Curtiss SOC Seagull, part two

The first ship to receive the SOC Seagull was the light cruiser USS Marblehead (CL-12) in November 1935 and, by the end of that decade, it had replaced completely its predecessor troughout the fleet. Production ceased in 1938 as the Vought OS2U Kingfisher was chosen as its replacement.
So, by 1941 most battleships had transitioned towards it and cruisers were expected to replace their Seagulls with the newly arrived Curtiss SOC Seamew.
However the Seamew suffered from a weak engine and plans to adopt it as a replacement were scrapped. Therefore, the SOC Seagull continued to be employed in observation and artillery spotting missions, despite belonging to an earlier generation.
Through the first six months of service, it was known as XO3C-1, but its designation changed when it was decided to merge its scouting and observation roles. It wasn't until 1941 that it received the Seagull nickname, when the US Navy began adopting popular names for aircraft in addition to the alpha-numeric designations. The name Seagull was also previously given to two civil Curtiss aircraft, Model 18 and Model 25 both of them converted from Curtiss MF flying boats.
When it operated from cruisers, as a seaplane, the returning ones landed on the smooth ocean surface created on the sheltered side of the vessel, as it made a wide turn, after which the aircraft would be winched back onto the deck.
When it was replaced by the OS2U Kingfisher, most aircrafts were converted into trainers and remained in service until 1945. When the SOC3 Seamew failed, many SOC Seagulls that had been relegated to second line duties, were returned to frontline units from late 1943 onwards and saw service aboard warships in combat zones for the remaining of World War II. It has been one of the cases where an older aircraft type, that was retired or pushed back to a secondary role, replaced the new aircraft that was intended to replace it.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SOC_Seagull
2. https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=832
3. http://www.pacificwar.org.au/Midway/RalphWilhelm/SeagullIndex.html

Curtiss SOC Seagull, part one

The Curtiss SOC Seagull was an American single-engined scout observation aircraft, which was designed by Alexander Solla when he was working for the Curtiss-Wright company for the United States Navy. It served on board of Battleships and Cruisers in a seaplane configuration, being launched from catapults and recovered from sea landings and also by the United States Marine Corps which used them, limitedly, in the scout role, specially in the years previous to America's entry into World War II.
The wings could be folded back to be storaged aboard the ship and floaters could be replaced by fixed landing-gear to make it operate from shore bases or carriers.
A total of 285 SOC aircraft were manufactured, from every variant from SOC-1 to SOC-4 with the production beginning in 1935 and the SOC-3 being the basis for the Naval Aircraft Factory SON-1 variant of which 64 of them were delivered in 1940.
The prototype flew for the first time in 1934 and every versions were powered by a single Pratt & Whitney R-1340-18 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine which yielded a power of 550hp. It had a crew of two, and was armed with one fixed forward-firing 0.3in (7.62mm) Browning M2 AN plus one defensive rear-firing 0.3in Browning M2 AN. It could also carry a payload of 650lb (295Kg) of bombs carried under lower wings.
It was ordered for production by the United States Navy in 1933 and entered service in 1935. The first production order was of 135 SOC-1 models, followed by 40 SOC-2 variants with fixed landing gear for landing operations both carriers and shore bases. A third variant known as the SOC-3 was built by the Naval Aircraft Factory, as we told before and received oficial denomination of SON-1.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SOC_Seagull
2. https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=832