Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 3 : Wildcat Aces of World War 2

At the time of Pearl Harbor the US Navy counted 131 Wildcats in operational squadrons - 103 in the Atlantic Fleet and 29 with the Pacific. Two Marine Corps squadrons in Virginia and one in Hawaii numbered 61 F4Fs, while another two-dozen or so resided in fleet pools and miscellaneous commands. However, the Navy F4F squadrons faced a serious deficit, with only 48 per cent of their authorised aircraft on strength - Grumman production was struggling to catch up with allotments. Ironically, the Marines (long accustomed to taking a back seat) actually showed a surplus, with 112 per cent of authorised strength. Arguably the most important piston-engined single-seat fighter design ever to see service with the US Navy and Marine Corps, the aesthetically inelegant F4F Wildcat achieved much acclaim during its bloody frontline career. Thrown into combat at Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal, the handful of Wildcat units of the Navy and Marine Corps took on large numbers of fighters and bombers and came out victorious. On the European front, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm also put the fighter to effective use from escort carriers, protecting Atlantic convoys from Luftwaffe attacks. Text by Barrett Tilman with illustrations by Chris Davey.

Contents

• Pre-War Naval Aviation and Early Campaigns
• Midway
• Guadalcanal
• On the Offensive
• Torch and Leader
• The Eastern Wildcat
• Fleet Air Arm
• Training
• Victory Credits and Wildcat Evaluation
• Appendices