After 20 minutes it was time to return to the Bunker Hill but not before the SB2Cs damaged a cruiser and three destroyers with one destroyer being sunk. Immediately the escorting Hellcats engaged the Zeroes allowing the Helldivers to attack the Japanese ships maneuvering to avoid them. Vose led 23 SB2C-1s and when the force arrived at Rabaul they were greeted by Zeroes. This would be VB-17s first combat mission and test under fire for the Helldiver. On Novemas part of Task Force 38 the USS Bunker Hill was directed to strike the main Japanese base at Rabaul. CO LCDR James “Moe” Vose was a veteran and was assigned B-4 aircraft. MOD III seemed to fix the weak fuselage structure that formerly would buckle or break on landing. VB-17 was the first unit to take the new SB2C-1 MOD III into combat on board USS Bunker Hill. Only after hundreds of changes and modifications did the SB2C go on to become one of the most effective dive-bombers of WWII. The captain of the “Yorktown” refused to sail with the Helldiver and went to sea with the Dauntless. Even the USAAF cancelled their order and the planes that they did receive never saw battle. This is an airplane that never would have gone into full production if WWII hadn’t necessitated doing so. Some referred to it as “sum bitch second class”. Referring to its over sized tail that was needed to correct control problems. After many MODS and variants the Helldiver became an effective plane and was nicknamed “The Big Tail Beast” The aircraft under went improvements, MOD II saw over 800 technical changes to each plane. The aircraft were refused by Great Britain and several other countries because of these problems and poor performance. The first production SB2C-1 flew Jand in 1943 replaced the SBD there still wasn’t one plane manufactured and when the planes finally started to arrive they were so poorly made that some would break in half upon landing, some would lose tail-wheels or some wings would fail in dives. THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION PICTURES NOT THE FINISHED MODEL Landing gear can be displayed up or down. 1943įirst 1/72 scale pre-finished Helldiver in die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic.Īll markings pad applied for superb results. Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA2201 SB2C-1 Helldiver VB-17, USS Bunker Hill, Rabaul, 11 Nov.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |