Douglas SBD Dauntless | Origins and Development of the 'Hero of Midway'

[@RexsHangar]

Download World of Warships today - wo.ws/46vEsC5 - and use the code BRAVO to get some extra goodies! (Applicable to new users only). Edit: I am aware I mis-named Enterprise instead of Yorktown for the battle of Coral sea - note to self, don't record Audio at 2am... F.A.Q Section - Ask your questions here :) Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: How do you decide what aircraft gets covered next? A: Supporters over on Patreon now get to vote on upcoming topics such as overviews, special videos, and deep dives. Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both.

[@RobFeldkamp]

I kindly request an overview of Antony Fokker and/or his (most important) Aircraft.

[@derrickstorm6976]

Pog we got a sponsorship

[@John.0z]

It would be a good idea if you were to read "The Shattered Sword" about the Battle of Midway. The authors present good reasons to modify your portrayal of the Japanese carrier situation as the Dauntless attack began. 🙂

[@Michael-fi3uu]

Can I suggest The Val dive bomber, since we doing the SBD why not do it’s Japanese counterpart

[@marckyle5895]

Rex there is an error at 32:38, the USN bombers at Coral Sea were from Lexington and Yorktown, not Enterprise and Yorktown. Also, the afternoon Midway strike originated from Enterprise and it comprised 10 from Enterprise (all that was left from _both_ Bombing Six _and_ Scouting Six) and the 14 SBDs of the once _again_ orphaned Bombing Three. (No worries, Rex, we're all helping each other, delete if you wish)

[@bruces1g]

Some years ago, I met an older gentleman at the Pensacola Naval Air Museum. He had a folding chair and was sitting beside a SBD on display. Not only did he fly SBDs during the war, the plane displayed was the very plane he flew. He lovingly described every part of the plane - including pointing out all the patched bullet holes - along with how he got those bullet holes. My 12 year old son and I were treated to a personal tour and history of the plane for over an hour. This man loved that airplane as if it was his child and was adamant that this great plane, not his piloting skills, was the reason he survived the war. He did not just touch the plane, he caressed it. I can easily imagine him kissing it goodbye whenever he left the museum. He told my son to hop into the pilot seat and I protested that it must be against the museum rules. He told me in strong terms that it was his damn plane and he could do whatever he wanted to! The whole experience is something my son and I still talk about some 16 years later. I do so hope that this man is flying his beloved plane in the afterlife. We should never forget the incredible bravery of these men that hurled themselves and their planes into the terrible maelstrom of the war (any war) knowing that any flight could be their last. They should be shown the greatest honor, respect and admiration. Thank you Rex for keeping history alive.

[@roberthultz9023]

So that would have to be the SBD they dredged up from Lake Michigan - it's the only known survivor of Midway. As I understand it as the carriers returned to the west coast; the air groups flew off and were replaced by fresh squadrons. The crews got leave and new assignments and the battered old warbirds went into the training commands. Somewhere along the line a new Ensign blew a landing on one of the practice carriers on the Great Lakes and the plane sat on the bottom until the 1970s when several were recovered with the intent of going into the Naval Air Museum and when they ran the serial numbers ... they realized they had hit gold.

[@bruces1g]

@@roberthultz9023 I don't know if this gentleman served at Midway. His service could have been post Midway. And he and his plane did see combat as indicated by the battle damage he pointed out. I honestly don't remember the locations where he said the actions occurred only that it was in the Pacific Theater. However, considering his sincerity and detailed knowledge, I do believe that he actually had piloted that particular plane in combat. He didn't mention how the plane ended up in the museum. I do recall him saying that he and his wife (who had passed) had retired to Florida. Whether this plane was actually the one he had flown, I cannot verify. But there is little doubt that this man was intimately familiar with the SBD and I do believe that he had spent some considerable time at the stick of an SBD. I can't imagine that the museum would have given him that much leeway unless he was truly legitimate.

[@gregcollins7602]

The description of a flaming meteor diving from the clouds gives the Helldiver a whole new meaning.

[@BP-1988]

My father flew an SBD in combat during WWII from the aircraft carriers USS Hornet (CV8) and the USS Lexington (CV16). In addition to the Battle of Midway, he also saw combat at the Battle of Santa Cruz, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, as well as attacks on Japanese installations at Truk Lagoon, Hollandia, Palau, Wake Island, Wolei, the Marshall Islands, and the Caroline Islands. He was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 2 Air Medals. Late in the war he was doing test work for rocket development at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) in Inyokern California He had flown the SB2C Hell Diver, the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair, the TBF Avenger, and the F7F Tigercat. After the war he also flew the F2H Banshee. He said that the F7F was his favorite all-time Navy plane to fly because of its awesome power. He hated the SB2C and called it a "Son of A Bitch 2nd Class". He loved and trusted the SBD (Slow But Deadly) which probably saved his life a number of times.

