The United States was still at peace when the Navy issued a requirement for a design to serve with the fleet as both a successor to the SBD, which would be nearing obsolescence, and as a possible replacement for the SB2C, which was undergoing what can charitably be called a prolonged proportional development period. To meet this requirement, two prototypes of the SXB2D-1 were ordered by the Navy on 30 June 1941....