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SB2C Helldiver, US Navy
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Designed in 1938 as a scout-bomber to replace the SB2U Vindicator dive-bomber, the SB2C Helldiver incorporated a larger fuel capacity, twenty millimeter cannons and an internal bomb-bay for a 1,000 lb. bomb. Due to stability problems and a series of prototype accidents, it was not until June 1942 that the first of over 5,500 production models rolled off the assembly line. Carrier trials in early 1943 were a disaster with many aircraft ending up in flight deck barriers because of landing gear failures and a bounce characteristic that prevented tail-hook engagement with the cross-deck cable. The SB2C also displayed a tendency to shed its wings in steep dives performed routinely by the SBD-3 Dauntless - another Navy dive-bomber that had been operating very successfully since 1940. The SB2U therefore became known as the "S.O.B. Second Class" (a play on SB2C). Jokingly, some pilots even recommended that they be turned into anchors. Still, the aircraft did gain respect and eventually outfitted most of the dive-bomber squadrons. The Helldiver's career was a series of successes and failures. In a raid on Rabaul a carrier-based squadron of SB2Cs sank two cruisers and a destroyer. During carrier raids on Truk, the same squadron sank 176,000 tons of Japanese shipping in 36 hours with the loss of only one plane to enemy action. Conversely, only five of fifty SB2Cs returned safely from an attack against the Japanese Fleet during the first Battle of the Philippine Sea with the majority ditching for lack of fuel. Of the SBD Dauntlesses launched on the same attack, only two failed to return safely - one to enemy fire and the other crashed on landing. Crew:
Pilot and observer
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