SQUADRON SIGNAL S2F TRACKER IN
ACTION GRUMMAN USN VS RCN RAN
SQUADRON SIGNAL PUBLICATIONS AIRCRAFT No.100 (1990)
BY JIM SULLIVAN.
COLOR BY DON GREER. ILLUSTRATED
BY PERRY MANLEY & JOE SEWELL
INTRODUCTION (GRUMMAN XS2F-1 TRACKER PROTOTYPE, GRUMMAN
AF-2W GUARDIAN, GRUMMAN TBM-3W TBM-3S AVENGER HUNTER-KILLER TEAMS ASW)
S2F-1 S-2A (GRUMMAN BETHPAGE, MAGNETIC ANOMALY DETECTOR
MAD BOOM, YS2F-1 TRACKER NATC PATUXENT RIVER, NAALF FENTRESS,
ECM DIRECTION FINDER ANTENNA ILLUSTRATION
ENGINE NACELLE DETAILED ILLUSTRATION
US-2A UTILITY AIRCRAFT (CONVERSION DETAILS, MCAF NEW
RIVER, MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NAF WASHINGTON DC)
S2F-1T TS-2A MULTI-ENGINE TRAINER (NAS CORPUS CHRISTI,
VT-27 USS ANTIETAM, NAS LEMOORE VT-31, ATU-611, VT-27, VT-28)
US-2B (NAS MIRAMAR, MCAS QUANTICO)
S2F-1S S-2B (USS BENNINGTON VS-33)
S2F-1S1 S-2F (VS-21 NAS NORTH ISLAND, VS-24 NAS NORFOLK)
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES DE HAVILLAND CANADA CS2F-2 ROYAL
CANADIAN NAVY RCN HMCS BONAVENTURE, MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON MR-880,
CFB SHEARWATER HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA, ANTENNA CONFIGURATION)
S2F-2 S-2C (WEAPONS BAY/ENGINE NACELLE, HORIZONTAL
STABILIZER DETAIL, VS-38 USS BADOENG STRAIT CVE-116, USS LEYTE VS-39)
US-2C (NAS QUONSET POINT VU-2, VC-5 NAS ATSUGI, VC-4 NAS
CECIL FIELD, NAS GUANTANAMO CUBA, VU-10 NAS WASHINGTON DC, VC-1 NAS NORTH
ISLAND)
S2F-2P RS-2C PHOTO RECONNAISSANCE (CAMERA INSTALLATION
DETAILS)
S2F-3 S-2D (FUSELAGE NACELLE DEVELOPMENT, US NAVY TEST
PILOT SCHOOL, USS RANDOLPH, ENGINE COWLING DEVELOPMENT, INTERIOR CREW STATION
PHOTOGRAPHS, NAS WILLOW GROVE)
US-2D ES-2D
S2F-3S S-2E (NAS ROTA SPAIN, USS INTREPID, VS-23,
CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN AERIAL WEAPONS TESTING RANGE)
S-2G (NRL YS-2G, NAS NORTH ISLAND, NAS QUONSET POINT
RHODE ISLAND, USS TICONDEROGA)
FOREIGN NAVIES (DUTCH NAVY, JMSDF JAPAN, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN
NAVY RAN, REPUBLIC OF KOREA AIR FORCE, URUGUAYAN NAVY, VENEZUELAN NAVY)
FIRE FIGHTING TURBO TRACKER
TF-1 C-1A TRADER CARRIER ONBOARD DELIVERY COD (USS
LEXINGTON, USS KITTY HAWK)
WF-2 E-1B TRACER WILLIE FUDD STOOF WITH A ROOF (VAW,
RVAW)
OPERATIONS (VS-24 USS INTREPID, VS-21 VS-31 USS
PRINCETON, VS-26 NAS NORFOLK, VS-27 USS WASP, NAS OAKLAND, VS-22 NAS KEY WEST,
PACIFIC MISSILE TEST RANGE PT MUGU, VS-36 USS RANDOLPH)
NAVAL AVIATION TEST CENTER NATC NAS PATUXENT RIVER MD
CARRIER TRIALS USS CORAL SEA CV-43
US NAVAL TEST PILOT SCHOO USNTPS
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY NRL WASHINGTON DC
PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE PMR & PACIFIC MISSILE TEST
CENTER PMTC PT MUGU CA
NAVAL WEAPONS EVALUATION FACILITY NWEF KIRTLAND AFB NM
NAVAL AIR DEVELOPMENT UNIT NADU
NAVAL AIR DEVELOPMENT CENTER NADC JOHNSVILLE PA
AIR DEVELOPMENT SQUADRONS VX “AIRDEVRON”
FLEET COMPOSITE SQUADRONS VC
UTILITY SQUADRONS VU
AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRONS VAW
AIRBORNE ANTI-SUBMARINE SQUADRONS VS
REPLACEMENT AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRONS RVAW
USNR NAVAL RESERVE SQUADRONS
TRAINING SQUADRONS VT
ADVANCED TRAINING SQUADRONS ATU
NAVAL AIR TECHNICAL TRAINING NAVTECHTRA
NAVAL AIR RESERVE TRAININ GUNITS NARTU
USMC MARINE UTILITY & COMMAND TRACKERS US-2B
STATION AND FACILITY UTILITY AND COMMAND TRACKERS USN
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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The Grumman S-2 Tracker (previously S2F prior to 1962)
was the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare (ASW)
aircraft to enter service with the U.S. Navy. Designed and initially built by
Grumman, the Tracker was of conventional design with twin engines, a high wing
and tricycle undercarriage. The type was exported to a number of navies around
the world. Introduced in 1952 the Tracker saw service in the USN until the mid-1970s
with a few aircraft remaining in service with other air arms into the 21st
century.
