Image: SBD-2 recovered Lake Michigan 1994

Description: A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless after being raised from Lake Michigan in 1994. It is on display at the U.S. National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida (USA), since 2001. Official description: "Rolling off the Douglas Aircraft Company assembly line in El Segundo, California, in December 1940, SBD-2 Dauntless (BuNo 2106) was delivered to bombing squadron VB-2 at Naval Air Station (NAS) San Diego, California, on the last day of 1940. On 10 March 1942, flown by Lt(jg) Mark T. Whittier with AR2C Forest G. Stanley as his gunner, the aircraft joined 103 other planes from USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) in a raid against Japanese shipping at Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea. It was then transferred to Marine scout bombing squadron VMSB-241 on Midway Atoll, arriving there with eighteen other SBD-2s on 26 May 1942, on board the aircraft transport USS Kitty Hawk (APV-1). On the morning of 4 June 1942, with 1st Lt Daniel Iverson as pilot and PF1c Wallace Reid as rear gunner, the aircraft was one of sixteen SBD-2s of VMSB-241 launched to attack Japanese aircraft carriers to the west of Midway. After unsuccessfully attacking the carrier Hiryu, enemy fire holed the plane 219 times. It was one of only eight SBD-2s of VMSB-241 to return from the attack against the Japanese fleet. Returned to the US, it was repaired and eventually assigned to the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at NAS Glenview, Illinois. On the morning of 11 June 1943 Marine 2nd Lt Donald A. Douglas Jr. ditched the aircraft in the waters of Lake Michigan during an errant approach to the training carrier USS Sable (IX-81). Recovered in 1994, the aircraft underwent extensive restoration at the museum before being placed on public display in 2001. Elements of its original paint scheme when delivered to the fleet are still visible on its wings and tail surfaces." (shortened)
Title: SBD-2 recovered Lake Michigan 1994
Credit: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 26996 [1]
Author: U.S. Navy
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No