Curtiss SBC Helldiver, part two. The Helldiver with the USMC.

 

The Helldiver was also used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC). A single SBC-3 was received in 1938 by the VMF-2 which was employed as a squadron hack at Naval Air Station San Diego, California. That machine was sent to Battle Fleet Pool in June 1939. 

The prototype of the SBC-4, called XSBC-4, was also used as a staff transport for Headquarters Marine Corps. This machine survived until 31st August 1944 when it was written off the inventory while serving at NAS Kodiak, Alaska.

Later, in January 1940, the USMC had four SBC-4 in inventory. Two of them were based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Quantico, Virginia, one was assigned to VMF-1 and the second was serving with Marine Utility Squadron 1 (VMJ-1). The other two were based at NAS San  Diego. One SBC-4 was assigned to VMF-2 and the second to VMJ-2. 

By 7th December 1941, the USMC had a total of 23 SBC-4 in inventory, twelve of them assigned to observation squadrons (VMO).

Marine Observation Squadron 151 (VMO-151) was sent to Tafuna airfield, in the American Samoa, on 9th May 1942, fully equipped with the SBC-4. It was there, at Tafuna where a second observation was formed, the VMO-155 on 1st October 1942 by taking half of the VMO-151's personnel and machines. This new squadron, however, was sent back to the United States on 8th December 1942 to be reformed and the remaining personnel was sent to Guadalcanal Island.

The SBC-4s in VMO-151 were replaced in December 1942 by the Douglas SBD Dauntless and by June 1943 they were fully equipped with the Dauntless. By that time they had moved to Uvea island, in Wallis Group, New Caledonia, leaving their SBC-4s behind. 

The last report of a SBC-4 serving with the VMO-151 was dated on 1st June 1943.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver

2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 151 - SBC Helldiver in Action

3. https://www.valka.cz/Curtiss-SBC-Helldiver-t45473

Pics re-drawn from:

http://wings-aviation.ch/53-Military-Aircraft-in-Detail/Curtiss-Helldiver/Attack.htm

Curtiss SBC Helldiver, part one. The Helldiver in the US Navy

 

A contract was signed in August 1936 by the US Navy for the delivery of 83 SBC-3 (Curtiss Model 77A - according to the internal denominations given by Curtiss). On 17th July 1937, their delivery process began, with the first aircraft being deployed with Scouting Squadron Five (VS-5) assigned, theoretically, on board of USS Yorktown (CV-5), however, as Yorktown was commissioned until 30th September 1937, they remained on land, while the ship underwent sea trials. It wasn't until 10th December that same year when the VS-5 was embarked on the Yorktown, where the Helldivers served until 1940 when they were replaced by the Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless. 

By June 1938 three of the five scouting squadrons assigned to aircraft carriers (USS Enterprise -CV-6, USS Yorktown - CV-5 and USS Saratoga - CV-3), were equipped with the Helldiver, while the other two were equipped with the Vought SBU-1. 

A single SBC-3 was kept by Curtiss and re-engined with a 750 hp Wright R-1820-22 nine cylinder radial engine. It received the denomination of XSBC-4, which served as the prototype for the SBC-4. 

An initial contract was signed for a batch of 58 SBC-4, on 5th January 1938, followed by two additional contracts, one for 31 Helldivers on 27th July 1938, and a third one for 35 more on 13th August 1938, making a total of 124 contracted aircraft, powered all of them by the Wright R-1820-24 radial engine, yielding 850 hp of power.

Scouting Squadron 2 (VS-2), on board of USS Lexington (CV-2) was the first one to receive the SBC-4 Helldiver, replacing their Vought SBU-1s. By 26th June 1939, VS-2 was completely equipped with 21 SBC-4s. The Lexington was the only carrier to actually fly the Helldiver, during military maneuvers, as they were replaced by Douglas SBD-2 and SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers in 1941, prior to Pearl Harbour. 

Given the expanding aviation training programme, most of the SBC-4s, with other training aircraft, were assigned to Naval Reserve Air Bases (NRAB), to allow reserve US Navy and US Marine airmen assigned to reserve scouting squadrons, and maintain their proficiency. 

