page_title: Vought SB2U Vindicator
section_title: Operators
hierarchical_section_title: Vought SB2U Vindicator / Operators
caption_attribution_description: The Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator of the U.S. National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida (USA), photographed in 1999. Official caption: "The last SB2U-2 delivered to the Navy, the museum's Vindicator joined the fleet in 1939, and logged flights with four squadrons. These included Bombing Squadron (VB) 4 and Scouting Squadron (VS) 41 on board the carrier Ranger (CV 4) and Fighting Squadron (VF) 71 on board Wasp (CV 7). Service in the former carrier in 1941 included duty on the Neutrality Patrol, tracking hostile vessels approaching the shores of the United States. Equipping VB-9, a squadron destined for service on board Essex (CV 9), the museum's SB2U-2 served to train squadron pilots on the deck of the auxiliary carrier Charger (ACV 30). The aircraft then transferred the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Glenview, Illinois in May 1943, the following month heading out over the waters of Lake Michigan with Marine Second Lieutenant A.W. Lemmons in the cockpit. Favorable flying conditions prevailed that day of 21 June 1943, when Lemmons settled into the groove astern of the training aircraft carrier Wolverine (IX-64) steaming through the waters of Lake Michigan. However, as can easily happen in the dangerous business of landing an aircraft on a ship, events quickly turned for the worse. The landing signal officer (LSO) stationed on the aft part of the flight deck whipped his arm across his chest, the signal to cut engine power and land. Lemmons for some reason did not fully respond to the LSO. The SB2U-2 continued up the deck, heading towards the barrier designed to stop aircraft that missed the arresting wires. The pilot attempted to pull his nose up to clear this obstacle, but his extended tailhook caught the top of it, breaking off. With nothing to stop it, the scout-bomber hit the deck and rolled off the starboard bow. Lemmons was rescued, but his craft sank into the depths of the lake, where it was destined to remain for the next forty-seven years. Recovered from Lake Michigan in 1990 [...] The aircraft was placed on display in February 1999, and is displayed in the markings of VB-9."
context_page_description: The Vought SB2U Vindicator is an American carrier-based dive bomber developed for the United States Navy in the 1930s, the first monoplane in this role. Vindicators still remained in service at the time of the Battle of Midway, but by 1943, all had been withdrawn to training units. It was known as the Chesapeake in Royal Navy service.
context_section_description:  France
  French Navy Aeronavale
   United Kingdom
  Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
  768 Naval Air Squadron
  770 Naval Air Squadron
  771 Naval Air Squadron
  772 Naval Air Squadron
  776 Naval Air Squadron
  778 Naval Air Squadron
  781 Naval Air Squadron
  784 Naval Air Squadron
  786 Naval Air Squadron
  811 Naval Air Squadron
   United States
  United States Navy
  United States Marine Corps
caption: SB2U-2 of VB-9 from the National Museum of Naval Aviation
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