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Grumman F4F Wildcat

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The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet.<ref>Note; British Fleet Air Arm fighters were named after sea birds. Later the "Wildcat" name would be adopted by the RN to simplify supply and prevent possible confusion over delivery orders.</ref> First used by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Second World War. The disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as aircraft became available.

With a top speed of Template:Convert, the Wildcat was outperformed by the faster [[[:Template:Convert]]], more maneuverable, and longer-ranged Mitsubishi A6M Zero. US Navy pilots, including John "Jimmy" Thach, a pioneer of fighter tactics to deal with the A6M Zero, were greatly dissatisfied with the Wildcat's inferior performance against the Zero in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The Wildcat has a claimed air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the war.<ref name="polmar">Polmar 2004</ref>

Lessons learned from the Wildcat were later applied to the faster F6F Hellcat. While the Wildcat had better range and maneuverability at low speed, the Hellcat could rely on superior power and high speed performance to outperform the Zero.<ref>Tillman 1983, pp. 5, 96.</ref><ref>TAIC REPORT NO.17, November 1944</ref> Wildcat production continued throughout the remainder of the war, with Wildcats serving on escort carriers, where the larger and much heavier Hellcat could not be used.

From 1942-on, production of the Wildcat (in fact nearly three quarters of its the total production) was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors: the Eastern Aircraft Division.

Design and developmentEdit

File:Grumman XF4F-3 prototype in flight in 1939.jpg
The XF4F-3 in 1939; it was written off in a fatal accident on 16 December 1940

Grumman fighter development began with the two-seat Grumman FF biplane. The FF was the first U.S. naval fighter with a retractable landing gear. The wheels retracted into the fuselage, leaving the tires visibly exposed, flush with the sides of the fuselage. Two single-seat biplane designs followed, the F2F and F3F, which established the general fuselage outlines of what would become the F4F Wildcat. In 1935, while the F3F was still undergoing flight testing, Grumman started work on its next biplane fighter, the G-16. At the time, the U.S. Navy favored a monoplane design, the Brewster F2A-1, ordering production early in 1936. However, an order was also placed for Grumman's G-16 (given the navy designation XF4F-1) as a backup in case the Brewster monoplane proved to be unsatisfactory.<ref name="Swan US Navy p205">Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 205.</ref><ref name="Green v4 p90">Green 1969, p. 60.</ref>

It was clear to Grumman that the XF4F-1 would be inferior to the Brewster monoplane, so Grumman abandoned the XF4F-1, designing instead a new monoplane fighter, the XF4F-2.<ref name="Swan US Navy p205"/><ref name="donald wildcat">Donald 1995, pp. 128–134.</ref> The XF4F-2 would retain the same, fuselage-mounted, hand-cranked main landing gear as the F3F, with its relatively narrow track. The unusual manually-retractable main landing gear design for all of Grumman's U.S. Navy fighters up to and through the F4F, as well as for the amphibious Grumman J2F utility biplane, was originally created in the 1920s by Leroy Grumman for Grover Loening.<ref>"Wayne Waters CDR USN(ret)." Template:Webarchive willyvictor.com.</ref>Template:Refn Landing accidents caused by failure of the main gear to fully lock into place were distressingly common.<ref>Tillman 1983, p. 12.</ref>

File:F4F-3 in flight in summer of 1940.jpg
An early F4F-3 with prop spinner and cowling guns

The overall performance of Grumman's new monoplane was felt to be inferior to that of the Brewster Buffalo. The XF4F-2 was marginally faster, but the Buffalo was more maneuverable. The Buffalo was judged superior and was chosen for production.<ref name="donald wildcat"/> After losing out to Brewster, Grumman completely rebuilt the prototype as the XF4F-3 with new wings and tail and a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine.<ref name="donald wildcat"/><ref name="green 4 F4f">Green 1961, pp. 90–96.</ref> Testing of the new XF4F-3 led to an order for F4F-3 production models, the first of which was completed in February 1940. France also ordered the type, powered by a Wright R-1820 "Cyclone 9" radial engine, but France fell to the Axis powers before they could be delivered and the aircraft went instead to the British Royal Navy, who christened the new fighter the Martlet. The U.S. Navy officially adopted the aircraft type on 1 October 1941 as the Wildcat. The Royal Navy's and U.S. Navy's F4F-3s, armed with four .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns, joined active units in 1940.<ref name="green 4 F4f"/>

