Historic Aircraft

The Last of the Floatplanes

While it's dangerous to cite an aircraft as being the "first" or "last," one is safe in describing the Curtiss SC Seahawk as the U.S. Navy's last operational floatplane. Significantly, the Seahawk is also believed to be the only American aircraft design initiated after the United States entered World War II that saw action in that conflict.

In the years immediately after World War I, the U.S. Navy developed a series of seaplanes for operation from battleships and cruisers, primarily to provide observation for the ships' big guns. Subsequently, these aircraft also took on the role of scouting (usually done in the between-wars period by large flying boats and, in limited numbers, airships). And, in World War II, in addition to gunnery observation/spotting and scouting, these aircraft rescued pilots downed at sea.¹

The epitome of this aircraft type was the Curtiss SOC Seagull, a remarkable biplane that served the Fleet in the scouting-observation roles from 1935 to 1946. It outlasted its planned floatplane successors—the monoplane SO3C Seamew and OS2U Kingfisher.²

The Navy's ultimate catapult floatplane for use from battleships and cruisers, however, was the Curtiss SC Seahawk. The Seahawk was unusual for U.S. floatplanes in being a single-place aircraft. By the time the planes entered service, the Fleet had sufficient flying boats to perform the search-and-rescue and long-range reconnaissance missions previously flown by floatplanes.

The first Seahawks to go to sea were assigned to Cruiser Scouting Squadron (VCS) 16 on board the USS Guam (CB-2) in October 1944. The large cruiser entered combat in March 1945 as a part of Task Force 58's operations against the Japanese homeland. Few Seahawks were in service when the war ended, and their shipboard career was brief, ending in late 1949 as helicopters took their place on board U.S. warships.

The Seahawk design had been initiated in 1942 as a successor to the Kingfisher and Seamew floatplanes. The Navy ordered two XSC-1 prototypes and, subsequently, 500 production SC-1s in June 1943, before either prototype had flown. More orders would follow. Efforts were made to simplify the aircraft's design to speed production.

The new floatplane had a fighter-like, low-wing configuration with a radial engine turning a four-blade propeller, a large centerline float, and fixed, wing-mounted stabilizing floats. Automatic slats extended along the entire leading edges of the wings, which folded back for shipboard storage. The plane could be flown from shore bases with wheels replacing the floats. All aircraft were delivered with wheels, and the Navy purchased float kits that could be installed as required.

The pilot sat under a bubble canopy, and a second person could be crammed into the fuselage, if necessary. The large central float had internal bays that could carry two 100-pound bombs, and two 250-pound bombs could be carried under the wings, or an AN/APS-4 radar pod could be substituted for one bomb. (The dual bomb bays in the float suffered structural problems, and that feature was soon deleted and the float strengthened.) Two fixed, forward-firing .50-caliber machine guns were fitted with 200 rounds per gun.

The SC-1 had a top speed of 313 mph and a range of 625 miles—almost twice the top speed of the later SOCs but with slightly less range. In a little-known test, in 1947 an SC-1 made water takeoffs with JATO rocket boosters.

The prototype XSC-1 flew on 16 February 1944, and the Navy took delivery of 577 aircraft through October 1946, including ten two-seat SC-2 variants. Additional SC-2 production was cancelled at the end of the war. While lacking the aircraft's original turbo-superchargers, the SC-2 had a "clear-blown," rather than segmented, canopy.

As the Fleet was rapidly reduced in the postwar period, the Seahawk replaced earlier floatplanes on board those cruisers and battleships remaining in service. Helicopters, however, were rapidly joining the Fleet. Based on cruisers and battleships, they provided more flexibility for short-distance transport and rescue operations and allowed the ships to dispense with their catapults, the explosive charges used with them, and maintenance personnel.

The last floatplane launch from a battleship occurred on 27 February 1948 when a Seahawk piloted by Ensign F. H. Gilkie was catapulted from the USS Missouri (BB-63). (The ship, however, retained her catapults until May 1949.)

The Navy disestablished Observation Squadron (VO) 2, its last floatplane unit, on 5 April 1949; by 30 June of that year all floatplanes had been removed from the 13 cruisers and single battleship (the Missouri) that remained in active service. Helicopters took their places, ending the colorful and important history of floatplanes aboard U.S. warships.