V-156B CHESAPEAKE MK.I

The Vought SB2U Vindicator was an American interwar / World War II on-board dive bomber with an all-metal low wing structure. The drive was provided by a single radial motor Pratt and Whitney R-1535-96 with 826 hp. The flight of the prototype took place in 1934, and the serial production was carried out in the years 1936-1937. In total, about 260 examples of this aircraft were built. The deck armament consisted of two 7.62 mm Browning machine guns. The machine could carry bombs weighing up to 500 kilograms on board. SB2U Vindicator was created for a competition announced by the US Navy in 1934 for a new reconnaissance and bomber plane to be based on aircraft carriers. The winner of this competition was the Vought aviation company, which proposed a monoplane layout, which turned out to be the first aircraft of this class with such a layout in the history of the US Navy. SB2U Vindicator planes from 1937 were included in the equipment of four aircraft carriers: USS Lexington, USS Saratoga, USS Ranger and USS Wasp. By the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, it was already an outdated structure, but it fought in its first period, especially during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Aircraft of this type were also exported to France, where they served under the designation V-156-F, and to Great Britain, where they were used under the designation V-156 Chesapeake