On 16 December 1940, the XF4F-3 prototype, BuNo 0383, c/n 356, modified from XF4F-2, was lost under circumstances that suggested that the pilot may have been confused by the poor layout of fuel valves and flap controls and inadvertently turned the fuel valve to "off" immediately after takeoff rather than selecting flaps "up". This was the first fatality in the type.<ref>"Grumman's Willing Wildcat". Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Bromley, Kent., UK, Number 3, 1976, p. 51.</ref>

Operational historyEdit

File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War A24529.jpg
A Fleet Air Arm Wildcat in 1944, showing "invasion stripes"

Even before the Wildcat had been purchased by the U.S. Navy, the French Navy and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) had ordered the Wildcat, with their own configurations, via the Anglo-French Purchasing Board.

Royal NavyEdit

The F4F, initially known in British service as the Martlet, was taken on by the FAA as an interim replacement for the Fairey Fulmar. The Fulmar was a two-seat fighter with good range but operated at a performance disadvantage against single-seater fighters. Navalised Supermarine Spitfires were not available because of the greater need of the Royal Air Force.<ref>Buttler 2004</ref>Template:Page needed In the European theater, its first combat victory was on Christmas Day 1940, when a land-based Martlet destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 bomber over the Scapa Flow naval base.<ref name="thetp201"/> This was the first combat victory by a US-built fighter in British service in World War II.<ref name="thetp201">Thetford 1978, p. 201.</ref>

The type also pioneered combat operations from the smaller escort carriers.<ref name="EGustin">Gustin Emmanuel. "Grumman F4F Wildcat." Template:Webarchive skynet.be. Retrieved: 22 April 2010.</ref> Six Martlets went to sea aboard the converted former German merchant vessel Template:HMS in September 1941 and shot down several Luftwaffe Fw 200 Condor bombers during highly effective convoy escort operations.<ref>Smith, Gordon. "HMS Audacity (D 10)." Naval-History.Net. Retrieved: 11 October 2011.</ref><ref name="thetp202">Thetford 1978, p. 202.</ref> These were the first of many Wildcats to engage in aerial combat at sea, including Convoy HG 76 to Gibraltar, in December 1941.

The British received 300 Eastern Aircraft FM-1s giving them the designation Martlet V in 1942–43 and 340 FM-2s, (having changed to using the same name as the US) as the Wildcat VI.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref> Nearly 1,200 Wildcats were flown by the FAA and by January 1944, the Martlet name was dropped and the type was identified as the Wildcat.<ref name="thetp205">Thetford 1978, p. 205.</ref><ref name="EGustin" />Template:Refn In March 1945, Wildcats shot down four Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Norway, the FAA's last Wildcat victories.<ref name="thetp202"/> <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

I would still assess the Wildcat as the outstanding naval fighter of the early years of World War II ... I can vouch as a matter of personal experience, this Grumman fighter was one of the finest shipboard aeroplanes ever created.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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The last air raid of the war in Europe was carried out by Fleet Air Arm aircraft in Operation Judgement on 5 May 1945. Twenty eight Wildcat VI aircraft from 846, 853 and 882 Naval Air Squadron, flying from escort carriers, took part in an attack on a U-boat depot near Harstad, Norway. Two ships and a U-boat were sunk with the loss of one Wildcat and one Grumman Avenger torpedo-bomber.