[@patrickmoan4086]

Thanks for this wonderful documentary. My dad (Lt JG Floyd Moan at the time of his stint in combat) was one of 3 pilots who struck the heavy carrier Shokaku on May 8, 1942. He was in the Yorktown air group in a squadron known as Bombing Five. He was heavily wounded and the after action report from May 8 for the Yorktown makes reference to his plane 3x, noting that he had 22 holes in his self-sealing gas tanks alone. His plane was picked up immediately after his bomb struck the Shokaku' s forecastle by three different zero fighters. He told me two things saved his life, 1) Turning into the oncoming machine gun fire as he was taught, and 2) the clouds. There's more to his story, including a crash landing (without any flaps due to hydraulics failure) on the Yorktown, but suffice to say the older I've gotten, the more I've come to understand what those men actually accomplished. He was my closest friend up until the day he passed away. This said, like countless others from that war, he struggled with undiagnosed PTSD and it affected our family life. Tim Madigan has written a pieced that helped me called "Their war ended 70 years ago. Their trauma didn’t." Interestingly, that Wash Post article has a feature photo which is the deck of the USS Yorktown at Midway, 4 weeks after my father went into the hospital for his wounds. Again, thanks for the documentary. Lots of work went into this.

[@luckyguy600]

What a great story. You were blessed to have such a man as your father. RIP

[@bogbody9952]

I'm sure PTSD made life hard for your whole family. Your father was a hero of course and every silver lining has a touch of grey. My pop spent the war fighting to keep up the inventory in various warehouses. Nevertheless he drank relentlessly claiming the paperwork still gave him nightmares thirty years later. He even hit my mother once but she managed to beat the hell out of him for it. All in all it was fairly comical for me. I bet nothing about it was funny for you, sorry mate. Thanks for sharing your story.

[@marckyle5895]

12:15 You just made me realize for the first time of just how _many_ of my favorite aircraft were designed by him. I'd go "there's that Ed again" when reading of a particular aircraft being his design, but I'd never thought to compile a list of them. Ed and Kelly Johnson created about half of my favorite aircraft from the 20th century.

[@jasonirwin4631]

Look up Alexander Kartveli

[@damonfleming2695]

@@jasonirwin4631yep. I looked up who designed the A10 thunderbolt…

[@luckyguy600]

Amazing gentlemen eh?

[@larryweitzman5163]

REx, My Dad worked for Ed Heinemann at Doug El Segundo from 1943 to its closing in what was known aas Dept. 592, prototype as a Leadman. He worked on the prototype SBD 5 & 6. He also built the first of just about every Douglas Navy aircraft and probably the RB-66 (Air Force) from the AD, A2D, A3D, A4D, F3D, F4D, F5D and the D558-1 Skystreak and the D558-2 SkyRocket. Since Heineman was such a hands-on guy, He worked with directly with Heiniemann on many occasions and many double shifts when things got difficult. My dad was one of the few wrenches he trusted. Interestingly, One of Heinemann's best designers was Ted Smith of Aero Commander and Aerostar. You can see Smith's fingerprints all over the DC-5, A-20 and A/B-26

[@spacebadger21]

"Drunken wizard who cast fireball in a broom closet." Nearly had me shooting tea out my nose.

[@Anaguma79]

"I didn't ask how big the room was. I said: I cast fireball."

[@Redemptorchapter]

I officially now want to build a model SBD with a dirty Dwendalian wizard in the pilot seat and a little goblin girl in the tail gunner seat.

[@spacebadger21]

@@Redemptorchapter Bidet fellow Critter

[@DanielGarcia-hf7us]

Either the tea or the nose

[@swj719]

But, like, I gotta ask why you would fix that? Because I bet it looked fucking AWESOME.

[@seancurtin8479]

As the SBD's came across the 4 IJN CVs at Midway, the Japanese planes we're almost entirely bellow decks in the hanger being rearmed, not being rearmed on the flight deck, as mentioned at 38:05. Wonderful vid all together

[@catosicarius6175]

Suprised rex would get something like this wrong lol

[@mikus4242]

Yes, Clearly stated in the book Shattered Sword. I highly recommend it.

[@davidelliott5843]

I’ve listened to Shattered Sword as an audiobook. It’s far hole turgid for me me and I’m not convinced the successes add up.

[@L.Pondera]

I think it's just a miscommunication. There was probably some aircraft on the deck waiting for the rest of their attack force, and not being rearmed on the deck. Though the rest probably were rearming. It's mostly a minor distinction at this point. They were rearming, just not on the deck itself, and the ones up top either already had been rearmed, or were waiting to.

