Developed from the FH Phantom, one of the Navy's earliest jets, the F2H-2 fighter jet was first built in 1950. The F2H-2P was the photographic variant and the Navy's first jet-powered reconnaissance plane. A total of 81 were built, and this particular plane was the next to last one ever constructed. Its longer duckbill nose housed six cameras that could be rotated in flight to shoot obliquely or vertically. Because it was lighter than the heavily armed F2H-2, the F2H-2P could reach much higher altitudes. In 1949 an F2H-1 set a jet altitude record of 52,000 feet. The F2H-2P was used for photo reconnaissance backup to naval strike elements during the Korean War. Unarmed, it usually required an armed escort, particularly for post-strike damage assessment when the enemy was generally alert and agitated.