US Navy and Marine CorpsEdit

PacificEdit

The Wildcat was generally outperformed by the Mitsubishi Zero, its major opponent in the early part of the Pacific Theater but held its own partly because, with relatively heavy armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, the Grumman airframe could survive far more damage than its lightweight, unarmored Japanese rival.<ref name=autogenerated1>"Grumman F4F Wildcat" Template:Webarchive acepilots.com. Retrieved: 17 July 2017.</ref> Many U.S. Navy fighter pilots were saved by the Wildcat's ZB homing device, which allowed them to find their carriers in poor visibility, provided they could get within the Template:Convert range of the homing beacon. (However, the Zed Baker was wildly inconsistent in practice, especially during the battle of Midway, when an entire squadron of Wildcats crashed in the sea after failing to locate their carriers).<ref name="Fighting the U-boats"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the hands of an expert pilot with a tactical advantage, the Wildcat could prove a difficult opponent even against the formidable Zero.<ref>Winchester 2004, p. 98.</ref> After analyzing Fleet Air Tactical Unit Intelligence Bureau reports describing the new carrier fighter, USN Commander "Jimmy" Thach devised a defensive tactic that allowed Wildcat formations to act in a coordinated maneuver to counter a diving attack, called the "Thach Weave".<ref>Lundstrom 1984, pp. 480–481.</ref> The most widely employed tactic during the Guadalcanal Campaign was high-altitude ambush, where hit-and-run maneuvers were executed using altitude advantage. This was possible due to an early warning system composed of coastwatchers and radar.<ref>Lundstrom 1994, pp. 186-187, Stille 2019, Kindle location 565–582.</ref> On rare occasions, when Wildcats were unable to gain altitude in time, they would suffer many losses. On 2 October 1942, a Japanese air raid from Rabaul was not detected in time and the Cactus Air Force lost six Wildcats to only one Zero destroyed.<ref>Lundstrom 1994, pp. 266–270, Stille 2019, Kindle location 1233–1237.</ref> On the very first day of the campaign, before the establishment of Henderson Field, Wildcat fighters of TF16 (USS Enterprise) lost 10 fighters and an SBD performing CAP duty to Rabaul-based Tainan Kōkūtai Zero fighters, in exchange for one Zero that was forced to crash-land later. These losses included US Fighter Ace James 'Pug' Southerland who was shot down by IJNAS ace Saburō Sakai (but survived).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During the most intense initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign, between 1 August and 15 November, combat records indicate that US lost 115 Wildcats and Japanese lost 106 Zeros to all causes; the Japanese lost many more pilots compared to the US.<ref>Stille 2019, Kindle location 1895–1925.</ref>

Thach was greatly dissatisfied and a vocal critic of the Wildcat's performance during the war (as were many US carrier pilots), stating in his Midway action report;<ref name=":0" />

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It is indeed surprising that any of our pilots returned alive. Any success our fighter pilots may have had against the Japanese Zero fighter is not due to the performance of the airplane we fly but is the result of the comparatively poor marksmanship of the Japanese, stupid mistakes made by a few of their pilots and superior marksmanship and team work of some of our pilots. The F4F airplane is pitifully inferior in climb, maneuverability and speed.{{#if:James "Jimmy" ThachMidway action report.|{{#if:|}}

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Four U.S. Marine Corps Wildcats played a prominent role in the defense of Wake Island in December 1941. USN and USMC Wildcats formed the fleet's primary air defense during the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway and land-based Wildcats played a major role during the Guadalcanal Campaign of 1942–43.<ref name="donald wildcat"/> It was not until 1943 that more advanced naval fighters capable of taking on the Zero on more even terms, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair, reached the South Pacific theater.

