Navy SBD-3, 4, 5, Army A-24 Douglas “Dauntless”

Aeroplane identification poster, published 1942

63 x 47 cm

A particularly unusual style of aeroplane identification poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes, this series – and we have several in this series; view them here – have a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view.

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD (“Scout Bomber Douglas”) was the United States Navy”s main carrier-based scout/dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

During Midway, four squadrons of Dauntless dive bombers attacked and sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese fleet carriers present, disabling three of them in the span of just six minutes (Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū) and, later in the day, Hiryū.

During its combat service, the SBD proved to be an excellent naval scout plane and dive bomber. It possessed long range, good handling characteristics, manoeuvrability, potent bomb load, great diving characteristics from the perforated dive brakes, good defensive armament, and ruggedness.

Condition: generally very good.

If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.