Naval Aircraft Factory SBN

The Naval Aircraft Factory SBN was a three-seat, mid-wing monoplane scout bomber and torpedo aircraft designed by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation and built under licence by the United States Navy's own aircraft factory in Philadelphia. Brewster's prototype XSBA-1 first flew on 15 April 1936 and, with a 950 horsepower Wright Cyclone, reached 263 miles per hour, believed at the time to be the fastest single-engine bomber in the world. Brewster was too busy with its F2A Buffalo fighter to build production aircraft, so the Navy ordered 30 from the factory in September 1938. The first SBN was delivered in November 1940 and the rest by March 1942, mostly to Bombing Squadron 3 aboard USS Saratoga. Obsolete on delivery, none saw combat and the type was withdrawn in August 1942.