File:Grumman F4Fs on Guadalcanal 1942 NAN1-93.JPG
F4F-4s on Guadalcanal, 1942

The Japanese ace Saburō Sakai described the Wildcat's capacity to absorb damage:

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I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7 mm machine guns. I turned the 20 mm cannon switch to the "off" position, and closed in. For some strange reason, even after I had poured about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition directly into the Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying. I thought this very odd—it had never happened before—and closed the distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman. To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag. With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting! A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now.{{#if:Saburo SakaiZero<ref name=autogenerated1 />|{{#if:|}}

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Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for U.S. Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. At first, GM produced the FM-1 (identical to the F4F-4 but with four guns). Production later switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype, informally known as the "Wilder Wildcat") optimized for small-carrier operations, with a more powerful engine and a taller tail to cope with the increased torque.<ref name="Fighting the U-boats">Garner, Forest. "Fighting the U-boats." UBoat.net, 2009. Retrieved: 25 September 2009.</ref>

From 1943, Wildcats equipped with bomb racks were primarily assigned to escort carriers for use against submarines and ground targets, though they also continued to score kills against Japanese fighters, bombers, and kamikaze aircraft. Larger fighters such as the Hellcat and the Corsair and dive bombers were needed aboard fleet carriers and the Wildcat's slower landing speed made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.<ref name="Kinzey 2000, p. 68">Kinzey 2000, p. 68.</ref>

In the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, escort carriers of Task Unit 77.4.3 ("Taffy 3") and their escort of destroyers and destroyer escorts found themselves as the sole force standing between vulnerable troop transport and supply ships engaged in landings on the Philippine island of Leyte and a powerful Japanese surface fleet of battleships and cruisers. In desperation, lightly armed Avengers and FM-2 Wildcats from Taffys 1, 2 and 3 resorted to tactics such as strafing ships, including the bridge of the Japanese battleship Template:Ship, while the destroyers and destroyer escorts attacked the Japanese surface force. This action contributed to buying enough time for Taffy 3's escort carriers to escape into a rain squall.

AtlanticEdit

U.S. Navy Wildcats participated in Operation Torch. USN escort carriers in the Atlantic used Wildcats until the end of the war. In October 1943 F4Fs participated in Operation Leader, an anti-shipping strike on Norway.

TotalsEdit

In all, 7,860 Wildcats were built.<ref name=autogenerated1 />Template:Refn. Nearly three quarters of this total were built by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors, which took over production in 1942. During the course of the war, Navy and Marine F4Fs and FMs flew 15,553 combat sorties (14,027 of these from aircraft carriers<ref name="Barber1">Barber 1946, Table 1</ref>), destroying a claimed figure of 1,327 enemy aircraft at a cost of 178 aerial losses, 24 to ground/shipboard fire, and 49 to operational causes<ref>"Naval Aviation Combat Statistics World War II, OPNAV-P-23V No. A129," 17 June 1946.</ref> (an overall claimed kill-to-loss ratio of 6.9:1).<ref name="Barber2">Barber 1946, Table 2</ref> True to their escort fighter role, Wildcats dropped only 154 tons of bombs during the war.<ref name="Barber2"/>

VariantsEdit

U.S. Navy WildcatsEdit

F4F-1/-2Edit

The original Grumman F4F-1 design was a biplane, which proved inferior to rival designs, necessitating a complete redesign as a monoplane named the F4F-2. This design was still not competitive with the Brewster F2A Buffalo which won initial U.S. Navy orders, but when the F4F-3 development was fitted with a more powerful version of the engine, a Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-76, featuring a two-stage supercharger, it showed its true potential.<ref>Tillman 1983, p. 7.</ref>

F4F-3Edit

U.S. Navy orders followed as did some (with Wright Cyclone engines) from France; these ended up with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm after the fall of France and entered service on 8 September 1940. These aircraft, designated by Grumman as G-36A, had a different cowling from other earlier F4Fs and fixed wings, and were intended to be fitted with French armament and instruments following delivery. In British service initially, the aircraft were known as the Martlet I, but not all Martlets would be to exactly the same specifications as U.S. Navy aircraft. All Martlet Is featured the four .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns of the F4F-3 with 450 rpg. The British directly ordered and received a version with the original Twin Wasp, but again with a modified cowling, under the manufacturer designation G-36B. These aircraft were given the designation Martlet II by the British. The first 10 G-36Bs were fitted with non-folding wings and were given the designation Martlet III. These were followed by 30 folding wing aircraft (F4F-3As) which were originally destined for the Hellenic Air Force, which were also designated Martlet IIIs.<ref name="thetp202"/><ref name="Marchp133">March 1998, pp. 132–133.</ref> On paper, the designation changed to Martlet III(A) when the second series of Martlet III was introduced.

