Download Slow but Deadly, the Dive-Bombers of World War II: Traditional American History Series, Book 5 AudioBook Free
The theme of this book is the exploration of the theory and practice of dive-bombing, which technique proved more correct than that of level-flight bombers and far better than air-launched torpedo episodes against surface boats. Additionally it is the author's purpose to come quickly to a more standard conclusion regarding the effectiveness of dive-bombing under actual fight conditions. In this regard the words and observations of several dive-bomber aviators have been integrated. While the most widely known dive-bomber was the Stuka, the most successful of the major dive-bombing airframes was definitely the American-made Douglas SBD Dauntless that could prove (like almost all of its type) to be Slow-moving But Lethal - hence the name of this book. Dive-bombing made a name for itself in the Second World Conflict; some might say it created a star. The 400-year-long naval dominance of the top battleship had been transferred almost over night to the plane carrier, thus demonstrating the adage that future wars are often fought with the data and weapons of days gone by. The Stuka Ju-87 and the Aichi D3As were among the best known plane among those who lived through the conflict. Which the Dauntless came out of the conflict as the leading purpose-designed dive-bomber may be credited just as much to the fact that the Axis lost the conflict and the Allies surfaced victorious. The SBD possessed certain innate characteristics that managed to get great. Slow-moving But Lethal, the SBD sank over 300,000 tons of enemy shipping and delivery in the Pacific theatre alone. It wiped out 18 warships from submarines to battleships, and it was the leading killer of plane carriers among all the weapons systems sinking six flattops almost entirely without assistance and harming several more. From May to November 1942, SBDs sank or handicapped 30 percent of the naval power of the Empire of Japan and decimated its carrier air arm leading to one expert to declare the Dauntless "the most severe foe of the Imperial Navy of Japan."
