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Curtiss SB2C Helldiver: The Last Dive BomberAviation History | Single Page | 10 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post On the whole, American servicemen enjoyed an overwhelming superiority in the quality as well as the quantity of weaponry during World War II. The legendary reputations of the jeep, Douglas C-47, M-1 Garand rifle and North American P-51 Mustang, for example, were all well-deserved. Some American weapons fell short of expectations, however. One notable example was a dive bomber developed by Curtiss for the U.S. Navy, the SB2C Helldiver. Subscribe Today
By and large, the aircraft that operated from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers after 1942 were markedly superior to their Japanese counterparts. That opinion was shared by Britain's Naval Air Arm, which operated numerous Grumman Wildcats, Hellcats and Avengers, as well as Vought Corsairs, from its carriers. It is significant, however, that the Royal Navy rejected the Helldiver for combat service, even while it continued to use the antediluvian Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber until the end of the war. Indeed, so disappointing was the SB2C's performance that Captain Joseph J. Clark, commanding officer of USS Yorktown–one of the first carriers on which the aircraft was deployed–recommended that it be withdrawn from service and production canceled. It is also interesting to note that a Douglas SBD Dauntless, rather than an SB2C, has been preserved in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., to represent a World War II-era Navy dive bomber. The Curtiss SB2C was the last of a line of aircraft developed for the U.S. Navy specifically for the role of dive-bombing. That tactic was first used by a Marine aviator, Lieutenant (later Brig. Gen.) Lawson H.M. Sanderson, during operations in Haiti in 1919. Up until that time, aircraft had dropped their bombs from a level attitude. Marine fliers found that they could achieve a far greater degree of precision by releasing their bombs while aiming their planes directly at their targets in a steep dive of 70 degrees or more. Dive-bombing was officially adopted by the Navy as a regular part of its operational repertoire in 1928. The U.S. Army Air Corps was convinced that it could hit any target from high altitude by means of level bombing, using precision optical bombsights. That belief seemed to be justified by Brig. Gen. William 'Billy' Mitchell's highly publicized bombing of captured German warships in June 1921. Those targets, however, had been immobile. The Navy believed that a relatively small moving target, like a warship taking evasive action, would be virtually impossible to hit by level bombing. Naval aviators felt that pinpoint dive-bombing attacks, delivered simultaneously with coordinated low-level torpedo-plane attacks, would be the most effective method of dealing with an enemy fleet. By the same token, the Marines believed that dive-bombing afforded the best available way to provide close air support without endangering their own ground troops. Another reason the dive-bombing technique held a greater appeal for the Navy than for the Army was the fundamental differences in the two services' operational requirements. Army bombers could be built with unlimited size and load-carrying ability. If the power of available engines was insufficient, the Army could simply build the planes with two, three, four or more engines. If an airfield was too short for the operation of such large aircraft, the Army could simply lengthen the runway. Naval aircraft, in contrast, were restricted both in size and in the number of bombs they could carry because of the length of the aircraft carrier flight decks from which they operated. Naval aviation tactics therefore emphasized the accurate placement of a relatively small payload rather than smothering the target with as large a bombload as possible. The same principle held true for Marine aviation's role in tactical close air support. Initially, Navy scouting and fighter aircraft carried out dive-bombing missions. The first airplane designed specifically as a dive bomber was built by the Curtiss division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Curtiss had been designing aircraft for the Navy since 1911, after Eugene Ely used one of Glenn H. Curtiss' planes to make the first takeoff from a ship–the cruiser Birmingham–on November 14, 1910, followed by the first shipboard landing, on the cruiser Pennsylvania, on January 18, 1911. In 1928, Curtiss redesigned its F8C-1–a Marine version of the Falcon series of two-seat fighter-bombers–with a more compact and robust airframe, and the new 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine. In spite of the fact that prototype XF8C-2 crashed on December 3, 1928, just days after its first flight, Curtiss built an identical plane that satisfied the Navy enough to achieve production status as the F8C-4. It was the first of three Curtiss designs to be called Helldiver. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Aircraft, Amphibious Operations, Aviation History, Historical Conflicts, World War II
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10 Comments to “Curtiss SB2C Helldiver: The Last Dive Bomber”
I was a radio/gunner aboard SB2Cs. If ever a hack job can be done on an aircraft you did it on this is one. In fact you even castigate the manufacturer. You provided no evidence, only innuendo and hearsay. You said that the F6-F and The F4-U carried the same weight of bombs as the SB2C. – Fat chance.
The SB2C sank more Japanese shipping that any other aircarft during the war. I take it you were not around when this all happened.
I'm sick and tired of these writers all jumping on the beat down the Helldiver movement. It always got me home.