As time went by, the US Navy acquired more modern aircraft and both SBC-3 and SBC-4s were replaced by, mainly the Douglas SBD Dauntless. By 7th December 1941, both US Navy and US Marines, had a total of 69 SBC-3 and 118 SBC-4s, based at Naval Air Stations (NAS), NRABs and the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The largest group was based at NAS Miami, in Florida, where they were used for intermediate flying and dive bombing training.

The carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) was also equipped with SBC-4, at the time of Pearl Harbour. This carrier was undergoing sea trials on the Atlantic Ocean on 7th December and the two squadrons equipped with the Helldiver kept them until the ship sailed to San Diego, California, in March 1942. By that time, both squadrons had transitioned to the Dauntless, though their aircraft were not replaced yet, making the Hornet the last ship to operate the Helldiver aboard and aircraft carrier. 

The last SBC-4 Helldiver was built in May 1941 and, by 1944, the last SBC-3, was seriously obsolete and they were stricken off the inventory. The longest surviving one were a group of 12 aircraft, based at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, which were stricken on 31st October 1944.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver

2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 151 - SBC Helldiver in Action

3. https://www.valka.cz/Curtiss-SBC-Helldiver-t45473

Pics re-drawn from:

http://wings-aviation.ch/53-Military-Aircraft-in-Detail/Curtiss-Helldiver/Attack.htm

Curtiss SBC Helldiver. Foreign users.

The Curtiss SBC Helldiver was a two-seat scout and dive bomber built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. It saw service with both France and the United Kingdom.

• France: During 1939 the Aeronavale (French Naval Aviation) ordered ninety Curtiss Model 77 (the export variant of the SBC-4) with some minor modifications such as speedometers set in kilometers per hour instead of miles per hour. The .50 in machine guns they were armed with, were replaced with Darne 7.7 mm machine guns and additional space was provided for the French Type B parachute. Manufacturing of these aircraft advanced very slowly as the Curtiss Hawk 75 and Hawk 81 (Curtiss P-36 and P-40 respectively) fighter had priority at the Curtiss Factory. Near the end of May 1940, when the French situation was precarious, the US Government, on French Government request, authorized the release of fifty SBC-4 from the US Naval Reserve, with the condition that the US Navy would replace them with the ones of the original contract, when they were available. 
  Orders were set in June 1940 to remove the fifty SBC-4 from the various Navy Air Reserve Bases (NARB) around the USA and ferry them to Buffalo, New York, with ten additional spare Wright R-1820-34 engines, propellers and other spare parts. 
  Once at Curtiss' plant, they were all prepared to be shipped to France, after having done all the aforementioned changes. All distinguishing marks that would imply the USA were erased, French camouflage schemes were applied and the rudders were painted with the tri-colored French flag. The Curtiss employees worked long and hard to get the job done as quickly as possible.
  Gradually all fifty of them reached Buffalo and pilots were given instructions on how to proceed. For the ferry flight they would be payed $250.00 ($4.687.72 adjusted for inflation) plus rail ticket back from Canada to Buffalo and would be considered as Curtiss employees. Like the SBC-4 they would have to remove anything from their personal effects that could identify them as US Navy's pilots.
  The aircraft were flown in sections of three, from Buffalo to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, Canada, with various stopovers. However, the plan didn't go quite well, as in the border, they were not allowed to fly over Canadian territory and, instead, they were towed by automobiles and tractors, in order to keep American neutrality, to a nearby field, where they had to take off again and flight to Halifax, where the French aircraft carrier Bearn awaited to transport the aircraft to France. The loading operation was completed on 16th June 1940 and the Bearn set to sea on that same date escorted by the Jeanne D'Arc light cruiser. Both ships were on route to France, but, when they were at sea, France surrendered, so both ships turned to the French West Indies island of Martinique, in the Caribbean, where the aircraft were unloaded.
  The Helldivers remained there, in the open rotting away, due to diplomatic wrangling.
• United Kingdom: Five SBC-4 that couldn't be loaded into the Bearn, were left at Royal Canadian Air Force Base of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where the Royal Air Force acquired them in August 1940. They were designated as "Cleveland Mk.I" and were shipped to England, on board HMS Furious (47). They were assembled at RAF Burtonwood, Lancashire, and delivered to RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire. They were eventually assigned to the No.24 (Communications) Squadron at RAF Hendon, Middlesex, where they evaluated and considered as not fit for operational duty, so they were used ground trainers.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SBC_Helldiver

2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 151 - SBC Helldiver in Action