SO3C Seamew | |
---|---|
Role | Observation floatplane |
Manufacturer | Curtiss-Wright |
First flight | 6 October 1939 |
Introduction | 1942 |
Retired | 1945 |
Primary users | United States Navy Fleet Air Arm |
Number built | 795 |
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 by the name Seagull, the same name as the aircraft it replaced (the Curtiss SOC a biplane type), causing some confusion. The British Royal Navy kept the Curtiss name, Seamew, for the SO3Cs that they ordered. One of the US Navy's main design requirements was that the SOC Seagull's replacement had to be able to operate both from ocean vessels with a single center float and from land bases with the float replaced by a wheeled landing gear.
From the time it entered service the SO3C suffered two serious flaws: inflight stability problems and problems with the unique Ranger air-cooled, inverted V-shaped inline engine. The stability problem was mostly resolved with the introduction of upturned wingtips and a larger rear tail surface that extended over the rear observer's cockpit. The additional tail surface was attached to the rear observer's sliding canopy and pilots claimed there were still stability problems when the canopy was open; the canopy was often open because the aircraft's main role was spotting. While the in-flight stability problem was eventually addressed (although not fully solved), the Ranger XV-770 engine proved a dismal failure even after many attempted modifications. Poor flight performance and a poor maintenance record led to the SO3C being withdrawn from US Navy first line units by 1944. The older biplane SOC was taken from stateside training units and restored to first-line service on many US Navy warships until the end of World War II. [1]
A number of the SO3C-1s, a fixed undercarriage version, were ordered by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm under the terms of Lend-Lease. In RN service the SO3C was given the designation "Seamew", a name used again in the 1950s for the Short Seamew. Crews gave it the name "Sea Cow".
Lettice Curtis, in her book Forgotten Pilots, stated "that although its standard fuel tanks held 300 gallons, it would only just take off with the eighty gallons" fixed as the maximum for Air Transport Auxiliary trips. In addition the tail needed to be raised before becoming airborne, as "it was possible to take off in an attitude from which it was both impossible to recover and in which there was no aileron control." The final comment from this experienced pilot was "it is hard to imagine how, even in wartime, such an aircraft could have been accepted from the factory, let alone given valuable cargo space across the Atlantic." [2]
The first batch for the RN was to have a centreline bomb rack and arrestor gear. Later versions, known as the Seamew Mk.I, were the SO3-2C variant. 250 Seamews were allocated and some 100 actually delivered, [3] the last batch was refused in favour of additional Vought Kingfishers. Deliveries to the RN started in January 1944. It was declared obsolete in September the same year and completely removed from service in 1945.
The SO3C-1K was to have been taken into service as the Queen Seamew, but an order of 30 was canceled.
Seamews served with No. 744 NAS and No. 745 NAS at RCAF Yarmouth, Nova Scotia , Canada, and with No. 755 NAS based in Hampshire, UK.
Data from American Warplanes of World War II [5]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
The Fairey Seafox was a 1930s British reconnaissance floatplane designed and built by Fairey for the Fleet Air Arm. It was designed to be catapulted from the deck of a light cruiser and served in the Second World War. Sixty-six were built, with two finished without floats and used as landplanes.
The Mitsubishi F1M was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 944 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Observation Seaplane" (零式水上観測機).
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 could also operate on fixed, wheeled, taildragger landing gear.
The Curtiss SOC Seagull was an American single-engined scout observation seaplane, designed by Alexander Solla of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation for the United States Navy. The aircraft served on battleships and cruisers in a seaplane configuration, being launched by catapult and recovered from a sea landing. The wings folded back against the fuselage for storage aboard ship. When based ashore or on carriers the single float was replaced by fixed wheeled landing gear.
The Curtiss SC Seahawk was a scout seaplane designed by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the United States Navy. The existing Curtiss SO3C Seamew and Vought OS2U Kingfisher were gradually replaced by the Seahawk in the late stages of the war and into peacetime.
The Felixstowe F.2 was a 1917 British flying boat class designed and developed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe during the First World War adapting a larger version of his superior Felixstowe F.1 hull design married with the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat. The Felixstowe hull had superior water contacting attributes and became a key base technology in most seaplane designs thereafter.
The Douglas T2D was an American twin-engined torpedo bomber contracted by the military, and required to be usable on wheels or floats, and operating from aircraft carriers. It was the first twin-engined aircraft to be operated from an aircraft carrier.
The Hansa-Brandenburg KDW was a German single-engine, single-seat, fighter floatplane of World War I. The KDW – Kampf Doppeldecker, Wasser – was adapted from the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I landplane to provide coastal defence over the North Sea.
The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5, later reclassified to AB-2 through AB-5. Several examples were exported to Russia, and the type was built under license in Italy.
The Curtiss R3C is an American racing aircraft built in landplane and floatplane form. It was a single-seat biplane built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.
The Curtiss Model E was an early aircraft developed by Glenn Curtiss in the United States in 1911.
The Curtiss Model R was a utility aircraft produced for the United States Army and Navy during World War I. It was a conventional, two-bay biplane with slightly staggered wings of unequal span. The aircraft was provided with two open cockpits in tandem and fixed tailskid undercarriage, but many were built for the Navy with twin floats replacing the wheels. During the course of the war, Model Rs were used for general liaison and communication duties, as well for observation, training, and as air ambulances. In practice, the Curtiss powerplants supplied with these aircraft proved insufficient and were mostly replaced with Liberty engines. The Navy's Model R-3 floatplane had extended-span, three-bay wings, and was intended for use as a torpedo bomber. Some of these were later fitted with wheeled undercarriage and transferred to the Army as bombers under the designation Model R-9.
The Sopwith Admiralty Type 807 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company.
The Berliner-Joyce OJ was an American biplane observation floatplane developed by the Berliner-Joyce Aircraft for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.
The Vought O5U was a 1930s prototype American observation floatplane to meet a United States Navy requirement for a catapult launched scouting aircraft. The contract was won by Curtiss who went on to produce the SOC Seagull; only one O5U was built.
The Douglas XO2D-1 was a prototype American observation floatplane of the 1930s. It was a single engined biplane intended to be launched by aircraft catapult from ships of the United States Navy, but only one was built, the production contract going to Curtiss for the SOC Seagull.
The Curtiss C-1 Canada was a twin-engined bomber aircraft of the First World War which was designed by Curtiss of America to be built by their Canadian subsidiary for the British Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps. Although large orders were placed, only twelve were built, the type being rejected in favour of more capable aircraft such as the Handley Page O/100.
The Curtiss CT-1 model 24, a twin engine torpedo bomber mounted on floats, was first flown in 1921.
The Vought XSO2U was an American observation floatplane developed by Vought-Sikorsky for the United States Navy during the late 1930s. Intended to replace the Curtiss SOC Seagull in service as a scout aboard cruisers, it proved superior to the Curtiss SO3C in evaluation, but failed to win a production contract due to Vought's lack of manufacturing capacity.
The Keystone XOK was an American biplane observation floatplane developed for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.