[Don Boose]

Garry’s model is a Vought OS2U-2 Kingfisher. In the U.S. Navy nomenclature of the time, “OS” stood for “observation/scout.” “Observation” referred to aircraft intended to observe and adjust the fall of shot for naval gunfire. “Scout” referred to aircraft intended to locate enemy surface ships and submarines. OS2U-2 meant that the Kingfisher was the second observation-scout aircraft (OS2) built by Vought (U) and was the second major modification (2 suffix).

Entering Navy service in 1940, the Vought OS2U Kingfishers eventually replaced the Curtiss SOC Seagulls as the scouting and observation floatplanes aboard U.S. Navy battleships and cruisers and were also based at shore installations (like the aircraft Garry’s model is based on). In addition to observation and scouting duties, they served as transport, liaison, utility, and air-sea rescue aircraft.

The Vought OS2U-2 aircraft that Garry modeled was U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) 2193 as it appeared on 20 March 1941. It was one of six observation-scout aircraft assigned to Scout Squadron 2 of the First Naval District (which included the northeast coast of the United States and was headquartered in Boston) and was based at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The aircraft number identifies it as such: 2D1-S-1. The “2D1” means Second Scouting Squadron of the First Naval District, ”S” means “Scouting,” and the final “1” means it is the first aircraft of the squadron. The national insignia star on the cowling was known as the “Neutrality Patrol Star” and, beginning in March 1940, was added to U.S. Navy aircraft participating in the Neutrality Patrol, a combined air and ship patrol of the U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 4 September 1939.

At the time represented by Garry’s model, six OS-type aircraft were assigned to the First Naval District and were assigned primary duties as “inner patrol,” which meant patrolling for up to 50 miles offshore. During 1941, the term was changed to “inshore patrol.” When the United States entered the war in December 1941, the only aircraft available for anti-submarine duties were the inshore patrol aircraft assigned to the naval districts, some Coast Guard and training aircraft, and, for longer range patrol, the B-18s, B-25s, and B-17s of the Army’s First Bomber Command (Navy patrol squadrons based on the Atlantic coast were withdrawn in mid-December 1941 to reinforce the Pacific Fleet). In March 1942, nine new inshore patrol squadrons were formed and equipped with 71 OS2Us that had been destined for the British.

A high-quality color four view of 2193 appears on page 80 of Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010.

Images:

Image 1 is a photograph of OS2U-2 2193 (2D1-S-1), the aircraft that Garry’s build is based on, photographed at NAS Quonset Point on 20 March 1941. Source: http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?5792 (With lots of images of the OS2U)

Image 2 is a Naval History Center photograph of the same aircraft sometime in 1941. It is reproduced in Al Adcock, OS2U Kingfisher in Action, Aircraft No. 119, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1992, p. 14.

Image 3 is an LTV (previously Vought) photograph of another Naval District Kingfisher: Vought OS2U-2 2190 (VS-5D4) of Scout Squadron 5 of the Fourth Naval District taken in late 1941. VS-5D4 was one of the new Inshore Patrol Squadrons established before the war. Source: William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961, p. 283.

Sources:

Al Adcock, OS2U Kingfisher in Action, Aircraft No. 119, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1992.

Dana Bell, Aircraft Pictorial No. 3 - OS2U Kingfisher, Tucson, AZ: Classic Warships Publishing, 2010.

---, Kingfisher Addenda, available at http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/kingfisheraddendadb_1.htm

Bluejacketdotcom, U.S. Naval Aircraft Designations, 1922-1962, available athttps://bluejacket.com/usn-usmc-aircraft_designations.html

Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, United States Atlantic Fleet Organization, CinCLantFile A2-11/A3-1/FF13(1) (0175) 29 January 1942, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-atlantic-fleet-organization-1942.html

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945 (Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983), p. 35.

Chief of Naval Operations, Naval Aeronautical Organization – Revised (No 3) -, Fiscal Year 1941, Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 12 February 1941, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/Naval%20Aeronautical%20Organization/pdfs/fy-1941.pdf

Commander Eastern Sea Frontier, United States Naval Administration in World War II: History of the Eastern Sea Frontier (Organizational and Operational), New York, NY, Office of the Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier, no date, Chapter 4: “Organization of Air Forces, Eastern Sea Frontier,” available at https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/161-EasternSF/161-EasternSF-4.html

Roy A. Grossnick, Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons Volume 1: The History of VA, VAH, VAK, VAL, VAP and VFA Squadrons, Chapter 4, “The Evolution of Aircraft Class and Squadron Designation Systems,” Washington, DC: NavalHistorical Center, Department of the Navy, 1995, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-1/pdfs/chapter1.pdf

William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961, pp. 283, 306.

National Naval Aviation Museum, OS2U Kingfisher, available at http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=os2u_kingfisher

Pacific Aviation Museum, U.S. Scout/Observation Floatplanes in World War II, available at https://www.pacificaviationmuseum.org/pearl-harbor-blog/u-s-scoutobservation-floatplanes-in-world-war-ii/

Albert L. Raithel, “Patrol Aviation in the Atlantic in World War II,” Naval Aviation News, December 1994, pp. 28-35, available at
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/commemorations/commemorations-toolkits/wwii/articles-on-world-war-ii-naval-aviation/pdf/ww2-33.pdf

William E. Scarborough, "The Neutrality Patrol: To Keep Us Out of World War II? Part 1,” Naval Aviation News, March-April 1950, pp. 18-23, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/commemorations/commemorations-toolkits/wwii/articles-on-world-war-ii-naval-aviation/pdf/ww2-4.pdf