Curtiss SB2C Helldiver The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a carrier - based dive bomber aircraft produced for the United States Navy during World War II . It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless in US Navy service . Despite its size , the SB2C was much faster than the SBD it replaced . Crew nicknames for the aircraft included the " Big - Tailed Beast " ( or just the derogatory " Beast " ) , " Two - Cee " and " Son - of - a - Bitch 2nd Class " ( after its designation and partly because of its reputation for having difficult handling characteristics ) . Neither pilots nor aircraft carrier skippers seemed to like it . Delays marred its production — by the time the A - 25 Shrike variant for the USAAF was deployed in late 1943 , the Army Air Forces no longer had a need for a thoroughbred dive bomber . Another factor also hampered its service introductions — due to the poor handling of the aircraft both the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force cancelled substantial orders . The Truman Committee investigated Helldiver production and turned in a scathing report , which eventually led to the beginning of the end for Curtiss . Although production problems persisted throughout its combat service , it was reported that some pilots soon changed their minds favorably about the potency of the Helldiver , and in spite of its problems , the aircraft was flown through the last two years of the Pacific War with a fine combat record , due to the high training of its crews . Design and development . The Helldiver was developed to replace the Douglas SBD Dauntless ; it was a much larger aircraft able to operate from the latest aircraft carriers of the time and carry a considerable array of armament and featured an internal bomb bay that reduced drag when carrying heavy ordnance . Saddled with demanding requirements set forth by both the U . S . Marines and United States Army Air Forces , the manufacturer incorporated features of a " multi - role " aircraft into the design . The Model XSB2C - 1 prototype initially suffered teething problems connected to its R - 2600 engine and 3 - bladed propeller ; further concerns included structural weaknesses , poor handling , directional instability and bad stall characteristics . In 1939 , a student brought a model of the new Curtiss XSB2C - 1 to the MIT wind tunnel . Professor Emeritus of Aeronautical Engineering Otto C . Koppen was quoted as saying , " if they build more than one of these , they are crazy " . He was referencing controllability issues with the small vertical tail . The first prototype made its maiden flight on 18 December 1940 . It crashed on 8 February 1941 when its engine failed on approach , but Curtiss was asked to rebuild it . The fuselage was lengthened and a larger tail was fitted , while an autopilot was fitted as a result of the aircraft ' s poor stability . The revised prototype flew again on 20 October 1941 , but was destroyed when its wing failed during diving tests on 21 December 1941 . Large - scale production had already been ordered on 29 November 1940 , but a large number of modifications were specified for the production model . The size of the fin and rudder was enlarged , fuel capacity was increased , self - sealing fuel tanks added and the fixed armament was doubled to four 0 . 50 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) machine guns in the wings , compared with the prototype ' s two cowling guns . The SB2C - 2 was built with larger fuel tanks , improving its range considerably . The program suffered so many delays that the Grumman TBF Avenger entered service before the Helldiver , even though the Avenger had begun its development two years later . Nevertheless , production tempo accelerated with production at Columbus , Ohio and two Canadian factories : Fairchild Aircraft Ltd . ( Canada ) which produced a total of 300 ( under the designations XSBF - l , SBF - l , SBF - 3 and SBF - 4E ) and Canadian Car and Foundry which built 894 ( designated SBW - l , SBW - 3 , SBW - 4 , SBW - 4E and SBW - 5 ) , these models being respectively equivalent to their Curtiss - built counterparts . A total of 7 , 140 SB2Cs were produced in World War II . Operational history . U . S . Navy . The U . S . Navy would not accept the SB2C until 880 modifications to the design and the changes on the production line had been made , delaying the Curtiss Helldiver ' s combat debut until November 11 , 1943 with squadron VB - 17 on the , when they attacked the Japanese - held port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain , north of Papua New Guinea . The first version of the SB2C - 1 was kept stateside for training , its various development problems leading to only 200 being built . The first deployment model was the SB2C - 1C . The SB2C - 1 could deploy slats mechanically linked with undercarriage actuators that extended from the outer third of the wing leading edge to aid lateral control at low speeds . The early prognosis of the " Beast " was unfavourable as it was strongly disliked by aircrews due to its size , weight , and reduced range compared to the SBD it replaced . In the Battle of the Philippine Sea , 45 Helldivers were lost because they ran out of fuel on the return to their carriers . The litany of faults that the Helldiver bore included the fact that it was underpowered , had a shorter range than the SBD , was equipped with an unreliable electrical system and was often poorly manufactured . The Curtiss - Electric propeller and the complex hydraulic system had frequent maintenance problems . One of the faults remaining with the aircraft through its operational life was poor longitudinal stability , resulting from a fuselage that was too short by necessity of the SB2C to fit on