I've read that the SBD was one of the very few bombers with a positive air-to-air kill ratio, but I can't vouch for that claim and so am very amenable to correction.
The prowess of the SBD as an ersatz fighter is greatly exaggerated.
A large part of the SBDs claim to fame is the battle of Coral Sea. I was always puzzled by the extremely high USN claims for Zeros shot down during this battle. If these numbers were remotely true the Zero easily wins the title of the worst fighter of WWII. In fact, it would qualify as one of the worst aircraft of all time. A pilot would be safer in a BE2 flying over the Western Front during Bloody April.
A while ago I did an accounting for the Zeros at Coral Sea on May 8 based on Lundstrom's book "The First Team". The claims of Zeros shot down by the USN were extraordinarily high, a total of 32 plus an Me 109! Clearly this could not be the case Zeros considering that the Zuikaku started the day with 19 operational Zeros while the Shokaku started with 18 for a total of 37.
Each of the carriers contributed 9 Zeros for bomber escort with the rest reserved for CAP. During the battle over the Japanese force SDBs claimed 11 Zeros destroyed with the F4Fs claiming 4 more.
The reality was far different. Two of Shokaku's CAP Zeros were shot down with both pilots killed and 3 accompanied her as CAP as she withdrew from the battle. I am not sure what their ultimate fate was. I presume they ditched. The remainder landed on Zuikaku. None of Zuikaku's CAP were shot down. Lundstrom credits the 2 Zeros shot down to F4Fs. Note that only 16 of the 19 Zeros actually took part in the battle.
Of the Zeros accompanying the strike, none were shot down, 1 ditched and 3 landed on Zuikaku but were pushed over the side to make room for incoming aircraft. The other 14 all landed safely on Zuikaku. In contrast, the F4Fs claimed 1 Me 109 and 9 Zeros shot down with the SDBs claiming a further 6 Zeros. To quote Lundstrom "
From a correlation of Japanese and American sources, it appears reasonable that the F4Fs actually shot down no Zeros , but perhaps splashed three dive bombers and one torpedo plane, while the SBD crews accounted for no Zeros, but downed one dive bomber and five torpedo planes – total ten Japanese aircraft destroyed by aerial engagement. American anti aircraft fire from the ships likely destroyed one dive bomber and two torpedo planes." My emphasis in bold.
On that day the SBDs claimed to have shot down 17 Zeros 1 Val and 1 Kate. The reality according to Lundstrom was 0 Zeroes 1 Val and 5 Kates.
Going back to the previous day and the attack on Shoho the SBDs claimed to have shot down 5 Type 96s and 1 Val. The reality was 0 Type 96s and 0 Vals. F4F did shoot down 1 Zero and 2 Type 96s.
In the battles leading up to Coral Sea the SBDs claimed to have shot down 6 Type 96s when in fact they shot down 0.
Total SBD claims up to and including Carol Sea:
17 Zeroes actual
0
11 Type 96 actual
0
2 Vals actual 1
1 Kate actual 5
31 total actual 6
For the entire war SBDs claimed to have shot down 75 fighters and 39 bombers vs a loss of 40 SBDs in air to air. The above numbers put a serious dent in those claims
A summary of the Japanese Attack on TF 17 at Coral Sea where the SBDs were used as low-level fighters:
F4Fs
20 participating 3 shot down
Zeros 9 claimed 0 shot down
Me 109 1 claimed 0 shot down
Vals 4 claimed 3 shot down
Kates 1 claimed 1 shot down
SDBs
23 participating 5 shot down
Zeros 6 claimed 0 shot down
Vals 1 claimed 1 shot down
Kates 1 claimed 5 shot down
The Zuikaku finished the day with 24 fully operational Zeros, 1 easily repaired Zero and at least 2 heavily damaged Zeros. That leaves 1 not specifically accounted for by Lundstrom, which was likely a badly damaged Zero aboard the Zuikaku.
In summary the F4Fs claimed to have shot down 13 Zeros (and a 109) when in actual fact they shot down
2 and the SDBs claimed 17 Zeros when in fact they shot down
zero Zeros. With 3 of Zuikaku's Zeros remaining on deck during the battles over the Japanese task force, if the claims are taken at face value the USN shot down virtually every Zero they saw. This was plainly not the case. The incredible over claiming of Zeros (a factor of 15 to 1) can be attributed to two factors: the USN overall over claimed by a factor of almost 4 and they tended to claim everything they shot at was a Zero. To be fair the Japanese pilots were even more optimist in their claims.
I haven't had the chance to look at the numbers at Midway in detail where the Japanese did lose 13 Zeros. Lundstrom credits 12 of those to F4Fs with 1 possibly shot down by an SBD or TBD.
