SPOT YOUR PLANE — the Vought SB2U Vindicator

We briefly discussed the SB2U in a previous post. The French Navy operated Vindicators prior to and flew them during the Battle of France. Vought was assembling an order for 50 more when the French surrendered to the Germans, and the bombers were instead transferred to the British. The Royal Air Force dubbed them “Chesapeake” (unofficially known as “Cheesecake” by the pilots), and quickly found that the plane wasn’t cut out for this war. It was actually replaced by a 1930s-era biplane — the Fairey Swordfish.

Here’s an earlier photograph of a Vindicator using USS Wasp‘s new deck-edge elevator: