This is an 8.5 x 11.5, soft-bound book with a glossy heavy card stock cover enclosing 112 pages of glossy heavy weight paper. Along with the test, there are 161 black and white photos and 22 color photos, including 4 color photos on the front and back covers and front panel. Also included are five tables covering technical specifications, Helldiver squadrons, aircraft production numbers, and foreign operators, plus a chart of tail and wing markings used between January 27 and July 27, 1945. This coincides with the period of highest use of the Helldiver.

The first chapter is a detailed history of Curtiss Aircraft from its beginnings through 1951. It goes into some depth of the troubles the company had with corruption and poor quality during the pre-war and war years.

The second chapter covers the design and development of the SB2C. Again, detailing the problems Curtiss encountered with the lack of manufacturing equipment, poor parts quality, and design missteps. The largest being repeated efforts to install a power turret in the rear instead of an open gunner’s position. Unlike most references where the photos follow the development text, the photos in this book follow no particular order.

Chapter 3 is a component-by-component description of the Helldiver systems. Then Chapter 4, although titled Deployment and Service Entry, is split between more discussion on development problems as well as initial deployment of the plane.

Chapter 5 is a squadron-by-squadron discussion of the formation, deployment, and combat actions of the operators. The major drawback to this chapter is that the text is one continuous story. That is, there are no breaks identifying when one squadron discussion ends and the next begins. This chapter is further muddled because there are many areas with overlaps between units and carriers, but there is no easy way to follow them in the text. This chapter ends with a short description of the Helldivers first use in combat. This is a good read on the attack on Rabaul on 11 November 1943; however, it is marred by the out-of-place history of VT-17, the squadron that took part in the attack.

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 are discussions of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the final destruction of the Japanese Imperial Navy. While these 37 pages are interesting to the historian, they are all but irrelevant to the Helldiver. For example, the only mention of the Helldiver in Chapter 6 is at the end, where it is noted that in the aftermath of the battle, 40 of 51 Helldivers were lost.

Chapter 9 covers the use of the Helldiver by Marine and Army units in the Pacific Theater. Chapter 10 goes into the limited postwar use of the Helldiver by the Navy, as both the Army and Marines retired or returned their Helldivers at the end of hostilities. Chapter 11 provides limited detail on foreign countries that operated Helldivers. Only the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm had Helldivers during the war. The other countries received the Helldiver during the post-war years.

Chapter 12 is a short discussion of tests and trials for the Helldivers. This includes the cumbersome (more than normal) float plane version and aircraft used to test air‑launched rockets.

Following the final text in Chapter 12 are four pages of mostly black and white detailed photos of various parts of the Helldiver. Being in black and white, they are not much help for colors, but do provide good views for adding detail, such as the plumbing in the wheel wells.

After these detailed photos are two pages of line drawings. One page includes port (left) side profile views of the SB2C-1, -3, -4, and a starboard (right) profile view of the SB2C-5. The next page is a top and bottom view of an SB2C-4.

The final seven pages and the back inner cover are color profile drawings of various aircraft. While most are US Navy aircraft, the final two pages are foreign aircraft, and the rear cover shows US Army aircraft.

Conclusion

This is a rather unusual reference, and I use that term quite loosely. It is a mix of nitty-gritty details such as pilot ranks and names, and broad statements about surface battles. As noted earlier, about a third of the book is discussions of specific surface battles that have only passing mention of Helldiver actions. One annoying item common throughout the book is what comes across as the text having had no proofreading. This leads to misspellings, such as Edwin Layton becoming Edwin Clayton and Edwin Lawton in later paragraphs. There are also several inconsistencies where carrier names are italicized throughout most of a section, but not always, as well as carriers or squadrons being in two places on the same dates.

The largest error that, for me, calls into question much of the research, is in Chapter 8, where it is stated that the first atomic bomb was dropped by Bocks Car and the Enola Gay delivered the second bomb. Another disappointment is with the photo captions, as most simply note “a Helldiver”, leaving it to the reader to try and determine what version of the airframe is shown. The same goes for all but a handful of the color profiles, where it is noted that the bureau number is unknown. This can lead one to the conclusion that the profile is more of a generic color than that of a specific aircraft.

I did find it interesting that for an aircraft that had so many design and production problems, and was noted by an RAF test pilot as “the worst aircraft he had ever flown,” a total of 7,140 airframes were produced.

I would like to thank Guideline Publications and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this book.