[@mikus4242]

@@L.Pondera There was lots of deck activity launching and landing CAP.

[@drstevenrey]

Almost an hour of SBD. Only one man can do that with such perfection. Totally magnificent Chris. You Rock. No pun intended.

[@ConnAshby]

Only an hour so far - there's more to come!

[@badbug72]

I had the pleasure of speaking to Swede Vejtasa, the guy who shot down three Zeroes in a day in an SBD when I was younger. A very kind man, but still a very sharp guy in 2008. I joked with him that they switched him to fighters only because no tail gunner would want to fly with him after all the suffering he put his through when he flew the Dauntless. He got a good laugh out of that and said he was glad that they did.

[@bombsquig]

He CLAIMED 3 Zeroes.

[@johncmitchell4941]

@@bombsquig Less bomb & fuel load, good performance at low level AND effective as ground support for land based sorties like P-40. The allies were deeper in experienced pilots in all theaters/arenas while Japan's best were on their carriers. At some point they're down to rookies and trainees learning their planes before going to sea. I suggest that similar opportunities/results aren't rare due to the matchup up of opponents. Sports analogy: "Our more experienced pro lineup manhandled their collegiate one as expected."

[@FallenPhoenix86]

​@@bombsquig Got any evidence that he didn't, or are you just being edgy?

[@larryweitzman5163]

The best Vejtasa story is when he ran out of ammo and cut the Zero's wing off the wing tip of his "dump truck" tank of a Dauntless. I have a Robert Taylor litho "The Battle of the Coral Sea with among other signatures, that Swede Vejtasa's original signature along with Dick Best.

[@bombsquig]

Blame Wikipedia (and Lundstrom), not me.​@@FallenPhoenix86

[@Snuiverfruit]

32:29 USS Enterprise was not present during the battle of the Coral Sea, those were the SBD's from USS Lexington and USS Yorktown.

[@RexsHangar]

Yes I had a brain-fart moment and mis-named the carriers. Apologies for that.

[@johnmclaughlin4292]

@@RexsHangar I give you full credit for owning up to the few mistakes you made in a near hour long masterpiece of aviation history. And with this audience? It's like turning in a term paper that thousands of professors are going to review.

[@chadrowe8452]

Props to all

[@steveschainost7590]

In Saburo Sakai's autobiography he relates an incident in the Solomons. Flying out of Rabaul, he participated in a raid on Guadalcanal. On the flight back, he spotted what he thought was a flight of F4F's. Attacking from the rear, he soon found out that the F4Fs were actually, SBDs with their rear gunners. One bullet from the blizzard of fire from these rear gunners came within inches of terminating his career ultimately blinding him in on eye. A severe handicap for a pilot.

[@DaweSMF]

Cool book, iam very sceptical however when i read such books even if its autobiography. People write them for many reasons ofc but i cant shake the feeling they have interest to paint themselves in good light. Like Adolf Galland, Erich Hartmann, Otto Skorzeny... you feel me.

[@ASDasdSDsadASD-nc7lf]

@@DaweSMF Exactly...what would be way more interesting is a video of the pilots technical manual and the instructions he had about flying it. What is way more interesting is what the pilot was facing getting into this aircraft based on the instructions he was given, how it applied to likely reasoning, and the consequences of his adaptations to what he read as instructional information. I would also like to see great detail into who the people were that transition from X homelife to flying a plane with many brand new technologies on the other side of the planet when 98% never left the state they grew up in.

[@DaweSMF]

@@ASDasdSDsadASD-nc7lf Agree, even tho i might be one of few interested in technical details and psychological profiles of the pilots. I have old Luftwaffe airplane recognition manual, its one of the most interesting books i did read. Outside of pictures of airplanes and their technical-tactical data, it had various informations how to approach situations. Angles of attack, how to aproach bomb drop with fighter plane, tactics and so on. It was military manual free of feelings. It would be probably not interesting and hard to approach for many people tho, specialy nowdays people wanna information "pre-chewed" for them and given in bundles they can easily understand. I dont blame them tho, if its not your hobby you have so many available distractions nowdas its hard to focus, Not to mention lack of time.

[@Lucazdouma]

Reminds me of the British Swordfish story. No one expected it to last or to be great.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Or the Henschel Hs 123

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

They tried to replace it with the Albacore to no avail. The Swordfish later was equipped with rockets 🚀

[@copperator6649]

Sbd looks so good, one of my favorites

[@adirondacker007]

As a volunteer docent at The American Heritage Museum, I have spent a lot of time up close and personal with our Dauntless. It's a fascinating aircraft that inspires a lot of questions from our guests. Showing them the bomb crutch really drives home how steeply they could dive. Occasionally, someone will ask why dive bombing was used. I use a snowball fight as an example. I ask them what works best: throwing from a distance, which gives your opponents time to dodge? That was level bombing from altitude... or run up on them and clobber them from close range? I like to point out to guests that most of the vehicles on display at the museum were designed to deliver some form of energy to someone who doesn't want it, while preventing them from delivering unwanted energy to you. I go on to tell them that this has been the essence of conflict since the first early human got angry and threw a punch at another early human. For some, the realization is dramatic. Thank you so much for your hard work in producing this superb video! I am sharing it with my fellow docents!

