The Curtiss SC Seahawk was a scout

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. The existing

Curtiss SO3C Seamew The Curtiss SO3C Seamew was developed by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation as a replacement for the SOC Seagull as the United States Navy's standard floatplane scout. Curtiss named the SO3C the ''Seamew'' but in 1941 the US Navy began calling it b ...

and

Vought OS2U Kingfisher The Vought OS2U Kingfisher is an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest because of its low-powered engine. The OS2U ...

were gradually replaced by the Seahawk in the late stages of the war and into peacetime.Bridgeman 1946, pp. 221–222.

Design and development

USS Alaska (CB-1) recovering SC-1 recce plane

Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk is craned aboard USS Manchester (CL-83), circa in 1947

Curtiss SC Seahawk on USS Birmingham-SLV-H91

Work began in June 1942, following a US Navy

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...

request for

observation seaplane Observation seaplanes are military aircraft with flotation devices allowing them to land on and take off from water. Their primary purpose was to observe and report enemy movements or to spot the fall of shot from naval artillery, but some were a ...

proposals. Curtiss submitted the Seahawk design on 1 August 1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 25 August. A production order for 500 SC-1s followed in June 1943, prior to the first flight of the prototypes.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 153. While only intended to seat the pilot, a bunk was provided in the aft fuselage for rescue or personnel transfer. Two 0.5 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns were fitted in the wings, and two underwing hardpoints allowed carriage of 250 lb (113 kg) bombs or, on the right wing, surface-scan

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

. The wings were foldable. The main float, designed to incorporate a

bomb bay The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over t ...

, suffered substantial leaks when used in that fashion, and was modified to carry an auxiliary fuel tank. The first flight of a prototype XSC-1 took place 16 February 1944 at the Columbus, Ohio Curtiss plant.Green 1962, p. 166. Flight testing continued through 28 April, when the last of the seven pre-production aircraft took to the air. Nine further prototypes were later built, with a second seat and modified cockpit, under the designation SC-2; series production was not undertaken.

Operational history

The first serial production Seahawks were delivered on 22 October 1944, to .Green 1962, p. 167. All 577 aircraft eventually produced for the Navy were delivered on conventional landing gear and flown to the appropriate Naval Air Station, where

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

s were fitted for service as needed. Capable of being fitted with either float or wheeled landing gear, the Seahawk was arguably America's best floatplane scout of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. However, its protracted development time meant it entered service too late to see significant action in the war. It was not until June 1945, during the pre-invasion bombardment of Borneo, that the Seahawk was involved in military action. By the end of the war, seaplanes were becoming less desirable, with the Seahawk being replaced soon afterward by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s. Tri-color camouflage and markings on the Seahawk were in accordance with US Navy regulations from 1944, 1945, and later postwar regulations. There are no known surviving examples of the Seahawk today.

Variants

;XSC-1 : ;SC-1 : ;SC-2 :

Specifications (SC-1, float-equipped)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bowers, Peter M. ''Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947''. London: Putnam, 1979. . * Bridgeman, Leonard. "The Curtiss Seahawk". ''Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II''. London: Studio, 1946. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six: Floatplanes''. London: Macdonald, 1962. * Mondey, David. ''American Aircraft of World War II'' (Hamlyn Concise Guide). London: Bounty Books, 2006. . * Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. London: Putnam, Second Edition 1976. .

External links

Review by Richard Stracey of the SMER model of the Curtiss SC Seahawk
{{USN scout aircraft SC Seahawk Floatplanes World War II reconnaissance aircraft of the United States Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1944