Curtiss SC Seahawk

The Curtiss SC Seahawk was a single-engine scout floatplane developed late in World War II to operate from U.S. Navy cruisers and battleships, where it was launched by catapult and recovered from the water. First flown in February 1944, it was designed to replace earlier scout floatplanes such as the SOC Seagull and OS2U Kingfisher. Larger and faster than its predecessors, the Seahawk was intended for reconnaissance, gunfire spotting, anti-submarine patrol, and air-sea rescue, and could be fitted with either a central float or wheeled landing gear.

The first examples reached the fleet aboard USS Guam in late 1944. Around 575 were built, but the rapid postwar shift toward shipboard helicopters meant its frontline career was brief.