Initialy it was intended to seat the pilot, but a bunk was provided in the aft fuselage, for rescue operations or personnel transfer missions. It was armed with two 0.5in (12,7mm) M2 Browning Machine guns in the wings and had two underwing hardpoints to carry either 250lb (113kg) of bombs or, in the right wing a surface-scan radar. The wings were foldable and the main float was designed to have a small bomb bay, but apparently, it suffered from leaks and was, therefore, modified to acommodate an additional fuel tank. It was powered by one supercharged Wright R-1820-62 Cyclone 9-cylinder radial engine which delivered 1350hp (1007Kw) of power.
The first prototype flew for the first time on 16th February 1944 as XSC-1, at Curtiss plant in Columbus, Ohio. Flight testing continued until 28th April, when the last of the seven pre-production aircrafts took to the air. Nine more prototypes were built with a second seat and a slighlty modified cockpit, the SC-2, but it wasn't manufactured in numbers.
The first Seahawks were delivered on 22nd October 1944 to the USS Guam (CB-2) and, all of them were manufactured with conventional fixed wheeled landing gear and were flown to their respective Naval Air Station where they were fitted with their characteristics floats.
As it was able of fitting either floats or wheels, it was most probably the best American floatplane scout to serve in the World War 2. However, it entered service too late to see significant action in the war. In fact, it wasn't until June 1945 during the pre-invasion bombardment of Borneo that the Seahawk got involved in a military operation.
It served through the early postwar, until seaplanes were less desiderable by the US Navy and the types were gradually replaced by helicopters until 1948 the last of them was officially withdrawn and replaced.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SC_Seahawk
2. https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=831
thanks WD!
ReplyDeletebest regards,
mtutor