Tough to fly, poorly
designed, and delivered too slowly, the early models of the Curtiss
SB2C would have come somewhere near the top of most lists of "Worst
Aircraft of
World War Two." Of course, that judgement is no reflection on the crews
who had to fly "The Beast," who were as brave, skilled, and resourceful
as any other pilots - perhaps more so!
But since its "teething" came under the scrutiny of wartime, some of the initial deficiencies, were compared to it predecessor, the SBD. Among these criticisms were:
The later models corrected these items which improved its handling, strengthened the structure, larger tail and automatic slots remedied the stall characteristics. Despite its size, the SB2C was much faster than the SBD it replaced. It could keep up with the cruise speed of the fighters. It also had substantially increased range over its predecessor. Unlike the SBD, the SB2C also had the added advantage of having folding wings and twin 20mm cannons. Although production problems persisted throughout its initial combat service, pilots soon changed their minds about the potency of the Helldiver.
The Curtiss aircraft manufacturing company produced 29, 269 aircraft during the war. They also produced 142,840 aircraft engines and 146,468 electric propellers. Among the aircraft it produced were the P-40, the C-46 and 7140 SB2C Helldivers. After WWII, the company never sought any more significant military business, andI have been privileged to receive an email from Bob Barnes, a Helldiver pilot in World War Two. He offers this view of the plane:
I really feel that some websites and Mr. Tillman's book were unjustly critical of the Helldiver. Apparently the early SB2C-1's, as the first built, had their problems and probably as a result I think there was a reluctance of some of the commanders to accept the Helldiver as a replacement for the reliable SBD Dauntless. The SB2C-3's that came out were much improved. From my experience it was a great dive bomber. It was faster than the SBD, easily carried 1000 lb bombs, could carry drop fuel tanks for long range missions. On one mission they needed more fighters to strafe an airfield, so they hung two pods of dual 50 cal machine guns under the wings. These were in addition to the two 20mm cannons and the 500 lb bomb already on our Helldivers. It was a very versatile aircraft.More of Mr. Barnes' experiences flying the Helldiver follows below.
The first Navy squadron, VS-9, to be equipped was in December, 1942.
Introduced in 1943, the SB2C-1C incorporated several changes from the original, including:
| Variant | Notes/Key Modifications | Dates | # Curtiss SB2C- |
# Fair- child SBF- |
# C.C.F. SBW- |
TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XSB2C-1 | R-2600-8 engine, 3-bladed prop, two cowling guns | first flight 12/40 | - | - | - | - |
| SB2C-1 | Larger fin & rudder, more fuel capacity, Four wing-mounted .50 cal. guns | first flight 06/42 | 200 | 50 | 66 | 316 |
| A25-A | Army version, w/o carrier gear. Incl. 410 SB2C-1A to USMC | - | 900 | - | - | 900 |
| SB2C-1C | Two 20mm cannon, first to fly in combat | Rabaul 11/43 | 778 | - | - | 778 |
| XSB2C-2 | float plane experiment | - | - | - | - | - |
| SB2C-3 | Dash-20 engine, 4-bladed prop, Incl. SB2C-3E. Max speed 293 MPH | appeared early 1944 | 1,112 | 150 | 413 | 1,675 |
| SB2C-4 | Perforated dive flaps, extra wing fittings. Incl. SB2C-4E | appeared mid 1944 | 2,045 | 100 | 270 | 2,415 |
| SB2C-5 | Slightly more fuel capacity | delivered Feb. 1945 | 970 | - | 86 | 1,056 |
| SB2C-6 | Dash-28 engine, longer fuselage | Cancelled, none built | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| SB2C TOTAL | 6,005 | 300 | 835 | 7,140 | ||
For the next four months, the Helldivers of VB-17 took part in strikes against Tarawa, Nauru, New Ireland, Truk, and the Marshalls. Lt. Cdr. Jeff Norman succeeded Vose as CO, when Vose was re-assigned stateside.