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

That's a great museum. I wish the hangar was open more often.

[@swiftmatic]

"...designed to deliver some form of energy to someone who doesn't want it," 😂😂😂 Sounds like "Puttin' Warheads on Foreheads" to me!😂😂

[@cameronnewton7053]

Remember, the entirety of combat and warfare since the beginning of time has basically evolved around the idea of "how can I throw bigger and faster rocks?"

[@adirondacker007]

@@crazypetec-130fe7 me too! With any luck, that will change quite dramatically in the coming years... plans are in the works for a sizeable addition that will connect the museum and the hangar. This addition will be home for the 50-some-odd aircraft in the Collings Foundation inventory. I have seen the 3D rendition and it is going to be impressive.

[@adirondacker007]

@@cameronnewton7053 Bullseye!

[@wadejustanamerican1201]

Love the information, love the humor😂. The wizard in the closet and the Marines comments were great. We have a house full of Marines, you have brought a good round of laughter. Many thanks.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

As a former Marine airwing maintainer, the comment about us poor Marines getting the Navy's cast-offs struck close to home! Semper Fi!

[@Plainview200]

Shattered Sword, by Parshall and Tully, gives a convincing argument that the story that the the Japanese carriers at Midway did not have decks covered with airplanes. The planes were mostly below the flight decks being rearmed in accordance with standard Japanese practice.

[@guitarfan01]

I came here to say the same thing! That is on page 230-231 of my copy, which is the 2007 paperback copy. They also debunked the myth that the death of the torpedo squadrons drew the Japanese CAP too low on page 227.

[@marckyle5895]

When I learned there wasn't one designated CAP carrier, then of course all four would be launching and recovering their individual patrols. Don't get why they didn't set up to launch three successive integrated strikes with differing reloads from each carrier while Hiryu or Soryu does the CAP for the day.

[@thunderstruck6647]

They had planes that were supposed to be ready for if an American fleet was found but with no report of a fleet their armament was changed to attack Midway. They had a bunch of planes on CAP and as shown the attack from Midway’s planes was awful. During the rearmament process is when the reports of Yorktown came in and suddenly they had to rearm them again. In addition at that point they had to wait for the return flights to come in since they could launch and land at the same time.

[@mkaustralia7136]

The Japanese battle doctrine was to launch a full strike made up of a small part of each carrier’s aircraft. The US would get a full strike from one carrier. Obviously the Japanese method made for a much quicker launch to setting off for the target and less hanging about time for the first planes in the air. CAP was still provided. At Midway it had attacked the torpedo planes and was thus out of position for the dive bombers.

[@L.Pondera]

I think it's just a common miscommunication. The deck was full of rearmed and refueled planes waiting to take off, not that they were rearming on the deck.

[@rnp497]

OK I admit the idea of being in a Dive Bomber with a 30ft tail of fire is rock and/or roll.

[@marckyle5895]

Makes me wonder why they didn't make the Stuka shoot flames.

[@Ostenjager]

I’ve loved the SBD since I was a kid, having assembled a Revell model of one decades ago. None of the Navy dive bombers which came after the SBD had the beautiful lines that the SBD has. A great looking plane, that made a massive contribution to the war.

[@timwerner7771]

I scraped paint on our house for a month to raise the 98 cents to buy my SBD model. LOVE that plane

[@luckyguy600]

5 models here and the 1/20th scale one right above my head as we speak. A hell of a lady she was. Dont underestimate old 'Plain Jane' planes.

[@MrJinglejanglejingle]

25:46 German *and* Russian invasion of Poland. Let us not forget Russia's involvement in starting the Second World War.

[@jefferyindorf699]

Poland never will.

[@EdwardRLyons]

A correction at 33:42 -- the SBD-3 was delivered from Spring 1942, not 1943.

[@RANDALLBRIGGS]

Re "With their decks crowded" at about 38:06, that is a myth created by Mitsuo Fuchida. The Japanese decks were being used to recover, refuel, and re-launch the CAP Zeroes. At the moment the Dauntlesses began their dives, those decks were almost empty. The refuled, re-armed strike aircraft were below on the hangar deck. Look at pictures taken at the time. The Japanese carrier decks were virtually empty. Parshall and Tully, in "Shattered Sword," fully demolish Fuchida's self-serving story.