Poor design of the armament installation on early F4Fs caused these otherwise reliable machine guns to frequently jam, a problem common to wing-mounted weapons of many U.S. fighters early in the war.<ref>"World War II: The Cactus Air Force Fought at Guadalcanal." historynet.com. Retrieved: 17 July 2017.</ref>Template:Refn An F4F-3 flown by Lieutenant Edward O'Hare shot down, within a few minutes, five Mitsubishi twin-engine bombers attacking Template:USS off Bougainville on 20 February 1942. But contrasting with O'Hare's performance, his wingman was unable to participate because his guns would not function.<ref>"Lt. Cdr. Edward "Butch" O'Hare" Template:Webarchive Acepilots. Retrieved: 22 October 2010.</ref>Template:Refn

File:F4F-3 Wildcats of VF-5 in flight c1941.jpg
F4F-3s of VF-5, 1941

A shortage of two-stage superchargers led to the development of the F4F-3A, which was basically the F4F-3 but with a Template:Convert Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90 radial engine with a more primitive single-stage two-speed supercharger. The F4F-3A, which was capable of Template:Convert at Template:Convert, was used side by side with the F4F-3, but its poorer performance made it unpopular with U.S. Navy fighter pilots. The F4F-3A would enter service as the Martlet III(B).Template:Citation needed

At the time of Pearl Harbor, only Template:USS had a fully equipped Wildcat squadron, VF-6 with F4F-3As. Enterprise was then transferring a detachment of VMF-211, also equipped with F4F-3s, to Wake. Template:USS was in San Diego, working up for operations of the F4F-3s of VF-3. 11 F4F-3s of VMF-211 were at the Ewa Marine Air Corps Station on Oahu; nine of these were damaged or destroyed during the Japanese attack. The detachment of VMF-211 on Wake lost seven Wildcats to Japanese attacks on 8 December, but the remaining five put up a fierce defense, making the first bomber kill on 9 December. The destroyer Template:Ship was sunk by the Wildcats,<ref>"IJN Kisaragi: Tabular Record of Movement." Imperial Japanese Navy Page. Retrieved: 21 June 2009.</ref> and the Japanese invasion force retreated.

In May 1942, the F4F-3s of VF-2 and VF-42, aboard Template:USS and Lexington, participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Lexington and Yorktown fought against the fleet carriers Template:Ship and Template:Ship and the light carrier Template:Ship in this battle, in an attempt to halt a Japanese invasion of Port Moresby on Papua. During these battles, it became clear that attacks without fighter escort amounted to suicide, but that the fighter component on the carriers was completely insufficient to provide both fighter cover for the carrier and an escort for an attack force. Most U.S. carriers carried fewer than 20 fighters.Template:Citation needed

F4F-3PEdit

In June 1942, 17 F4F-3s and one F4F-3A (18 total) were converted into F4F-3P photoreconnaissance planes. The F4F-3Ps were for short-range tactical reconnaissance, as their reserve fuel tanks were removed and replaced with Fairchild F-56 cameras.<ref>Rickard, J (19 March 2007), Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_F4F-3.html. Retrieved 28 October 2021.</ref> The F4F-3Ps retained their machine guns and were mainly flown by VMO-251 on air defense missions from Espiritu Santo in the South Pacific, arriving in July 1942.<ref name="mcara.us">Whitten, H. Wayne, Grumman F4F-3P Wildcat, https://www.mcara.us/F4F-3P.html. Retrieved 28 October 2021.</ref> In October 1942, long-ranged and unarmed F4F-7s began replacing the F4F-3Ps, but a detachment of three F4F-3P from VMO-155 operated from the Bogue-class escort carrier USS Nassau (CVE-16) during the amphibious invasion of Attu Island in May 1943.<ref>Morison, S. E. (1951), History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (Vols. Volume 7 - Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls: June 1942 – April 1944) Template:ISBN.</ref> Boston, MA, USA: Little, Brown and Co./Atlantic Monthly Press <ref name="mcara.us"/><ref>Rickard, J (19 March 2007), Grumman F4F-7 Wildcat, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_F4F-7.html. Retrieved 28 October 2021.</ref>

