SBD-2 Dauntless

In May of 2001, the National Museum of Naval Aviation unveiled what is most likely the single most historic American combat aircraft on display anywhere in the world.  SBD-2 BuNo 2106 was the fourth -2 model built, and was initially assigned to VB-2 aboard Lexington.  2106 survived the Japanese onslaught at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and later traveled to a lonely island outpost with VMSB-241...an island named Midway.

It was here that 2106 sustained extensive damage taking part in one of the morning raids launched from the island on the Kido Butai.  The damage was extensive enough to place the aircraft out of commission for the duration of the battle.  Her ultimate fate was a ditching in the cold, fresh water of Lake Michigan during carrier landing practice.  Here she lay for fifty years until discovered in the early 1990s.

Recovered and restored to her former glory, 2106 stands alone as not just the earliest surviving SBD Dauntless...she is the sole extant aircraft known to have been at both Pearl Harbor and Midway...two of the most important chapters in our country's history.

I am pleased to be able to provide this wonderfully thorough walkaround courtesy of Owen Miller- you will see pictures of him in this series, and my heartfelt thanks go out to Owen for the fantastic material he has provided.