The Tracker was intended as a replacement for the Grumman
AF Guardian, which was the first purpose-built aircraft system for ASW, using
two airframes for two versions, one with the detection gear, and the other with
the weapon systems. The Tracker combined both functions in one aircraft.
Grumman's design (model G-89) was for a large high-wing monoplane with twin
Wright Cyclone R-1820 nine-cylinder radial engines, a yoke type arrestor hook
and a crew of four. Both the two prototypes XS2F-1 and 15 production aircraft,
S2F-1 were ordered at the same time, on 30 June 1950. The first flight was
conducted on 4 December 1952, and production aircraft entered service with VS-26,
in February 1954.
Follow-on versions included the WF Tracer and TF Trader,
which became the Grumman E-1 Tracer and Grumman C-1 Trader in the tri-service
designation standardization of 1962. The S-2 carried the nickname
"Stoof" (S-two-F) throughout its military career; and the E-1 Tracer
variant with the large overhead radome was colloquially called the "stoof
with a roof."
The Tracer was fitted with the Hazeltine AN/APS-82 in its
radome and fuselage. The radar featured an Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI),
which compares the video of one pulse time to the next in reflected radar
energy to distinguish a flying aircraft from the clutter produced by wave
action at the ocean's surface. The energy reflected from an aircraft changes
position rapidly compared to the energy reflected from the surrounding sea.
Separating a moving object from stationary background is accomplished by
suitable hardware.
As one of the first carrier based early warning aircraft,
the E-1 Tracer served from 1958 to 1977, although considered only an interim
type, being replaced by the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye in the mid-1960s. During the
early years of the Vietnam War, E-1s saw extensive service, providing combat
air patrol (CAP) fighters with target vectors, and controlling Alpha strikes over
North Vietnam. With a radius of 250–300 miles, the E-1B served as an early
warning to strike aircraft, of enemy MiG's activity.
By May 1973, most E-1Bs were retired, with only four
RVAW-110 Tracers based at NAS North Island, California, still in service. These
aircraft were soon retired during mid-summer 1977 following a final cruise on
board the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) and were ferried to the
Davis-Monthan storage facility. The E-1B Tracer was struck from the inventory
by 1977.
The Tracker carried an internal torpedo bay capable of
carrying two lightweight torpedoes or one nuclear depth charge. There were six
underwing hard points for rocket pods and conventional depth charges or up to
four additional torpedoes. A ventrally mounted retractable radome for AN/APS-38
radar and a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) AN/ASQ-8 mounted on an extendable
rear mounted boom were also fitted. Early model Trackers had an Electronic
Surveillance Measures (ESM) pod mounted dorsally just aft of the front seat overhead
hatches and were also fitted with a smoke particle detector or sniffer. Later
S-2s had the sniffer removed and had the ESM antennae moved to four rounded
extensions on the wingtips. A 70 million candlepower searchlight was mounted on
the starboard wing. The engine nacelles carried JEZEBEL sonobouys in the rear
(16 in early marks, 32 in the S-2E/G). Early Trackers also carried 60 explosive
charges dispensed ventrally from the rear of the fuselage used for active sonar
(JULIE) with the AN/AQA-3 and later AQA-4 detection sets, whereas the
introduction of active sonobouys and AN/AQA-7 with the S-2G conversion saw
these removed. Smoke dispensers were mounted on the port ventral surface of the
nacelles in groups of three each.