F4F-3S "Wildcatfish"Edit

File:F4F-3S Wildcatfish NAN12-70.jpg
The F4F-3S "Wildcatfish", a floatplane version of the F4F-3. Edo Aircraft fitted one F4F-3 with twin floats.

This floatplane version of the F4F-3 was developed for use at forward island bases in the Pacific, before the construction of airfields. It was inspired by appearance of the A6M2-N "Rufe", a modification of the Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zeke". BuNo 4038 was modified to become the F4F-3S "Wildcatfish". Twin floats, manufactured by Edo Aircraft Corporation, were fitted. To restore the stability, small auxiliary fins were added to the tailplane. Because this was still insufficient, a ventral fin was added later.<ref name="Green v6 p180-1">Green 1962, pp. 180–181.</ref>

The F4F-3S was first flown 28 February 1943.<ref name="Green v6 p181">Green 1962, p. 181.</ref> The weight and drag of the floats reduced the maximum speed to Template:Convert. As the performance of the basic F4F-3 was already below that of the Zero, the F4F-3S was clearly of limited usefulness. In any case, the construction of the airfields at forward bases by the "Seabees" was surprisingly quick. Only one was converted.

F4F-4Edit

File:Comparison of F4F Wildcats with and without folded wings c1942.jpg
One of the main features of the F4F-4 were the Sto-Wing-design folding wings, a Grumman patented design

A new version, the F4F-4, entered service in 1941 with six machine guns and the Grumman-patented Sto-Wing folding wing system,<ref name=sto>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which allowed more aircraft to be stored on an aircraft carrier, increasing the number of fighters that could be parked on a surface by more than a factor of 2. The F4F-4 was the definitive version that saw the most combat service in the early war years, including the Battle of Midway. Navy F4F-3s were replaced by F4F-4s in June 1942. During the Battle of Midway, only VMF-221 still used F4F-3s. VF-42 of the Yorktown was the last carrier group converted to the F4F-4, and that was done as it left Pearl Harbor on the way to the Battle of Midway as VF-3 flew in new F4F-4s with Commander Thach.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The F4F-4 version was less popular with American pilots because the amount of ammunition was spread over two additional guns, decreasing firing time.<ref>"F4F-4 Airplanes." Battle of Midway Action Report, USS Yorktown (CV-5). Retrieved: 22 October 2010.</ref> With the F4F-3's four .50 in (12.7 mm) guns and 450 rpg, pilots had 34 seconds of firing time; six guns decreased ammunition to 240 rpg, which could be expended in less than 20 seconds. The increase to six guns was attributed to the Royal Navy, who wanted greater firepower to deal with German and Italian foes. Jimmy Thach is quoted as saying, "A pilot who cannot hit with four guns will miss with eight."<ref>"Excerpts from a 1942 Interview with Lt. Cdr. John S. Thach." microsoft.com. Retrieved: 22 October 2010.</ref> Extra guns and folding wings meant extra weight and reduced performance: the F4F-4 was capable of only about Template:Convert at Template:Convert. Rate of climb was noticeably worse in the F4F-4; while Grumman optimistically claimed the F4F-4 could climb at a modest Template:Convert per minute, in combat conditions, pilots found their F4F-4s capable of ascending at only Template:Convert per minute.<ref name="Fighting the U-boats"/> Moreover, the F4F-4's folding wing was intended to allow five F4F-4s to be stowed in the space required by two F4F-3s. In practice, the folding wings allowed an increase of about 50% in the number of Wildcats carried aboard U.S. fleet aircraft carriers. A variant of the F4F-4, designated F4F-4B for contractual purposes, was supplied to the British with a modified cowling and Wright Cyclone engine. These aircraft received the designation of Martlet IV.

