The SBD Dauntless, nicknamed “Slow But Deadly” by its pilots, is best remembered for its performance at the Battle of Midway, where the dive bomber was credited with sinking four Japanese ...

When one thinks of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier operations in the months leading up to the Battle of Midway, one name that ... much devoted to fighters as to dive bombers. John Arthur Leppla was ...

and Helldiver dive bombers rolled off American assembly lines in numbers unmatched by the Japanese. During the Battle of Midway itself, Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo fatally hesitated in ...

On the eve of the Battle of Midway, Torpedo Squadron Eight’s skipper ... will be displayed alongside a Dauntless dive bomber and Wildcat fighter, honoring the men and airplanes who fought ...

The SBDs, however, were credited with downing a Japanese D3A dive bomber and five B5N torpedo bombers. Although the Battle of the Coral ... decisive U.S. victory at Midway on June 4, 1942.

Navy pilot John Leppla was credited with shooting down five Japanese aircraft in aerial combat before he was shot down and declared Missing in Action.