BREWSTER BERMUDA

The Brewster Bermuda is perhaps the least successful Allied aircraft of World War II. The U.S. Navy first ordered the design in 1939 as the SB2A Buccaneer. The British and Dutch also ordered versions of the aircraft in the early desperate days of the war. Brewster's endemic production problems and the generally poor performance of the type resulted in delays that prevented the Dutch from taking delivery of any of their aircraft before the country was over run by Germany. The British did take possession of some of their aircraft, but like the U.S. Navy found them to be totally unsuited to combat duty. The Americans and British eventually used some of the aircraft as target tugs, but many were sent straight from the assembly line to surplus scrap piles when the U.S. government shut down the Brewster production lines.