Vought OS2U Kingfisher

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 OS2U was the main shipboard observation seaplane used by the United States Navy during World War II, and 1,519 of the aircraft were built. It served on battleships and cruisers of the U.S. Navy, with the United States Marine Corps in Marine Scouting Squadron Three (VMS-3), with the United States Coast Guard at coastal air stations; at sea with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy; with the Soviet Navy; and with the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Naval Aircraft Factory OS2N was the designation of the OS2U-3 aircraft built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The OS2U first flew on 1 March 1938.

Design and development

In the late 1930s, Vought engineer Rex Beisel was tasked with designing an observation monoplane aircraft for the U.S. Navy suitable for many tasks, including directing battleship fire. In replacing the standard biplane observation aircraft with a more modern monoplane design, Beisel incorporated innovations making it the first production type to be assembled with spot welding, a process Vought and the Naval Aircraft Factory jointly developed to create a smooth fuselage that resisted buckling and generated less drag. Beisel also introduced high-lift devices and spoilers. In a unique arrangement, deflector plate flaps and drooping ailerons were located on the trailing edge of the wing to increase the camber of the wing and thus create additional lift. Beisel's first prototype flew in 1938, powered by an air-cooled, Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 Wasp Junior radial engine.

For combat missions, the pilot had a Browning M1919 machine gun, the receiver mounted low in the right front cockpit, firing between the engine cylinder heads, while the radio operator/gunner manned another machine gun (or a pair) on a flexible Scarff ring mount. The aircraft could also carry two bombs or two depth charges. Additionally, the "Kingfisher", as it was designated, served as a trainer in both its floatplane and landplane configurations.

Operational history

The first 54 Kingfishers were delivered to the U.S. Navy beginning in August 1940, and 6 had been assigned to the Pearl Harbor–based Battle Force before the end of the same year. Many of the following 158 OS2U-2s were attached to flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, but 53 were assigned to equip the newly established Inshore Patrol Squadrons, based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. In 1942, nine more Inshore Patrol Squadrons were established, all exclusively equipped with OS2N-1s built by the Naval Aircraft Factory.

The Kingfisher was widely used as a shipboard, catapult-launched scout plane on U.S. Navy battleships, heavy cruisers, and light cruisers during World War II and played a major role in support of shore bombardments and air-sea rescue. Two examples showing the plane's rescue capabilities include the recovery of World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker