page_title: Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
section_title: Operators
hierarchical_section_title: Curtiss SB2C Helldiver / Operators
caption_attribution_description: A Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver (U.S. Navy BuNo 83321) of the Hellenic Air Force at the Athens War Museum on 30 July 1992. The aircraft was later transferred to Hellenic Air Force Museum in 1997.
context_page_description: The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, also known as the Curtiss A-25 Shrike, was a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy, in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few survivors are extant.
  Initially poor handling characteristics and late modifications caused lengthy delays to production and deployment, to the extent that it was investigated by the Truman Committee, which turned in a scathing report. This contributed to the decline of Curtiss as a company. Neither pilots nor aircraft carrier captains seemed to like it. Nevertheless, the type was faster than the Dauntless, and by the end of the Pacific War, the Helldiver had become the main dive bomber and attack aircraft on USN carriers.
  By the time a land-based variant, known as the A-25 Shrike became available, in late 1943, the Western Allied air forces had abandoned dedicated dive-bombers. A majority of A-25s delivered to the US Army Air Forces were transferred to the US Marine Corps, which used the type only in one side campaign and non-combat roles.
context_section_description:  Australia
  Royal Australian Air Force
   France
  French Navy Aviation Navale
   Greece
  Royal Hellenic Air Force
   Italy
  Italian Air Force operated 42 aircraft from 1950 until 1959
   Portugal
  Portuguese Navy (until 1952)
  Portuguese Air Force (after 1952)
   Thailand
  Royal Thai Air Force
  Royal Thai Navy
   United Kingdom
  Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
   United States
  United States Army Air Forces
  United States Marine Corps
  United States Navy
caption: A preserved Greek SB2C-5.
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