[@BTillman48]

Sa-lute! Excellent coverage and detail. In the 70s my father and I restored (with some help) the only airworthy Dauntless, actually an A-24B as an SBD-5. We flew it for a couple of years, and after three sales-trades it fetched up at the USAF Museum where it's displayed as a Banshee. I was fortunate to know Ed Heinemann pretty well. Just a grand gent with a wealth of knowledge and insight that he was always glad to share. (I was oafishly proud to tell him that the 318 holes in the dive-landing flaps were the diameter of a tennis ball--a revelation by my brother who dated a high school player).

[@benjaminfrazier5419]

I believe all of us of a certain age received and built that iconic Monogram SBD Dauntless model somewhere in our lives….#22!!!

[@Bob-b7x6v]

The total sacrifice of the Devastators at Midway allowed the gap the Dauntlesses needed to destroy the 4 IJN carriers.

[@aleccrombie7923]

It's not until you see the crew,you realise how big this truck is. 4 tons! How does it fly? What a war record . Impressed!!

[@ItsYourBoiS0niz]

6:52 i love how you put the plane scene from king kong in this bit since in the film they are Curtiss F8C Falcons

[@rconger24]

AT MIDWAY: " _Dauntless_ " was the courage of the VT- Devastator crews ! They gave it all- Lest we forget.

[@chadrowe8452]

What about the brave souls that flew vindicators or Buffalo brewsters?

[@MrTScolaro]

SBD-3 delivered in Spring of 1942, not 1943. The attack on Hiryu was launched from Enterprise not Yorktown.

[@RexsHangar]

Correct on both points, and an unacceptable level of error on my part. Note to self: don't record audio in a rush at 1am.

[@MrTScolaro]

Respect.

[@ggusta1]

I immediately had to stop and rewind when he said they were delivered in 43 just in time for midway... I must have read incredible victory by Walter Lord 10 times when I was a kid.

[@bobbenson6825]

Wonderful! I've been hoping for a deep dive on this, my favorite WWII plane. I had a Monogram Dauntless model back in the day that I played the heck out of; this brings back a lot of memories.

[@edrupp2318]

Great video! My Dad was a tail gunner in a Dauntless from '43-45, so I've always had a personal connection to this aircraft.

[@jvcoulter]

My father, too, well behind the push to Tokyo, performing submarine patrol reconnaissance around Espiritu Santo et. al.

[@edrupp2318]

@@jvcoulter That's awesome. My Dad did ASW patrols too. But he spent the war doing patrols around the Hawaiian Islands. As he used to say: "I spent the war in Hawaii. It was tough job, but somebody had to do it" 😁

[@ethanmckinney203]

The Production Engineering department at Douglas deserves much of the credit. You couldn't stamp out the complete Dauntless, but the ability to do cut-and-bend in a single stamping, and application of most efficient production techniques, made the Dauntless unreasonably efficient to produce.

[@Canopus44]

Great video, love seeing the development path of such a famous aircraft!! Couple of points: more recent study seems to show that the Japanese carrier decks were actually empty , not with a full strike force, as older accounts give. CAP patrols had to be constantly cycled to meet the multiple attacks by torpedo/bomber attacks from Midway and the US carriers, before the dive bombers arrived. And the torpedo bombers really didn't have the effect of pulling down CAP like older accounts give because the A6M had such a fast climb rate they could have gotten to the dive bombers altitude, if properly coordinated, which they weren't. The book "Shattered Sword" by John Parshall and Anthony Tully really go into this in great detail, a must read.

[@christopherwestern9223]

I perfer the longer videos. Like you have been, but if the two videos are both long, I'm ok with that. The longer the video is, the better. Helps pass the time without realizing it. But I am the type of person who likes the 1-2+ hour long videos, especially if it is informative.

[@mrc6182]

I'm the grandson of a WW2 U.S. Navy aviator who started his career flying PBY's on U-Boat patrol out of a base in Brazil before getting carrier-qualified and heading north in the Pacific with Spruance. He moved to fighters, flying first, Wildcats, then Hellcats. One story I remember was about some Navy dive bombers I'm assuming were SBD's. During one of the Pacific battles, a flight of five SBD's, heading back to their carrier after having dropped their bombs, were jumped by Zeros and proved to be quite formidable even way out of their element in this scenario! I'm assuming between the skill of the pilots and the accuracy of their rear gunners, two of the Zeros were downed and others fled the scene. Not a single SBD was lost. (one other remembrance. Even after they'd been replaced by Hellcats as the carrier-based frontline fighter, the Wildcats moved to the smaller escort carriers and remained in use throughout the war. The escort carriers were incapable of handling the much more powerful Hellcats.)

[@SQLRYAN]

Really enjoying this longer deep dive format videos. Great job!!

