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Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
Carrier-based dive bomber aircraft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy (USN), in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few survivors are extant.
SB2C Helldiver A-25 Shrike | |
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A Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in tricolor scheme and tail markings for VB-80, operating off USS Hancock, February 1945 | |
Role | Dive bomber |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Curtiss-Wright |
Built by |
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First flight | 18 December 1940 |
Introduction | December 1942 |
Retired | 1959 (Italy) |
Primary users | United States Navy |
Produced | 1943–1945 |
Number built | 7,140 |
Developed into | Curtiss XSB3C |
Initially poor handling characteristics and late modifications caused lengthy delays to production and deployment, to the extent that it was investigated by the Truman Committee, which turned in a scathing report. This contributed to the decline of Curtiss as a company. Neither pilots nor aircraft carrier skippers seemed to like it.[1] Nevertheless, the type was faster than the Dauntless, and by the end of the Pacific War, the Helldiver had become the main dive bomber and attack aircraft on USN carriers.[1]
By the time a land-based variant, known as the A-25 Shrike, became available in late 1943, the Western Allied air forces had abandoned dedicated dive-bombers. A majority of A-25s delivered to the US Army Air Forces were transferred to the US Marine Corps, which used the type only in one side campaign and non-combat roles. The British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force also cancelled substantial orders,[2] retaining only a few aircraft for research purposes.
Nicknames for the aircraft included "Big-Tailed Beast" or just "Beast",[3] "Two-Cee", and "Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class"; the latter nickname was derived from the name SB2C and the aircraft's reputation for having difficult handling characteristics.[4]