aircraft carrier elevators . The Helldiver ' s aileron response was also poor and handling suffered greatly under 90 knots airspeed ; since the speed of approach to land on a carrier was supposed to be 85 knots , this proved problematic . The 880 changes demanded by the Navy and modification of the aircraft to its combat role resulted in a 42 % weight increase , explaining much of the problem . The solution to these problems began with the introduction of the SB2C - 3 beginning in 1944 , which used the R - 2600 - 20 Twin Cyclone engine with 1 , 900 HP and Curtiss ' 4 - bladed propeller . This substantially solved the chronic lack of power that had plagued the aircraft . The Helldivers would participate in battles over the Marianas , Philippines ( partly responsible for sinking the " Musashi " ) , Taiwan , Iwo Jima , and Okinawa ( in the sinking of the " Yamato " ) . They were also used in the 1945 attacks on the Ryuku Islands and the Japanese home island of Honshū in tactical attacks on airfields , communications , and shipping . They were also used extensively in patrols during the period between the dropping of the atomic bombs and the official Japanese surrender , and in the immediate pre - occupation period . An oddity of the SB2Cs with 1942 to 1943 - style tricolor camouflage was that the undersides of the outer wing panels carried dark topside camouflage because the undersurfaces were visible from above when the wings were folded . In operational experience it was found that the U . S . Navy ' s F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters were able to carry an equally heavy bomb load against ground targets and were vastly more capable of defending themselves against enemy fighters . The Helldiver , however , could still deliver ordnance with more precision against specific targets and its two seat configuration permitted a second set of eyes . The advent of air - to - ground rockets ensured the SB2C was the last purpose - built dive bomber produced . Rockets allowed precision attack against surface naval and land targets while avoiding the stresses of near - vertical dives and the demanding performance requirements that they placed on dive bombers Postwar , the SB2C remained in active service in the US Navy until 1947 and naval reserve units until 1950 . Surplus aircraft were sold to the naval air forces of France , Italy , Greece , Portugal , and Thailand . Greek SB2Cs served in combat in the Greek Civil War with additional machine guns mounted in wing pods . French SB2Cs flew in the First Indochina War from 1951 to 1954 . Army service . Built at Curtiss ' St . Louis plant , 900 aircraft were ordered by the USAAF under the designation A - 25A Shrike . The first 10 aircraft had folding wing s , while the remainder of the production order omitted this unnecessary feature . Many other changes distinguished the A - 25A , including larger main wheels , a pneumatic tail wheel , ring and bead gunsight , longer exhaust stubs , and other Army specified radio equipment . By late 1943 when the A - 25A was being introduced , the USAAF no longer had a role for the dive bomber , as fighter aircraft such as the P - 47 Thunderbolt had shown their ability to carry out tactical air support missions with great success . After offering the Shrike to Australia , only 10 were accepted before the Royal Australian Air Force rejected the remainder of the order , forcing the USAAF to send 410 to the U . S . Marines . The A - 25As were converted to the SB2C - 1 standard but the Marine SB2C - 1 variant never saw combat , being used primarily as trainers . The remaining A - 25As were similarly employed as trainers and target tugs . British service . A comparable scenario accompanied the Helldiver ' s service with the British . A total of 26 aircraft , out of 450 ordered , were delivered to the Royal Navy ' s Fleet Air Arm , where they were known as the Helldiver I . After unsatisfactory tests that pinpointed " appalling handling " , none of the British Helldivers were used in action . Greek Service . American Aid provided the Hellenic Air Force with 42 Curtiss SB2C - 5 Helldivers from surplus U . S . Navy stocks . In the spring of 1949 , the aircraft were given to 336 Fighter Squadron ( 336 Μοίρα Διώξεως ) to replace Supermarine Spitfires and the squadron ' s name was changed to 336 Bomber Squadron ( 336 Μοίρα Βομβαρδισμού ) . Greek SB2C - 5 Helldivers had minor changes for their COIN operations : Curtiss SB2C - 5 Helldivers , Supermarine Spitfires and North American T - 6D / Gs were used in ground attack missions against Communist ground forces , camps and transports during the last stages of the Greek Civil War . Curtiss SB2C - 5 Helldivers saw a relatively brief combat service and were gradually phased out by 1953 . A few were in use until 1957 as photographic aircraft . One Curtiss SB2C - 5 Helldiver was restored in 1997 and is displayed in the Hellenic Air Force Museum . French Service . Between 1949 and 1954 France bought 110 SB2C - 5 Helldiver aircraft to replace their aging SBD - 5 Dauntless that had been flying in combat in Vietnam . The French Aeronavale flew the Helldiver from 1951 to 1958 . Some of these aircraft were allotted to Escadrille 9F stationed on board the carriers " Arromanches " , " Bois - Belleau " and " Lafayette " , during the First Indochina War . The Helldivers soon became well thought of by the French troops on the ground during the battle at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 . Sometimes only feet above the ground , the pilots flew countless sorties strafing and bombing the Viet - Minh troops with a total disregard for the heavy flak . These would be the last combat missions for the Helldiver but probably the most effective missions in the aircraft ’ s history .