[@slmyatt]

My favorite Dauntless story was when Stanley W. “Swede” Vejtasa was jumped by Zeros, and went total fangs out. The rest is history.

[@mkunes2502]

My 99 year old uncle was in the rear seat, for 6 years. He has said that after having ridden every roller coaster, in America, none match the sensation of the dive. He STILL drives his minivan….TOO FAST!!!

[@admiraltiberius1989]

Such a fantastic warplane that was so good no one wanted to see it gone, it even doubled as a fighter sometimes. About as agile as a barn but absolutely rugged and durable, Zero pilots found out the hard way during the Solomons campaign that only a fool attacked a tight formation of SPDs.

[@archimedesfromteamfortress2]

Swede Vejtasa managed to down 3 Zeroes in his own SBD!

[@admiraltiberius1989]

@@archimedesfromteamfortress2 twin 50s up front would make a mess of a Zero if given half a chance

[@archimedesfromteamfortress2]

@@admiraltiberius1989 yeah, the zeroes were very light. An American floatplane (OS2U Kingfisher) managed to shoot down a Zero using its sole forward facing armament: a 7.62 mm Browning machine gun...

[@admiraltiberius1989]

@archimedesfromteamfortress2 I remember a story about a P-39 hitting a Zero with its 37mm cannon and it just went to pieces like so much confetti.

[@termiusprime]

​@admiraltiberius1989 The zero was so thin, that stepping on it dented the metal, so they had to use special step to get into the plane.

[@Otokichi786]

3:57 End of Battleship Lake Ad.

[@solusanimefan]

Heyyy Drachinfel name drop, love his content, and this content too of course.

[@konekillerking]

Rex, nice report. But it’s been well established that the Japanese carriers flight decks were not packed. Hangers were, but not decks. Please reference “Shattered Sword’s” account for flight log and photo details contradicting the pack deck myth.

[@patrickwentz8413]

Just a quick correction: on each of the slides showing the specifications of the SBD, its height was shown at 3'7" or 4 meters. I believe its actual height was 13'7". Great presentation, though.

[@chpet1655]

Thumbs up for splitting the videos into two parts. I just can’t stay focused that long and I think it’s the right way to approach things anyway.

[@williamgalbraith3621]

Thanx Rex! A very good deep dive on the development of one of my favorite WWII Navy aircraft! I'm liking the new format, it seems more polished and not as tense. You need to make your work life a bit easier where and when you can. So keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to the second video!

[@bobbiecrider6964]

0:33 That's why we replaced them with A-7E's also slow but deadly

[@ph89787]

By the time of the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. Only Enterprise’s VB-10 and Lexington’s VB-16 would still use the Dauntless. Damaging the carrier Jun’yō and help sink the Hiyo. Of the 26 aircraft launched, all 26 returned back to Task Force 58.

[@user-ff2iz5qc6l]

Admiral Jocko Clark did not like the SB2C. He kept the SBDs for as long as he could.

[@WatcherMovie008]

@@user-ff2iz5qc6l There a good reason why Navy pilots referred the SBD's successor as "Son of Bitch, Second Class"

[@marckyle5895]

@@WatcherMovie008 After the Helldiver and the Seamew, the Navy wanted nothing more to do with Curtiss-Wright. The single seat Seahawk was cancelled on V-J Day.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

That shot of the biplanes at 6:38 somehow brings to mind a certain movie from the early 1930s.

[@theblackbear211]

I've always been a fan of the SBD... since the 1960's

[@Idahoguy10157]

My aunt told me she worked at Douglas. In WW2. Assembling dive bombers. This was in Los Angeles.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully's book, Shattered Sword, argues convincingly that in fact the Japanese carriers flight decks were in fact essentially clear of aircraft when the Dauntless' turned up, the sircraft were in fact in the hangers being rearmed. It was bombs penetrating the flight decks and then going off in the midst of the aircraft that started the raging fires that knocked the three carriers out. That said, good video :-)

[@tomlindsay4629]

Dig the longer deep dive format. Fantastic bunch of photos, thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting!

[@bhumiriady]

I see a new Rex's Hangar video covering my fave WW2 dive bomber, instant watch for me. As always, I really enjoyed watching it so much. Looking forward to the next part of the series covering the SBD Dauntless.^^

[@reikawahara770]

So I named my first rooster after this plane, and the opening description was the PERFECT description of his personality. Thank you for that.

[@wacojones8062]

Very good presentation. I got to meet George Gay from Torpedo Squadron 8 at Oshkosh the SBD performance at Midway was one of the reasons he survived.

