Editing Vought SB2U Vindicator (section)

==Operational history==

===U.S. Navy===
[[File:SB2U-3 VMSB-231 Ewa 7Dec1941.jpg|thumb|SB2U destroyed at Pearl Harbor]]
[[File:Convoy WS-12 en route to Cape Town, 1941.jpg|thumb|SB2U from {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|2}} in November 1941.]]
[[File:SB2U taking off from Midway Jun 1942.jpg|thumb|SB2U-3 of VMSB-241, MAG-21, takes off from Eastern Island shortly before the Battle of Midway.]]
[[File:USS Wasp (CV-7) in at anchor in Casco Bay, Maine (USA), on 25 March 1942 (80-G-K-447).jpg|thumb|SB2U-3s on deck of {{USS|Wasp|CV-7|2}} in June 1942.]]

Deliveries to the US Navy began in December 1937, when four aircraft joined [[VFA-14 (U.S. Navy)|VB-3]] aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}}, replacing [[Curtiss F11C Goshawk|Curtiss BFC]]-2 biplanes. As well as ''Saratoga'', Vindicators served on the carriers {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}}, {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|2}}, and {{USS|Wasp|CV-7|2}}.<ref name="AE p5-6">Green and Swanborough 1978, pp. 5–6.</ref> Air Group Nine, destined for {{USS|Essex|CV-9|2}}, trained in Vindicators aboard the escort carrier {{USS|Charger|CVE-30|2}}, but they transitioned to the [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]] before ''Essex'' joined the war.<ref name="McKillop"/>

During the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], seven ''Vindicators'' from the U.S. squadron VMSB-231 were destroyed at [[Marine Corps Air Station Ewa|Ewa Field]].<ref>Doll 1992, p. 5</ref>

===U.S. Marine Corps===
[[VMA-231|VMSB-231]] and [[VMA-241|VMSB-241]] were the only two USMC squadrons that fielded the Marine-specific SB2U-3 between March 1941 and September 1943. VMSB-241's Vindicators saw combat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://midway1942.org/docs/usn_doc_18.shtml|title=Midway 1942 : Documents : Commanding Officer Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 241. Action report. June 12, 1942|access-date=2013-06-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201172622/http://midway1942.org/docs/usn_doc_18.shtml|archive-date=2014-02-01}}</ref> Airmen with experience in more modern aircraft spoke disparagingly of SB2Us as "vibrators" or "wind indicators" in their later combat assignments.<ref name="Proceedings">O'Rourke, G.G, CAPT USN. "Of Hosenoses, Stoofs, and Lefthanded Spads". ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'', July 1968.</ref><ref name="P2">Spangenburg, Walt, CAPT USN. "Comment and Discussion". ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'', October 1968.</ref> Captain [[Richard E. Fleming]] piloted a SB2U-3 Vindicator in an attack on the [[Japanese cruiser Mikuma|Japanese cruiser ''Mikuma'']] on 5 June 1942, for which he was posthumously awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref name="Always Faithful">{{citation|title=Always Faithful|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/Naval%20Aviation%20News/2000/2003/may-june/always.pdf|publisher=Naval Aviation News|author=Hill Goodspeed|date=May 2003|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref>