By this date, June 20, 1944, five VB squadrons, operating from Yorktown, Hornet, Bunker Hill, Wasp, and Essex, were equipped with Helldivers. That afternoon four of these five carriers (all but Essex,) launched 52 Curtiss dive bombers toward the 300-mile distant Japanese fleet. Forty-three of the Helldivers didn't return. While only four were lost in combat, 35 ditched for lack of fuel, and four more crashed onto US Navy ships. Most of the crewmen survived; 104 men took off in Helldivers that day; only 18 didn't make. Most of those who ditched were fished out of the water by efficient search and rescue operations.
Bob Barnes experiences during the Leyte Gulf battle:
On Oct 24 half of our Air Group was launched on a long range search for the Southern Force. The leader was the VB-20 CO CDR R. E. Riera and I flew in his division. Extra fuel tanks were hung under the wings of the Helldivers. We had 12 dive bombers, and about the same number of torpedo planes from VT-20 and fighter cover from VF-20.We found the southern group. What a sight! 2 battleships accompanied by several cruisers and destroyers. Something you dream about as dive bomber pilot. After this information was radioed back to our carrier we started our attack. The dive bombers start from about 12000 feet and dove straight down, the torpedo planes came in lower and the fighters strafed. The anti-aircraft was terrific. Instead of the usual red, it was all colors. Apparently each ship had different colors to track their shells. We damaged both battleships with bomb hits. The VF-20 CO CDR Fred Bakutis was shot down and landed his plane in the water. One of our VB-20 planes dropped him a larger raft. He drifted for 7 days before being picked up by a US submarine. The fleet battles were so intense there was no time to try to rescue him.
In the afternoon our second wave of planes from VB-20 was launched against the middle Japanese Task Group consisting of the super battleship Musashi. Many air groups pounded this naval force all day and the Musashi was eventually sunk.
The next morning Oct 25, l944 we were launched before daylight with 12 VB-20 Helldivers with CDR Riera leading the group of VF and VT aircraft. I was again in the CO's Division of the first 6 aircraft. Once airborne we learned of our destination, the Northern Japanese Task Group. We heard a search plane over this Japanese Force describe 4 carriers with cruiser and destroyer escorts, heard the words "Carriers are turning into the wind to their launch aircraft." This was going to be even bigger than the day before. As it became light and we approached the Japanese, what a sight. It looked like the whole Japanese Navy and this was our target. As Air Groups from other US Carriers were arriving also, the target coordinator assigned VB-20, VT-20 and VF-20 one of the Japanese carriers, the Zuikaku, to attack. Once again our Helldivers peeled off one at a time from 12000 feet and dived straight down on the Zuikaku. Numerous bomb hits were scored.
The AA was the most intense I have ever seen with all ships firing everything they had at our aircraft. After releasing our bomb we pulled out as low as we could near the water to avoid the AA. This meant flying out of the middle of the enemy ships, while every ship you flew by was shooting at you. Believe me the sky was solid red with AA. Continued attacks by other Air Groups during the day eventually finished the Japanese carriers. After our attack we rendevoused outside the Japanese Task Force and headed for the Enterprise. I got a direct bomb hit on the battleship the first day Oct 24 and a bomb hit on the Japanese carrier on the mission Oct 25. Our squadron had many rough days but those two days were without a doubt the worst days of combat.
We headed for Formosa (Taiwan) to attack a very large Japanese airfield. We headed in with VB-20 leading the way under CDR Riera and VT-20 and VF-20 for fighter cover. As we got close to the target and ready to peel off for our dive we heard the fighters on the radio say 7 Zekes were heading to attack. I switched gas tanks to have a full tank and peeled off. On the way down (straight down) I was concentrating on the target, wind etc. when I heard a tremendous explosion. The plane shook and at first I thought I had forgotten to switch tanks and the empty tank had caused the engine to backfire.Here I was, in a dive, through heavy anti-aircraft fire and Jap fighters chasing me. I switched tanks again. I released the bomb, pulled out and the engine quit. In the meantime my rear seat aircrewman confirmed we had been hit in the tail by AA. I quickly checked my fuel tanks and then realized I had already switched tanks and in the heat of the moment switched back to the low tank. Switching back to the full tank the engine started. What a relief! I headed for our rendevous for the return to the Enterprise. After landing the plane had a large hole in the vertical stabilizer from the AA that had also exploded and sprayed shrapnel holes all over the rear of the Helldiver.
USAF Museum at WPAFB page on A-25 variant
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