In the early years of World War II, dive bombers would contribute much to deciding how it would eventually all wash out. Among the many dive bombers at the time was the very famous American Douglas SBD Dauntless, which turned out to be one in the Pacific Theater.
The Dauntless proved that it was more than a name to reckon with during the June 1942 Battle of Midway, only half a year after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. In a series of daring attacks, dive-bombers flying Dauntlesses succeeded in sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers: the Kaga, Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryū. In the words of military aviation expert Christian D. Orr, “Of all the dive bombers on this list, the ‘slow but deadly’ Dauntless was the only true game-changer, one that turned the tide of the war, at least in the Pacific Theater.”
The success of the Dauntless at Midway was a turning point in the Pacific War, dealing a crippling blow to the Japanese Navy and halting their advance across the Pacific. The Dauntless would go on to sink more Japanese ships than any other Allied aircraft throughout the war.
But the Dauntless was not alone in its effectiveness as a dive bomber. Included in these were the Japanese Aichi D3A “Val” and the German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka. The D3A was the first Japanese warplane also to attack American targets during WWII; amongst other operations, it took part in the raids on Pearl Harbor and Clark Field in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Stuka “proved the efficacy of the dive bombing concept in real-world combat, fighting with the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion in December 1938,” says Orr.
On the British side, the Blackburn B-24 Skua and the Fairey Barracuda were memorable dive bombers that contributed to vital functions during wartime. The Skua flew its way into history as the first dive bomber to sink a capital ship: it sank the German cruiser Königsberg off the coast of Norway in April 1940. The Barracuda, introduced in 1943, was an aircraft capable of performing two diverse roles: torpedo bomber and dive bomber. Perhaps one of its most famous missions was Operation Tungsten in April 1944, with 42 Barracudas striking the German battleship Tirpitz, resulting in 16 hits, heavy damage, and casualties.
Probably the least known, yet extremely effective, dive bomber of the war was the Soviet Petlyakov Pe-2. As Orr points out, “[w]ith 11,427 units the Pe-2 was the most-produced dive bomber of any type. It was also the third most numerous of World War II’s twin-engine warplanes after the Ju 88 (15,000+) and the Wellington (11,462).” The combat record of the Pe-2 was excellent, and its production figures were impressive, too, with over 11,000 units, which makes it the most-produced dive bomber in the war, and the third most numerous twin-engine warplane, after the Ju 88 and the Wellington.
But in the end, and it is here that the story becomes compelling, it would be the Dauntless that would prove to be the most successful and influential dive bomber of World War II. In concert with its theater successes against enemy ships, the Dauntless was to be the only WWII bomber to maintain a positive kill ratio against enemy aircraft at 138 confirmed victories against just 43 losses. Quite conceivably, very little can compare with the ability of this monster to alter the course of the war, especially in the Pacific Theater.
Orr sums it up: “The Dauntless went down in history as being the only World War II bomber credited with a positive kill ratio against enemy aircraft: 138 to 43, now that’s quite a record.” Quite an achievement for the type because, as designed, it was essentially an aircraft for attacking surface targets and this was no less than a just reward for the outstanding crews.