===French Navy===
On 22 February 1939, France placed an order for 20 V-156-Fs for the carrier-based squadrons of the ''[[Aéronautique Navale]]'' (French Naval Aviation), with an order for 20 more V-156-Fs following in May 1939.<ref name="AE p7">Green and Swanborough 1978, p.7.</ref><ref name="avn54p378">Ledet September 1997, pp. 37–38</ref> Based on the SB2U-2, the V-156-F incorporated specific French equipment, included {{cvt|7.5|mm}} [[Darne machine gun]]s and French radios, while the aircraft were fitted with dive brakes, as tested and rejected by the US Navy.<ref name="AE p7"/> The aircraft were delivered to France in crates and reassembled at [[Orly]], with the first example flying in France on 6 August 1939.<ref name="avn54p389">Ledet September 1997, pp. 38–39</ref> On the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] in September 1939, the French Navy decided that its only aircraft carrier, {{Ship|French aircraft carrier|Béarn||2}} was too slow for operational service, and the ship's squadrons disembarked for land-based service.<ref name="fana297p42">Morareau February 1997, p. 42</ref> By mid-October 1939, the first ''[[escadrille]]'', AB 1, had reequipped with the V-156-F,<ref name="fana297p42"/> while a second ''escadrille'', AB 3, was formed in November 1939.<ref name="fana298p42">Morareau March 1997, p. 42</ref> In March–April 1940, AB 1's pilots carried out successful deck-landing training aboard ''Béarn'', and were declared carrier qualified.<ref name="fana297p45">Morareau February 1997, p. 45</ref><ref name="AE p8"/> 

On 10 May 1940, on the opening day of the [[Battle of France|German invasion of France]], all 12 of AB 3's aircraft were destroyed in a German air raid on [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]] airfield.<ref name="AE p8"/><ref name="fana298p44">Morareau March 1997, p. 44</ref> AB 1 was ordered up to Northern France from [[Hyères]] as a replacement, sustaining heavy losses while attacking bridges and German ground targets in Northern France, including seven aircraft shot down by [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s during an attack on a bridge over the [[Sambre–Oise Canal]] on 20 May 1940, and later that month provided air cover for the [[Evacuation of Dunkirk]].<ref name="AE p8"/> AB 3, which had had its losses replaced by V-156-Fs taken out of storage,<ref name="AE p8"/> was deployed against the Italians following the [[Italian invasion of France]] on 10 June and on 14 June, four V-156s attacked the {{ship|Italian submarine|Gondar}}, which was unharmed.<ref name="fana298p45">Morareau March 1997, p. 45</ref> By the time of the [[Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)|Armistice]], there were only a handful of remaining Voughts in French hands, and the type was phased out of service.<ref name="fana297p54">Morareau February 1997, p. 54</ref>

===Royal Navy===
France had placed an order for a further 50 V-156-Fs in March 1940, with delivery planned from March 1941. Following the [[Second Armistice at Compiègne|defeat of France]], this order was taken over by the British government for use by the [[Royal Navy]]'s [[Fleet Air Arm]], who named the aircraft the Chesapeake.<ref name="AE p8">Green and Swanborough 1978, p.8.</ref> The British required several modifications to the Chesapeake, including the additional fuel tank fitted to the SB2U-3,<ref name="AE p8"/> additional armor and heavier forward firing armament, with four rifle caliber machine guns replacing the single forward-firing [[Darne machine gun]] of the French aircraft.<ref name="AE p74">Green and Swanborough 1978, p.74.</ref> Fourteen Chesapeakes were used to equip a reformed [[811 Naval Air Squadron]] on 14 July 1941 at [[RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus)|RNAS Lee-on-Solent]].<ref name="Thetford Navy p340">Thetford 1978, p.340.</ref> The squadron, whose crews referred to the aircraft as the "cheesecake", intended to use them for [[Anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine]] patrols, and they were earmarked for the [[escort aircraft carrier|escort carrier]] {{HMS|Archer|D78|6}}.<ref>Moran 1978, p. 65</ref>

By the end of October that year, it had been decided that the Chesapeakes were underpowered for the planned duties and would not be able to lift a useful payload from the small escort carriers. Accordingly, they were withdrawn from 811 Squadron in November 1941 for use as training aircraft and the unit was re-equipped with the biplane [[Fairey Swordfish]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-12-01 |title=Historic Aircraft - No Vindication for the Vindicator |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2014/december/historic-aircraft-no-vindication-vindicator#:~:text=An%20additional%20order%20soon%20was,and%20a%20larger%20horizontal%20tail. |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}}</ref>