Research Help Needed - VS-2 SBD-3 of Leppla

[Robert Porter]

I am building the SBD-3 that John Leppla piloted during the Battle of Coral Sea. He flew off the Lexington and was one of 19 SBD's assigned to VS-2 at the time of the battle. His aircraft is listed as an SBD-3 in all references I could find. In the book "The Battle for Hell's Island" by Stephen Moore he quotes an interview with Liska the rear gunner that would indicate that Liska had a single .30 cal machine gun.

Yet in the table here it states that SBD-3's had twin .30 cal guns. Have to scroll quite a way down to see the table. It did not copy intact when I tried to paste it here. The source quoted there is Tillman.

Douglas SBD Dauntless Scout / Dive Bomber - Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

My kit contains both a single and double so my belief is that at the time of the battle Liska would have had a single in the rear seat, but possibly that was later upgraded to a double?

My second question has to do with squadron markings. The kit shows the markings as

Yet the best research I can find says that it would have been just S-## at the time of the battle with the leading 2 dropped. I was looking here for that info. Which is likely correct?

Researcher@Large - CV-2 USS Lexington - WWII Air Groups Again sorry you would need to scroll almost to the bottom to see what I saw.

Thanks in advance for any help clarifying these points for me!

 

[Capt. Vick]

Do you own the book "First Team"?

 

[Robert Porter]

Do you own the book "First Team"?

I do not, but it is on my short list!

 

[fubar57]

So.....if your kite is a late model, 2MGs. Any idea on the BuNo?

 

[Robert Porter]

View attachment 366101

So.....if your kite is a late model, 2MGs. Any idea on the BuNo?

No idea yet, I do know some of the publicity photos of the crew with an SBD were not his actual plane but rather a late model one that they painted to match. Looking at what records I can find on VS-2 the aircraft at Coral Sea came aboard in Early 42, at least the SBD's did. I am assuming it is an early model dash 3 that was later modified to the dual gun mount.

 

[Robert Porter]

This is from the Osprey Book but no BuNo I can find yet.

 

[fubar57]

BuNos here...........US Navy and US Marine Corps Military Aircraft Serial Numbers and Bureau Numbers--1911 to Present ............have fun

 

[Robert Porter]

I actually looked through that exact list. There were 19 SBD-3's assigned to VS-2 and the list only documents 3 or 4 of them, none of them the one in question. Also of note, appears VS-2 died with the Lexington, I can find no reference to that Squadron after the Battle of the Coral Sea. I know in the list you just sent, several SBD's were listed as sunk with the carrier.

 

[Robert Porter]

The very next aircraft position report from 15th October strikes VS-2 entirely and makes no mention of where any surviving aircraft went. The above is from the report dated 15th April 1942.

The following are the BuNo's I could find in the above link.

 

[fubar57]

Quite possibly one of these

 

[Robert Porter]

Thanks will start looking those and the others up one by one and see if I get any hits.

 

[fubar57]

Those are from this book...

U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Lost During World War II - Listed by Ship Attached Volume I

....one day I'll get it

 

[Capt. Vick]

God my brain is a sieve, I have to remember to look in first team Vol 1 for you. I remember the author...on wait forget it. I just remembered it was 99% about the fighter planes and pilots. Don't think they have the somewhat microscopic markings coverage of the scout and dive bombing planes as they do on the fighters. Sorry to get your hopes up.

 

[Robert Porter]

No worries, it is getting my appetite up for some more books!

Those are from this book...

U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Lost During World War II - Listed by Ship Attached Volume I

....one day I'll get it

Wowsa! Same here, but at 100USD for the 3 volume set it will be a bit...

 

[Wurger]

I have found in one of Polish book for the SBD plane a short info on the Leppla/Liska's fight on the May 7th 1942. There is stated the plane was of S-4 code. But I'm not sure if it isn't a mistake. Anyway the Polish text below and also an only pic I found that shows the SBD Dauntless of the VB and VS-2 squadrons on the flight deck of the Lexington in 1942 ( believing the caption ) . There can be noticed the one with "12" and it can be assumed it's just the 2-S-12 or just S-12.

 

[Wurger]

The image is quite well-known and is dated on 1942 as well. The S-9 and S-13 (?) codes are seen. So it is very likely the plane code was of the kind at that time.

 

[Robert Porter]

Thanks very much guys! I am pretty confident now that the code left off the leading 2!

 

[Wurger]

These two profiles I found via the net show two SBD-3 kites of the USS Lexington (CV 2) and dated on May 1942. Both with the shorter code numbers on a fuselage.

 

[Robert Porter]

Nice find! The kit art shows the longer form codes but everything I have seen and read seems to point to the shorter form being in use during the battle.

 

[Wurger]

You may have a look here ... Accurate Miniatures SDB-3 Dauntless

And something more ... Small Scale Military Headquarters - View topic - New Merit 1/18 DAUNTLESS DISCUSSION

and more ...

Liska posed with his single .30 cal ...

VS-2's after Action Report for May 8th, 1942 ... the point 1should be is interesting for you...

An opinion found there too ...

"Serial number 4547 IS S-12 that Merit chose to model. She was part of the very first batch of SBD-3's built for the US Navy beginning in 1940. As a matter of fact the line started with Sn# 4518 and ended (first batch) with 4691. Second batch was Sn# 3185-3384, and the third was 6492-6701. A total of 581 SBD-3's built. That makes S-12 (4547) the 29th SBD-3 off the El Segundo assembly line headed for the US Navy. Now comes the rub....some references state that the initial batch (4518-4691) came off the lines with single .30cal.....doubling to two .30 cal AFTER the first run> Now whether or not S-12 was converted is another question. Time and supplies may not have been available at the time....the markings changes and the availability of paint should tell you what state they were in at the time."