Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat scout / observation biplane

Power Plant:

One 448 kw (600 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-18 Wasp nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One 7.62 mm (0.30 in) fixed forward-firing machinegun; one 7.62 mm (0.30 in) machine-gun at rear on flexible mount; racks under each wing for up to 295 kg (650 lb) of bombs

History:

The SOC Seagull was a two-seat scout / observation aircraft designed by Alexander Solla and built for the US Navy by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. The prototype, known as the Curtiss Model 71, known to the military as the OXO3C-1, flew for the first time in April 1934. It was the last biplane built for the US Navy by Curtiss. Production aircraft were built as floatplanes, with one centre float and one float under each wingtip.

Although production terminated in 1938, the type remained in service with the US Navy and the US Marines up until 1946. It served on board battleships and cruisers in the seaplane configuration, being launched by catapult and recovered from the sea. The wings folded against the fuselage for storage. When it was based at on-shore stations the single float was removed and replaced by a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.

Construction was of welded steel frame covered with aluminium alloy panels towards the front of the fuselage. The remainder was fabric covered. The fin and horizontal surfaces were covered with metal while the rudder and elevators were covered with fabric. The leading-edge of the upper wing had Handley Page automatic slots. The aircraft had a life raft under the pilot’s seat, and first aid kit at the rear of the turret in the fuselage.

A total of 258 aircraft was delivered by Curtiss as the SOC-1 (135), SOC-2 (40) for land operation, SOC-3 (83) and SOC-4. A total of 64 examples of the SOC-3 was delivered from 1940 by the Naval Aircraft Factory as the SON-1. Examples were delivered to the United Kingdom for use by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Three were supplied to the US Coast Guard. Two variants were the SOC-2A and SOC-3A which were fitted with an arrester hook for operations from the escort carrier ‘USS Long Island’ (AVG-1). In 1941 the SOC series became known as the Seagull. US Navy battleships and cruisers were equipped with up to six SOCs.

By mid 1940 there were 279 Seagulls in American service and they were serving on board every battleship and cruiser of the US Naval fleet, as well as every aircraft carrier, a destroyer, seaplane tender, two gunboats and at a Coast Guard Air Station. The type outlasted its intended replacement, the Curtiss SO3C-1 Seamew, which was powered by a Ranger engine. The Seagull was a contemporary of the Fairey Seafox and Supermarine Walrus in Royal Naval service. The first operational aircraft was delivered to the ‘USS Marblehead’ on 12 November 1935.

The primary purpose of the Seagull was for the spotting of long-range gunfire from the cruisers and battleships to which they were attached, and for scouting, thus extending the range of the fleet over the horizon. Flagships of each fleet carried an additional aircraft known as the ‘Flagplane’. This was used by the force commander and was in a different colour scheme, usually being painted overall blue.

The US Navy Cruiser, the ‘USS Pensacola’ (CA-25), operated four examples of the SOC-1 in this region in 1941. On 2 December 1941 the ship, off the Queensland coast, launched one of its SOC-1s at 4.26 am to identify approaching ships and at 10.01 am on that day one made a liaison flight to Brisbane, QLD; Another at 10.46 am commenced an anti-submarine patrol.

On 22 December a Seagull (serial 5-CS-10 – Bu No 9977) was launched for anti-submarine patrols during the ship’s entry into Moreton Bay. However, this aircraft did not return to the ship and SOC-1s (5-CS-9 and 5-CS-12) were launched to search for the missing aircraft. Further searches were made on 23 and 24 December but the search was discontinued the next day. The crew of the missing aircraft, Ensign Robert F Rogers and R Mc G D Saxton, were lost. Further Seagull flights were made on 26 December for patrol and gunner observation.

Armament was a 7.62 mm (0.30 in) Browning M-2 fixed forward-firing machine-gun with 500 rounds of ammunition operated by the pilot and a second Browning on a flexible mounting with 600 rounds for the observer in the rear cockpit. Provision was made for a Mk XLI Bomb Rack under each wing which could hold a 52.6 kg (116 lb) bomb, one Mk VII-1 Smoke Tank, or one Mk XVII Depth Bomb.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the ‘USS Houston’, a Northampton-class heavy cruiser, left Panay Island in The Philippines with other US Navy fleet units bound for Darwin, NT arriving on 28 December 1941 via Balikpapan and Surabaya in Java. Afterwards it joined the American, British, Dutch and Australian (ABDA) force at Surabaya. It eventually, with other naval ships, was lost in the Battle of the Sunda Strait.

