Douglas Slow But Deadly SBD Dauntless

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It was August 7, 1942. The US and the Empire of the Rising Sun were at war. The Battle of Midway confirmed the American's growing strength and the Japanese willingness to fight to the bitter end.

Petty Officer Saburo Sakai and his squad of Zero fighters had planned a surprise attack on the US fleet that was on its way to support the amphibious assaults at Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands.

The Legendary Japanese Zero still reigned supreme in the Pacific. America was left trying to figure out how to create an aircraft that was up to the challenge of picking up a fight, toe to toe, with the agile and lethal Zero.

As Saburo Sakai and his squad approached Tulagi from above, his wingman spotted a lone group of American aircraft beneath them.

The Japanese decided to attack. A swift move from behind would be enough to create havoc in the American formation.

They wrongly assumed the enemy they were up against were US Grumman F4F fighters, an aircraft with no copilot. But they were in for a surprise…

As the Zero formation approached rapidly from behind at full throttle, Sakai realized he had committed a terrible mistake. At 100 yards from the targets, he quickly realized he was not fighting against fighters, but something worse... dive bombers with defensive armament.

But it was too late to abort. A second later, the American formation opened fire from each bomber's tail gunner's position.

The 30 caliber Browning machine guns tore apart the Japanese Zeros. The hunters scattered. As Sakai's cockpit exploded and he ejected, he had ample time to contemplate his error. He would live to remember the moment.

The Zeros had picked a fight with a formation of US Douglas SBD Dauntlesses... otherwise known as Slow But Deadly…

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