U.S. Navy Deliveries to the U.S. Navy began in December 1937, when four aircraft joined
VB-3 aboard the aircraft carrier , replacing
Curtiss BFC-2 biplanes. As well as
Saratoga, Vindicators served on the carriers , , and . Air Group Nine, destined for , trained in Vindicators aboard the escort carrier , but they transitioned to the
Douglas SBD Dauntless before
Essex joined the war.
U.S. Marine Corps VMSB-231 and
VMSB-241 were the only two USMC squadrons that fielded the Marine-specific 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 led a wing of dive bombers, including 6 SB2U-3 Vindicator in an attack on the
Japanese cruiser Mikuma on 5 June 1942, but was shot down by anti-aircraft fire during the attack, for which he was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor.
French Navy On 22 February 1939, France placed an order for 20 V-156-Fs for the carrier-based squadrons of the
Aéronautique Navale (French Naval Aviation), with an order for 20 more V-156-Fs following in May 1939. Based on the SB2U-2, the V-156-F incorporated specific French equipment, including
Darne machine guns and French radios, while the aircraft were fitted with dive brakes, as tested and rejected by the US Navy. On the outbreak of
World War II in September 1939, the French Navy decided that its only aircraft carrier, , was too slow for operational service, and the ship's squadrons disembarked for land-based service. By mid-October 1939, the first
escadrille, AB 1, had reequipped with the V-156-F, In March–April 1940, AB 1's pilots carried out successful deck-landing training aboard
Béarn, and were declared carrier qualified. AB 1 was ordered up to northern France from
Hyères as a replacement. AB 1 sustained heavy losses while attacking bridges and German ground targets in northern France, including seven aircraft shot down by
Messerschmitt Bf 109s during an attack on a bridge over the
Sambre–Oise Canal on 20 May 1940. Later that month, AB 1 provided air cover for the
Evacuation of Dunkirk. By the time of the
Armistice, there were only a handful of remaining Voughts in French hands, and the type was phased out of service.
Royal Navy France had placed an order for a further 50 V-156-Fs in March 1940, with delivery planned from March 1941. Following the
defeat of France, this order was taken over by the British government for use by the
Royal Navy's
Fleet Air Arm, who named the aircraft the Chesapeake. The British required several modifications to the Chesapeake, including the additional fuel tank fitted to the SB2U-3, Fourteen Chesapeakes were used to equip a reformed
811 Naval Air Squadron on 14 July 1941 at
RNAS Lee-on-Solent. The squadron, whose crews referred to the aircraft as the "cheesecake", intended to use them for
anti-submarine patrols, and they were earmarked for the
escort carrier . By the end of October that year, it had been decided that the Chesapeakes were underpowered for the planned duties and would not be able to lift a useful payload from the small escort carriers. Accordingly, they were withdrawn from 811 Squadron in November 1941 for use as training aircraft and the unit was re-equipped with the biplane
Fairey Swordfish. ==Variants==