Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. Nicknames for the aircraft included "Big-Tailed Beast" or just "Beast", "Two-Cee", and "Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class"; the latter nickname was derived from the name SB2C and the aircraft's reputation for having difficult handling characteristics. The Helldiver was developed during the late 1930s and early 1940s for the United States Navy (USN) to serve as a carrier-based bomber to supplement and replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless. First flown on 18 December 1940, the XSB2C-1 prototype initially demonstrated poor handling characteristics and other issues; late modifications caused lengthy delays to production and deployment, to the extent that the aircraft was investigated by the Truman Committee, which produced a scathing report. This negative coverage contributed to the decline of Curtiss as a company, and delayed the type's entry to service, despite the urgency associated with the outbreak of the Pacific War, until December 1942. In late 1943, a land-based variant, designated as the A-25 Shrike, became available; however, by this point, most Allied air forces had abandoned dedicated dive bombers. Accordingly, the majority of A-25s delivered to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) were promptly transferred to the United States Marine Corps (USMC), which used the type only in one-side campaign and non-combat roles. The British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force both cancelled substantial orders for the type, retaining only a few aircraft for research purposes. In service, the type was not typically appreciated by either pilots or senior USN officials. Nevertheless, the Helldiver was faster than the Dauntless, and by the end of World War II, the Helldiver had become the primary dive bomber and attack aircraft on USN carriers. As a result, several major battles fought during the latter part of the conflict...