F4F-5 WildcatEdit

Two F4F-3s (the 3rd and 4th production aircraft, BuNo 1846/1847) were fitted with a Wright R-1820-40 engine and designated XF4F-5.

FM-1/-2 WildcatEdit

File:Grumman F4F Wildcat in formation.jpg
FM-2s from Template:USS, in June 1944, with 58 gallon drop tanks

General Motors'Eastern Aircraft Division produced 5,280 FM variants of the Wildcat.<ref name="polmar"/> Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat, but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both U.S. Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolescent as a front line fighter compared to the faster (380 mph/610 km/h) F6F Hellcat or much faster (446 mph/718 km/h) F4U Corsair. However, they were adequate for small escort carriers against submarine and shore threats. These relatively modest ships only carried two types of aircraft, the Wildcats and GM-built TBM Avengers. The Wildcat's lower landing speed and ability to take off without a catapult made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.<ref name="Kinzey 2000, p. 68"/> At first, GM produced the FM-1, identical to the F4F-4, but reduced the number of guns to four, and added wing racks for two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs or six rockets. Production later switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype) optimized for small-carrier operations, with a more powerful engine (the Template:Convert Wright R-1820-56), and a taller tail to cope with the torque.<ref name="Fighting the U-boats"/>

F4F-7Edit

The F4F-7 was a photoreconnaissance variant, with armor and armament removed. It had non-folding "wet" wings that carried an additional 555 gal (2,101 L) of fuel for a total of about 700 gal (2,650 L), increasing its range to 3,700 mi (5,955 km). A total of 21 were built.<ref name="donald wildcat"/>

F2M WildcatEdit

File:General Motors XF2M-1 Wildcat 3-view line drawing.png
A three view drawing of the proposed XF2M-1.

The F2M-1 was a planned development of the FM-1 by General Motors / Eastern Aircraft to be powered by the improved XR-1820-70 engine, but the project was canceled before any aircraft were built.<ref name="EGustin"/>

Royal Navy MartletsEdit

Martlet Mk IEdit

At the end of 1939, Grumman received a French order for 81 aircraft of model G-36A, to equip their new Template:Sclasss Template:Ship and Template:Ship. The main difference from the basic model G-36 was due to the unavailability for export of the two-stage supercharged engine of the F4F-3. The G-36A was powered by the nine-cylinder, single-row Wright R-1820-G205A radial engine, of Template:Convert and with a single-stage two-speed supercharger.<ref name="willing p52,60-1">Green, Swanborough and Brown 1977, pp. 52, 60–61.</ref>

File:Martlet at Grumman 1940.jpg
A G-36A at Grumman, 1940

The G-36A also had French instruments (with metric calibration), radio and gunsight. The throttle was modified to conform to French pre-war practice: the throttle lever was moved towards the pilot (i.e. backward) to increase engine power. The armament which was to be fitted in France was six 7.5 mm (.296 in) Darne machine guns (two in the fuselage and four in the wings). The first G-36A was flown on 11 May 1940.<ref name="Wixley two p51">Wixley Air Enthusiast July–August 1997, p. 51.</ref> After France's defeat in the Battle of France, all contracts were taken over by Britain. The throttle was modified again, four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) guns were installed in the wings and most traces of the original ownership removed.<ref name="Willing p61">Green, Swanborough and Brown 1977, p. 61.</ref>