By Robert Folsom on Jan 25, 2009 at 3:21 pm
My father LCDR Raymond R Andreason was a pilot who flew with Carrier Air Group 12 aboard the USS Randolph CV-15. He received 2 air medals and 3 battle stars for action during the invasion of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and carrier strikes against mainland Japan. He always spoke highly of the SB2C Helldiver. He said it was an exacting plane to fly but he would not speak ill of it. The latter versions had the major bugs worked out of it.
In 1950 the French Navy bought 110 SB2C-5 Helldivers to replace the obsolete SBD-5 that had been flying in combat in Viet Nam. The French considered the Helldiver an obviously good choice to replace the SBD. The French flew the Helldiver from 1951 to 1958.
By Steve Andreason on Feb 11, 2009 at 12:25 am
Well done article about the SB2c. I did not realize how many were lost during the strike on Ozawa's carriers in the battle of the Phillepines sea. 42 out of 51 aircraft is a horrendous 84 % loss rate, but it still wasn't the worst. On June 4th, 1942 three US carriers launched 44 TBD Douglas Devestator torpedo bombers and 38 planes, or 86 % were shot down.
By david treemarcki on May 2, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Nice article. I found it after rereading a newspaper clipping from my father's things, headlined, "Army Pilot Lands Plane on Track at Beauah Park," the first paragraph: "Spectators at Beaulah Park racing oval, near Coumbus, got an unexpected speed exhibition Monday, which topped anything the horses did." Then,
"Flying a signle engined A-25 dive bomber from Patterson Field, near Dayton, Ohio, Capt. R. F. Bailey, a US Army pilot, ran low on gasoline. He lookedd for a possible landing field and saw the race track. Captain Bailey swung his plane into the wind, came over the fence at 90 miles an hour, and landed in the home stretch of the race track. He set his brakes, skidded to a stop in front of the grandstand. The finish wire damaged a wingtip and the propeller, but no one was hurt. Captain Bailey arrived at teh Youngstown Municipal Airport Sunday afternoon. He remained here overnight."
Too funny. This is from the Youngstown Vindicator and though not dated, I would presume it is from the early 40's, prior to Patterson Field merging and becoming Wright-Patterson. Dad was a test pilot in the Army Air Corps and then flew B-17s and P-51s overseas during the War. He retired as an AF command pilot in 1971. I've just always loved this story. Guess we'll never know if he was really low on gasoline … Cheers!
By Karen Bailey Gearhart on May 9, 2009 at 5:40 pm
That's Beulah Park, sorry. And for the other errors missed in my speed typing … like Father, like …
By Karen Bailey Gearhart on May 9, 2009 at 5:47 pm
@ Robert Folsom, I believe you sir, maybe the criticisms that the helldiver received was when the prototypes were surfacing such as the Xsb2c-1…. but when the sb2c 3s started wreaking havoc, all changed. I'm a big fan of the helldiver, and wish i could fly the last one alive today….
By Gerry on May 19, 2009 at 3:14 am
I am the author of 'TWO AND A HALF MISSIONS, MAX'. I flew in S2Cs in the Atlantic in 1945. The story I wrote is factual and is logged in the history of the USS Guadalcanal, CVE 60. On my first bombing mission, we blew up a tanker headed for Germany from Argentina. My brother was in the Field Artilery in Germany. I hoped the fuel we stopped from getting to Germany would help close that war off and my brother would come home safe. The SB2C was a hydraulic nightmare to begin with but ended up the biggest winner in the Pacific.
I flew in the last remaing SB2C from Midland Texas to Fredricksburg Texas to our reunion in 1996. Thanks to Ted Short , of the Confederate (Now Consolidated) Airforce.
By Gerald W. Crisman on Jun 29, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Really a fabulous article.well done.
By lalpri on Jul 2, 2009 at 4:13 am
I flew in SB2C-4's and -5's from 1944 to 1950 (from 1946 to 1950 in the"Weekend Warriors" U.S.Navy Reserves.) I'm still around to tell you that the the Helldiver got me home alive and in one piece every time. Yeah, a few scratches and a few bruises. You know, band-aid stuff.
By the way, the Confederate Air Force did change it's name, but not to the "Consolidated" Air Force. The name was changed to the "Commemorative" Air Force, and that's the name it uses to this day. It's a great organization. It owns the only flyable SB2C in the world, based in Midland, Texas.
By Donald Schulman on Sep 8, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I am one of just an extremely few who actually fly in the last remaining SB2C-5 today. I love the plane and while I was not around to stand up for freedom at the time of the Helldivers height of use, but being a retired disabled combat veteran (US Navy Combat Photographer) I have seen my share of combat in moder aircraft and helicopters that I can tell you a good solid machine when I see one and fly in one. I am a crewmember on the Helldiver today and Col in the CAF, the Helldiver is part of the West Texas Wing of the Commemorative airforce and is hangered in Houston Texas. It is a beautiful aircraft and a prime example and reminder of the courage and dedication given to us by the greatest generation of our time.
By Chet Falkenhainer on Dec 11, 2009 at 3:50 pm