (as Saburo Sakai so painfully learned in the skies over Sealark Channel on August 7, 1942). machine guns mounted in the cowling firing through the propeller arc using an interrupter and the radio-operator/gunner’s position was equipped with an aftfacing swivel mount for the ANM2. The SBD was also a well-armed bomber: the pilot could control a pair of ANM2. The perforations in the flaps allowed airflow to stabilize the aircraft, making the Dauntless a rock solid bombing platform. In a steep dive, these flaps would deploy upward and downward from the trailing edge of the wing to maintain a constant airspeed of 250 knots. But perhaps the most recognizable feature of the Dauntless was its perforated dive flaps. ![]() Its’ distinctive greenhouse canopy and round tipped wings made it an easily identifiable aircraft. The basic airframe appearance of the Dauntless was established with the first model and would vary only slightly throughout production. With minor modifications by Douglas, the BT-2 became the SBD-1 Dauntless in 1939 and deliveries of the aircraft began in June 1940. In 1937, Douglas Aircraft Company purchased Northrop Aviation’s El Segundo, California plant and took over the BT program. Navy was transitioning from bi-planes to all metal, low-wing monoplanes with retractable landing gear, and the BT series were on the cutting edge of that transition. The SBD Dauntless was developed as an evolution of Northrop Aviation Corporation’s BT-1 and BT-2 dive bombers that entered service in 1936. Although Saburo Sakai would ultimately recover from his wounds and live to fight another day, he had been stung by one of the most lethal aircraft in the US military’s arsenal: the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber. In the brief encounter, the eight tailgunners expended over 1,000 rounds of ammunition and seriously injured one of the best Japanese fighter pilots of the war. One tracer round missed his right eye by less than an inch and melted the rim of his goggles. Fragments from the bullets struck him in the chest, the left leg, the elbow and the face. As the eight tailgunners followed the Zero with their machine guns, slugs shattered the canopy glass and hit Sakai. The plane went almost vertically upwards and then fell smoking. I could see his face clearly, his body and head forced back against the headrest of the cockpit. What Jones saw next was a testament to the firepower that was available to the tail gunners: His cockpit exploded, the canopy tore, and something flew out. Jones opened fire with Sakai only 100 feet directly astern his aircraft. In the rear seat of one of the other bombers, Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Harold L. Sakai attempted to turn sharply to the right, pull up and use the Zero’s horsepower to climb away from the Americans, but he was too close. “He came in fast! I fired at him, but I just don’t know if I hit him or not,” he remembered. Rodenburg, Aviation Radioman 3rd Class James W. In the back seat of the bomber piloted by Ensign Eldor E. ![]() Unlike the F4F Wildcat fighter, US Navy dive-bombers were protected from rear attack by a tail gunner’s position. These aircraft were from the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and were circling above Tulagi awaiting orders to drop their bombs on Japanese targets on the island below. By the time it was too late to break off the attack, Sakai realized that he was attempting to pounce on a group of dive-bombers. But at a range of just 100 yards Sakai gazed at his targets through his gunsight and reached a sober realization: these were not fighters he was approaching. Closing in on the American aircraft from behind at full throttle, he assumed that the element of surprise was his. Assuming that they were US Navy F4F Wildcat fighters, Sakai nosed his Zero over to begin an attack his wingman obediently following. by Martin K A MorganĪs Sakai and his wingman approached the skies above Tulagi, he spotted a group of eight American aircraft beneath him at an altitude of 7,800 feet. He had flown down with a group of other Zeros from the Japanese airfield at Rabaul, New Britain that morning for the express purpose of attacking the ships supporting the first American opposed amphibious invasion of the Second World War: the Operation WATCHTOWER landings at Gavutu, Tanambogo, Tulagi and Guadalcanal. On AugPetty Officer 1 st Class Saburo Sakai was piloting his A6M2 Type 21 Zero fighter in the skies over Sealark Channel in the Solomon Islands.
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