The colours of pre-war Flagplanes are shown by this SOC-1 dark blue fuselage with silver wings and tail. A placard with the proper number of stars was placed in the holder just below the pilot's cockpit whenever the Admiral was aboard the airplane. Rear Admiral -two stars, Vice Admiral -three, Admiral -four. (Photo: John C. Mitchell)
A few ships had aircraft assigned to the ship rather than to a squadron as with this SOC-2 from the Light Cruiser U.S.S. Trenton. Planes of this type used the old red, white and blue tail stripes. (Photo: Gordon S. Williams)
Battleship Observation squadrons painted the name of the ship to the rear of the
fuselage. VCS squadrons painted it directly below the letters CS. Observation
squadrons using SOC's had their taily painted a solid colour as: VO-1 red, VO-2 white,
VO-3 blue, VO-4 black, VO-5 yellow. (Photo: the author)
Factory photo taken December 23rd, 1937 of a brand new SOC-3 for VO-2. (Photo: Curtiss neg. no. SF- 10708)
In the October 1940 Bureau of Aeronautics Painting Specifications new tail colours were assigned for all shipborne units. These were as follows:
By mid-1941 all battleship observation squadrons had been equipped with Vought OS2U-1's but the entrance of the United States into World War II saw all cruisers in the U.S. Navy equipped with SOC's. This continued through 1942 and in August 1943 there were still nine cruisers in the Atlantic, and eighteen in the equipped with the "Seagull".
A completely new type of operation for the SOC began in 1941 when several SOC-3's had carrier arresting gear added; they became SOC-3A's. Twelve of these joined with seven Brewster F2A-2's to form VS-201 aboard the first escort carrier, U.S.S. Long Island. The late 1941 all-grey paint gave way to two-tone camouflage and a squadron redesignation when VS-201 became VGS-1 (Escort Scouting Squadron One) in 1942. By late 1942 four other escort carriers were operating with SOC-3A's in the Pacific Fleet: VGS-9 aboard the U.S.S. Bogue, VGS-11 on the U.S.S. Card, VGS-13 on the U.S.S. Core, and VGS-18 on the U.S.S. Altamaha. In addition the U.S.S. Charger, assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, was operating 8 SOC-3A's and 3 SON-1A's as VGS-30. In March 1943 VGS-1 became VC-I and the other VGS squadrons converted to Composite Squadrons and exchanged their SOC's for TBF-1's.
The surviving SOC's spent the remainder of the war in utility units, service units, undergoing overhaul or in storage. One of the most interesting is illustrated in the 1946 dark blue Navy colour. This was an SOC-3 used by the Commanding Officer of SOSU-3 (Scout Observation Service Unit Three) at N.A.S. Alameda and its striking appearance surely must have caused a twinge of nostalgia for those who remembered the pre-war SOC Flagplanes.
The SOC served with honour and distinction from Alaska to the Philippines, in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and throughout the South Pacific. it has carried king and commoner alike, and deserves the Navy's accolade "Well done!"