Vought OS2U Kingfisher

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was the most widely used U.S. Navy catapult-launched observation and scout floatplane of World War II. A two-seat, single-engine monoplane, it operated from the catapults of battleships and cruisers as well as from coastal bases on wheeled landing gear. Its duties included gunfire spotting, reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrol, and air-sea rescue, with Kingfishers famously recovering downed aircrew, including the crew of Eddie Rickenbacker's lost B-17.

Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial, the Kingfisher was slow but stable and reliable. Vought began deliveries in 1940, and roughly 1,500 were built. They served not only with the U.S. Navy but also with Britain, Australia, and several Latin American nations, remaining in front-line use until faster aircraft and radar-equipped patrol planes displaced them late in the war.