The Grumman C-1 Trader was a carrier onboard delivery
(COD) variant of the Grumman S-2 Tracker.
The C-1 (originally the TF-1) was outfitted to carry nine passengers or
3,500 pounds (1,600 kg) of cargo and first flew in January 1955. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the C-1 Trader
carried mail and supplies to aircraft carriers on station in the Pacific Ocean
during the Vietnam War and also served as a trainer for all-weather carrier
operations. Over its production life 83 C-1 Traders were built, of which four
were converted into EC-1A Tracer electronic countermeasures aircraft. The last
C-1 was retired from USN service in 1988; it was the last radial engine
aircraft in U.S military service.
Between 1967 and 1984 the Royal Australian Navy operated
two Squadrons of S-2E and S-2G variants, based at NAS Nowra (HMAS Albatross).
These were VS-816 front line squadron, which embarked in the Majestic class
aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, as part of the 21st Carrier Air Group whenever
that ship was deployed; and VC-851 training squadron. During approximately 17 years of operation of
the Tracker, the RAN lost only one S-2 during aircraft operations due to an
accident at sea on 10 February 1975. However, on 4 December 1976, a
deliberately lit fire in a hangar at Nowra destroyed or badly damaged a large
proportion of the RAN's complement of Trackers. These were subsequently
replaced with ex-USN aircraft. The replacement aircraft were all S-2Gs,
including the original aircraft modified by the USN to that status. This saw
the introduction of AQA-7 acoustic gear into RAN service and all RAN
operational Trackers were subsequently modified to this standard.
In 1954, de Havilland Canada entered into a contract to
build Trackers under license to replace the outmoded TBM-3E Avengers being used
by the Royal Canadian Navy. A total of 99 Canadian-built Trackers entered
service, starting in 1956. From 1957 onwards, these aircraft operated from the
newly deployed aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure and various shore bases. All
the Canadian Trackers were built to the earlier "A" model airframe
design with a length of 42 feet (12.80 m) (c.f. 43' 6" for later model
Trackers) in order to fit in the Bonnie's hangar. In 1960, 17 active duty
CS2F-1 aircraft were transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1964, a pair
of CS2F-1 aircraft were stripped of armament and ASW electronics, converted to
transports, and subsequently used for carrier onboard delivery. The CS2F-1, -2,
and -3 were redesignated as the CP-121 Mk.1, Mk. 2, and Mk. 3 respectively
following the unification of Canadian forces in 1968.
After Bonaventure was decommissioned in 1970, all
remaining Canadian Trackers were transferred to shore bases. This limited their
usefulness for ASW patrols, and between 1974 and 1981 gradually all but 20 were
placed in storage and the remainder were stripped of their ASW gear. The
remaining active-duty Trackers served until 1990 on fisheries protection and
maritime patrol duties. A handful of Trackers were kept in flying condition
until the late 1990s but were no longer used for active service.
A single Grumman-built S2F-1, serial number X-500, was
sold to de Havilland Canada before Canadian production commenced. It was
initially used for quality control purposes during Canadian production, and was
later given a new RCN serial number, upgraded to CS2F-1 standards, and used to
train RCN ground and maintenance personnel. This aircraft was placed in storage
in 1972 and as of August 2013 was undergoing restoration at the Shearwater
Aviation Museum.
The Royal Netherlands Navy, (Netherlands Naval Aviation
Service or MLD) received 28 [Serials 146 to 173] S-2A (S2F-1) aircraft under
MDAP from US Navy in 1960. 17 [Serials 180-196] additional CS-2A (CS2F-1)
aircraft formerly operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. were delivered between
December 1960 and September 1961 after being overhauled by Fairey Canada. These
aircraft were operated from Valkenburg Naval Air Base as well as from the light
carrier Karel Doorman until a fire in 1968 took that ship out of Dutch service.
A total of 18 aircraft were converted to S-2N (for
Netherlands) standard by Fairey Canada in 1968–1970 for ASW and MR use with 1
Sqn (at Hato International Airport), of which four were converted to US-2N
trainer/transport standards in May 1971. Most of the de Havilland Canada-built
CS-2As were scrapped by 1970 or used for ground instruction. The last Tracker
in MLD service was withdrawn in January 1976, with some transferred to the
Turkish Navy.
Grumman produced 1,185 Trackers. Another 99 aircraft
carrying the CS2F designation were manufactured in Canada under license by de
Havilland Canada. U.S.-built versions of the Tracker were sold to various
nations, including Australia, Japan, Turkey and Taiwan.
Argentina and Brazil are the last countries to still use
the Tracker.
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