At this time the vessel carried four SOC Seagull scout/observation seaplanes, one on each side of the ship on a catapult, and a further two or four stored in a purpose-built hangar. During service recovery of the aircraft involved landing on the sea, the ship making a turn and flattening the water to allow the landing. The aircraft then taxied onto a sled towed by the ship, the radio operator stood on the top of the wing and hooked the aircraft to a cable lowered by a crane, and the aircraft lifted back on to the ship. It was said that “if the launch or mission did not kill the crew, then there was always the recovery”.

The Vought Sikorsky Kingfisher was also operated from units of the US fleet but, as it did not have folding wings like the Seagull, it could not be stored in cruiser hangars.

On 16 February 1942, whilst the ‘USS Houston’ was travelling in the Timor Sea escorting a convoy, an enemy aircraft was sighted and one SOC-3 (BuAer 1065) was flown off by Lt Jack Lamade with observer Tubbs on board but was unable to return to the vessel. On 19 February 1942 Darwin received the first of many attacks by Japanese aircraft, including bombers and fighters, suffering considerable damage.

On 27 February 1942 the ‘USS Houston’ and ‘HMAS Perth’ were sunk during the Battle of Sunda Strait.

Reports stated on at least two occasions efforts had been made for the SOC-3 aircraft to re-join the vessel but this appears to have been erroneous as, on 16 February, after leaving the cruiser, it flew to Roebuck Bay, Broome, WA running out of fuel on arriving and making a dead-stick landing. It was then refuelled from drums by hand pump. For a short time whilst at Broome, where the Seagull stayed for two weeks, ‘USS Houston’ was in the vicinity before heading north but communication problems did not allow the aircraft to be aware of this so it could return.

At this time there were 15 large flying boats at Broome, including Dutch and RAF Catalinas, Dutch Dornier DO-24Ks, and two Qantas Short C-Class Empires. These aircraft at the time were involved in the evacuation of British, American and Dutch military personnel, and Dutch civilians, from Java in the face of Japanese forces.

At Roebuck Bay on 1 March 1942 the crew of the Seagull was informed of the loss of the ‘USS Houston’. It was preparing to depart for Port Hedland, WA, where the seaplane tender ‘USS William B Preston’ had arrived. The aircraft was flown there, where the crew of the ship fired on it, being unaware it was an American aircraft.

Broome was attacked by nine Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters from Koepang. Lieutenant Lamade in the SOC-3 was then ordered to fly south to save the aircraft. A reconnaissance Mitsubishi C5M Babs accompanied the fighters for photography and navigation. Every flying boat at Roebuck Bay on that day was destroyed by the attacking Japanese aircraft, as were a number of other aircraft, including a Lockheed Lodestar, a Lockheed Hudson, Boeing B-17 Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator at Broome aerodrome.

On 3 March the SOC-3 Seagull immediately took off and was attacked by Japanese fighters but managed to elude them when they turned their attention to attack Broome airfield, being was flown to safety, this being the only allied aircraft to escape from Broome that day. It was flown to Exmouth Gulf and there was serviced by crew members on the ‘USS Childs’, continuing on to Perth, WA where it arrived on 7 March. It is assumed the Seagull remained with American forces in Australia thereafter.

It is known other SOCs were in Australia during World War II and one (Code CS-13) crashed in the Hervey Bay area of Queensland on 12 June 1942. The aircraft and the crew were never found, despite searches made by two other Seagulls.

On about 12 March 1942 six Curtis SOC floatplanes of the US Navy whilst on a training flight, were forced to alight at Rossel Island, which is the easternmost island of the Louisiade Archipelago, part of the Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. On 18 March a Consolidated PBY-Catalina of the RAAF located the aircraft. It seems repairs had to be effected to the aircraft and afterwards they were flown out by their US Navy crews. This occurred a couple of months before the Battle of the Coral Sea. These aircraft were attached to the ‘USS Louisville’, ‘USS Astoria’ and ‘USS Pensacola’. On 27 March the ‘USS Astoria’ proceeded to pick up the aircraft and crews, re-joining the US Naval force, one aircraft being temporarily attached to the ‘USS Portland’ for a short time before returning to the ‘USS Pensacola’.