[@davidhatton583]

Fascinating how many planes world wide were just introduced in 1939- 1941. And it is definitely noteworthy that a lot of those planes relied on engines that were as recently developed as the airframes

[@johnking6252]

Back in the day the SBD was one of the model planes I had to build two times just because it was ....well the best. The Fokker triplane was the only other, because it came in a cool red color. Just saying 👍

[@mpersad]

A great follow up to the Fairy Swordfish video from earlier in the month,and I’m really looking to the service history video on the SBD. As always, a terrifically well researched, narrated and produced video.

[@DeltaDemon1]

Hey, when you're stuck with a Troll inside said broom closet, Fireball can be a wise, if desperate, choice.

[@badgerapocalyps2546]

Your videos are always informative and enjoyable. Your channel is the best!

[@randomnickify]

"Spectacular lack of success" is a phrase I intend to use in one of the company meetings in near future :D

[@Strawberry92fs]

just now realised I wasn't subscribed because I saw this brand new video show up on my home page. I've been really enjoying the content so I slurbslibed just now.

[@Law0086]

I used to have a band back around 2004, we called ourselves Subdue. Since strange abbreviations were somewhat popular then, we used SBD as ours. I wanted to use the SBD as our mascot but the others didn’t think too highly of the idea. 😅

[@rickb1973]

I figure that the trick with the Northrop BT-1 would have been to try to balance and utilize the aircraft's tendencies for the landing gear to ice up and the 30 foot torch of flames coming out of the exhaust pipes during a dive....Presto! A built in landing gear de-icing system.

[@danquinnell3502]

I like the way you think.

[@jean-yvescabon2892]

Yes I like this new format. Rex, I am always stunned by the information details and accuracy. I can't imagine how much work it must be to concatain all this is such attractive videos. I hope you get rewarded for your briliant work ! Thank you.

[@irondog068]

I think you should read the book "Shatterd Sword". The IJN aircraft carrier decks were not full of Japanese aircraft. Sadly, the Zeros "on the deck" was not really a think. The zero had an insane climb rate. It was more lack of fuel and ammunition or being rearmed under deck, which was IJN normal procedure.

[@migueldelacruz4799]

"drunk wizard trying to cast fireball in a broom closet" that was awesome. My grandpa on my dad's side flew these. He had great things to say about it.

[@petervollheim5703]

A very detailed abd well researched video. I have a family member who flew it during WW2. Much thanks.

[@reaper305LG]

Just so good. Love the video. One of my first models ever made as a kid. Iconic.

[@joemarshall9708]

Being a Marine. I loved and appreciated the humor and fact of the junk the Navy and other services didn't want was given to us.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

USMC Aviators flying the Dauntless in Combat Air Support for US Army Inf. In The Philippines in Fall 44 to 45. Infantry officers 1st Choice by far. No one better at accurate and brutally effective Combat Air Support. ANYWHERE! Joint Ops. Actually working in Wartime!

[@HootOwl513]

I read [in ''Semper Fi in the Sky'' -- I think] that the Marine SBDs were so effective supporting Army infantry in close air support in the PI, that word got up to MacArthur. He was enthused about decorating the ''A-24 squadrons'' until an aide told him those were Marine SBDs. Oh well, never mind. Marines get too much publicity already, Mac said.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

@@HootOwl513 Either he was joking or this made up. Again!

[@DanielESmith-iz7lx]

The intro, itself was priceless.

[@mikewazowski7024]

Last time I was this early the japanese still had carriers.

[@michaelwilson9483]

Great video! I'm pretty sure the SBDs were more than 3 feet tall, but once I saw it I couldn't stop seeing it! Keep up the great work!

[@PanzerDave]

Yet another xcellent video. Aside from the few notes in previous comments, I suggest that the Devastator attacks did not draw the CAP down to sea level, leaving the bombers free to attack. Based upon the timelines of the attacks, it appears that the Japanese had plenty of time to recover and reestablish their CPAs. There are suggestions that the US Navy initiated the story to bringing the CAPs to sea level for morale purposes. It would be most upsetting to learn that the loss of so many men and machines didn't accomplish much.

[@HeedTheLorax]

Stable flying cheese grater..LMFAO

[@ShawnBeckmann-f4h]

The Dauntless also had the lowest loss rate of any US Naval Aircraft in WW2 I've heard, Great Video by the way!

[@JacobT-1]

Congratulations on reaching 200k subscribers! Well deserved!

[@luckyguy600]

Once more ... a fantastic review of a aircraft that had guts. Not the best looking but pound for pound a hell of a super aircraft. Well done sir and great claer pictures too.

[@TallDude73]

Since you asked, videos of an hour or more are difficult to devote so much time to for me. I would find 6 videos of 10 minutes more palatable. I tend to put longer videos on a list to watch when I have time, and that time never comes. This is just me, you know by your numbers what gets watched.

