Pacific Warrior – Dauntless dive-bombers deliver under fire

The Planes of Fame SBD-5 Dauntless flies over the California desert with John Maloney at the stick and John Romain manning the twin .50-calibers. This rare dive-bomber is a combat survivor that flew with the Royal New Zealand Air Corps in the South Pacific Russell Islands. (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicturecompany)

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The 18 scout bombers approached Oahu that Sunday morning, flying in pairs to cover the Eastern Hemisphere from their carrier, USS Enterprise. “The Big E” had just delivered Marine Corps fighters to Wake Island, and Vice Adm. W. F. Halsey was taking no chances. He had operated his task force on a war footing since the previous month, even when returning to Hawaiian waters. Cmdr. Howard Young was approaching Pearl Harbor at about 0800 when...

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