Model Aircraft – September 2019

9725, crashed on 20 August 1936. Its successful
completion of trials led to further orders.
There were 260 examples of all Vindicator
variants produced, and just a single example
is preserved at the National Naval Aviation
Museum at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
Vindicators served on the carriers Lexington,
Saratoga, Ranger, and Wasp from December
1937-September 1942. Air Group Nine, destined
for Essex, trained in Vindicators aboard the

escort carrier Charger, but they transitioned to

the Douglas SBD Dauntless before Essex joined

the War. During the attack on Pearl Harbor,

seven Vindicators from the U.S. squadron VMSB-

231 were destroyed at Ewa Field.

VMSB-131 and VMSB-241 were the only

two USMC squadrons that ielded the Marine-

speciic SB2U-3 between March 1941 and

September 1943. VMSB-241’s Vindicators saw

combat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

Airmen with experience in more modern

aircraft spoke disparagingly of SB2Us as

‘vibrators’ or ‘wind indicators’ in their later

combat assignments. Captain Richard E.

Fleming piloted a SB2U-3 Vindicator in an attack

on the Japanese cruiser Mikuma on 5 June 1942,

for which he was posthumously awarded the

Medal of Honor.

Based on the SB2U-2, the V-156-F

incorporated speciic French equipment. Briely

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2019

COMBAT ZONE – SB2U VINDICATOR

COMBFIGHTING AT ZONECOLOURS^11