[@Kiwi0Six]

I agree wholeheartedly. Although I do make a very concerted effort to watch all of Rex’s videos.

[@charlesmartin1121]

One might reasonably ask whether it should have been replaced by the Helldiver at all? Or just upgraded with a more powerful engine.

[@waywardscythe3358]

I like the new format! Great work as always.

[@jcwoodman5285]

Ive had a casual debate with myself over the most successful Dive Bomber of all time between the SBD & the Stuka. I'm trending SBD but myself has made persuasive Ju87 arguments based on sorties & service length... Though which type destroyed a greater value in target worth. I still say SBD🙂

[@maxsmodels]

Dump truck of destruction....perfect

[@stevekirk8546]

Outdated and slow but surprisingly effective - parallels with Royal Navy's Fairey Swordfish - even slower and more outdated than the SBD but circumstances lead to it remaining a very valuable asset. A fine video, I like this format.

[@christopher-h6n]

Like the format. Looking forward to the follow up.

[@paulbaker847]

The Barge has always been one of my favorites.

[@AnimarchyHistory]

Scratching Flat-Tops BABY!

[@jesseestrada8914]

Hey. Stop wasting time and get back to your job entertaining me with more content similar to this.

[@conradnelson5283]

My uncle flew and SBD at the start of the war was on the enterprise and at the battle of Midway. He was flying.CAP before the battle, and when he landed, somebody else jumped in and got his new parachute, took off and attacked the Japanese carriers.. he was always a little upset about that. He was also at the battle of Leyte As an LSO.

[@texhaines9957]

Thank you. I agree with the split in tech & use.

[@vblake530530]

I don’t know if it’s the Prettiest Ugly Plane or the Ugliest, Pretty Plane I’ve ever seen but I love it 🥰

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

The adrenalin was off the charts when you were lined up on a ship and diving straight down while releasing a thousand pounder! Pilots called this flying by your pants.

[@rackstraw]

32:26 Shoho: There's no Kill like Overkill.

[@dannycalley7777]

RS ..............the rookies getting some game time in ???

[@jamesbugbee9026]

Seal-clubbing the Shoho

[@jkorshak]

Important detail from the US Dauntless attack on the Japanese carriers at Midway. The Japanese carrier decks were mostly empty - the Japanese only cycling fighter aircraft while rearming and refueling their strike aircraft below decks after recovering the first aerial attack wave on Midway - and the following chaos below decks of first arming for another strike on Midway followed by the frantic rearming for ship attack after the discovery of American carriers. Nevertheless, another top notch and fascinating presentation of an iconic aircraft. Well done and thank you!👍

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

Flying by the seat of your pants was coined by pilots who were in a dive while G forces had them lifted out of the seat! Thanks for a great video.

[@MichaelDembinski]

Excellent video, I was surprised in the books section that there was no mention of The Dauntless Dive Bomber of World War II by Barrett Tillman (Airlife 1993), an excellent book.

[@alganhar1]

Couple of issues with the Midway part. 1) The Japanese CAP drawn down: Issue with this is that the SBD's arrived almost half an hour after the last of the torpedo bombers had been dealt with by the Japanese CAP. Plenty of time for the Zero's to get back up to their patrol altitude. What actually got them distracted were the USN Fighters escorting the SBD's. For some reason the CAP got fixated on them, all but ignoring the SBD's! 2) The Carriers decks were covered in aircraft: This has been thoroughly and completely debunked. In fact combat footage from the actual dive bombers show few to no aircraft on the decks of the Japanese carriers. The myth essentially came from a book written by a Japanese Author which happened to be one of, if not the only work translated into English in the early days of the historiography, and he was a high level Naval Aviator in the IJN at the time. Unfortunately he had a habit called 'making shit up', and was widely regarded by Japanese historians as an out and out liar. What IS true however is that the HANGERS of the Japanese carriers were absolutely full of aircraft being refuelled and rearmed, and more importantly, random ordnance because of the change from land attack to naval strike packages that had been ordered being underway. Basically those Hangers were raging infernos waiting to happen if a bomb happened to penetrate the essentially unarmoured decks of the Japanese carriers! Which of course happened.... with the patiently waiting infernos of exploderising flame and unstored ammunition lying about being unleashed as a result!

[@ypaulbrown]

Outstanding, one of my favorite WWII Planes

[@FD2003Abc]

Of all the narratives I have heard, I have not gotten a bigger horse-laugh than when you stated the "Dauntlesses ... committed the act of seal-clubbing the Japanese light carrier Shoho!"

[@hokehinson5987]

This plane though how great of a following it has it is antiquated junk compared to the ju 87.Stuka The ju 87 was huge heavy & slow but had much more technological advancements than the SBD. Read about the ju 87..it was quite an aircraft.