The SBC traced back to US Navy Specification 113, issued in 1931 amid intense Bureau of Aeronautics debate. Officers and engineers were still contesting whether carrier aircraft should have one or two seats, use monoplane or biplane layouts, and accept retractable undercarriages whose mechanisms could be fragile at sea. Seven companies submitted proposals, with Douglas and Chance Vought receiving prototype contracts before the Navy selected Curtiss. Features later treated as obvious were institutional choices made under uncertainty, so the requirement offers an instructive snapshot of interwar carrier aviation.
Notable Point · 10:55-12:09
Specification 113 captured a carrier-aviation transition
The 1931 competition exposed arguments over crew size, monoplanes, biplanes, and retractable landing gear before the Navy selected Curtiss.