Canadian Warplanes 3: Curtiss Seamew

Curtiss SO3C Seamew

(RN Photo)

Curtiss SO3C-1 Seamew Mk. I, Royal Navy (Serial No. FN475).  Flown by the RN at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia during the war.

Curtiss SO3C Seamew Mk. I (82), (Serial Nos. FN480- FN486, FN489- FN496, FN498, FN499, FN600- FN608, FN610- FN613, FN615, FN616, FN618- FN620, FN622, FN623, FN625, FN627, FN629- FN642, JW576- JW578, JW580- JW583, JW614- JW618, JW621, JW622, JW634, JW638, JW640, JW642).

The Curtiss SO3C Seamew was developed  as a replacement for the  's standard floatplane scout. Curtiss named the SO3C the Seamew but in 1941 the US Navy began calling it by the name Seagull, the same name as the aircraft it replaced (the Curtiss SOC a biplane type), causing some confusion. The Royal Navy kept the Curtiss name, (Seamew), for the SO3Cs that they ordered. One of the US Navy's main design requirements was that the SOC Seagull's replacement had to be able to operate both from ocean vessels with a single center float and from land bases with the float replaced by a wheeled landing gear.

A number of the SO3C-1s, a fixed undercarriage version, were ordered by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm under the terms of . In RN service the SO3C was given the designation "Seamew". Crews gave it the more appropriate name "Sea Cow".  Seamews served with No. 744 NAS and at RCAF Yarmouth, and in the UK. (Wikipedia)

(RN Photo)

Curtiss SO3C-1 Seamew Mk. I, Royal Navy (Serial No. FN475).

(RN Photo)

Curtiss SO3C-1 Seamew Mk. I, Royal Navy (Serial No. FN489).

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