The Martlets were modified for British use by Blackburn, which continued to do this for all later marks. British gunsights, catapult spools and other items were installed.<ref name="Blackburn p40-2">Jackson 1968, pp. 40–42.</ref> After attempts to fit British radio sets, it was decided to use the superior American equipment.<ref name="Willing p68">Green, Swanborough and Brown 1977, p. 68.</ref> The first Martlets entered British service in August 1940, with 804 Naval Air Squadron, stationed at Hatston in the Orkney Islands. The Martlet Mk I did not have a wing folding mechanism and was therefore used primarily from land bases, with the notable exception of six aircraft of 882 Sqn aboard Illustrious from March 1942.<ref name="Jones, p. 108">Jones, p. 108</ref> In April 1942 Illustrious transferred two Martlet I aircraft to HMS Archer while in port at Freetown. One of her four retained Martlet I aircraft were subsequently fitted with folding wings by ship's staff during passage to Durban.<ref name="Jones, p. 108"/> In 1940, Belgium also placed an order for at least 10 G-36A's. These were to be modified with the same changes to the French aircraft, plus the removal of the tailhook as they were to be landbased. Belgium surrendered before any aircraft were delivered and by 10 May 1940, the aircraft order was transferred to the Royal Navy.

Martlet Mk IIEdit

Before the Fleet Air Arm took on charge the Martlet Mk Is, it had already ordered 100 G-36B fighters. The British chose the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G engine to power this aircraft; this too had a single-stage, two-speed supercharger. The FAA decided to accept a delay in delivery to get Martlets fitted out with the Grumman-designed and patented Sto-Wing folding wing system first fitted onto U.S. Navy F4F-4 Wildcats,<ref name=sto /> which were vitally important if the Martlet was to be used from the first 3 Illustrious class carriers which had elevators that were too narrow to accommodate non-folding wing aircraft. Nevertheless, the first 10 received had fixed wings. The first Martlet with folding wings was not delivered until August 1941.Template:Citation needed

In contrast to the USN F4F-3, the British aircraft were fitted with armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. The Mk II also had a larger tailwheel. For carrier operations, the "sting" tail hook and attachment point for the American single-point catapult launch system were considered important advantages. Nevertheless, the Martlets were modified to have British-style catapult spools. Deliveries of the folding-wing G-36Bs began in August 1941, with 36 shipped to the UK and 54 shipped to the Far East; they were designated "Martlet Mark II". Template:Citation needed Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) testing of the Martlet II at a mean weight of approximately Template:Cvt showed a maximum speed of Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt and Template:Cvt, a maximum climb rate of Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt weight, and a time to climb to Template:Cvt of 12.5 minutes. The service ceiling at Template:Cvt was Template:Cvt.<ref name="Mason, p.306">Mason, p.306.</ref>

File:Martlet Mk II 888 Sqn HMS Formidable Oran Dec. 1942.jpg
A Martlet II from Template:HMS, 1942

The Martlet was the second single-seat, monoplane fighter to operate from Royal Navy aircraft carriers following the introduction of the Sea Hurricane IB on Template:HMS in July 1941.<ref>Brown 1980, pp. 45, 110.</ref>

The majority of the Martlet Mk IIs were sent to the Far East. The first shipboard operations of the type in British service were in September 1941, aboard Template:HMS, a very small escort carrier with a carrier deck of Template:Convert by Template:Convert, no elevators and no hangar deck. The six Wildcats were parked on the deck at all times. On its first voyage, it served as escort carrier for a convoy to Gibraltar. On 20 September, a German Fw 200 was shot down. On the next voyage, four Fw 200 Condors fell to the guns of the Martlets, and of the combined total, two of these five Condors were shot down by Eric "Winkle" Brown during his time aboard. Operations from Audacity also demonstrated that the fighter cover was useful against U-boats. Audacity was sunk by a U-boat on 21 December 1941, and of the pilots only Brown and one other survived,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but it had already proved the usefulness of escort carriers.<ref name="Fighting the U-boats"/>

In May 1942, 881 and 882 squadrons on Template:HMS participated in operations against Madagascar. In August 1942, 806 NAS on Template:HMS provided fighter cover for a convoy to Malta. Later in that year they participated in the landings in French North Africa.Template:Citation needed

Martlet Mk IIIEdit

The first 30 F4F-3As were released for sale to Greece, after the Italian invasion in November 1940. However, at the defeat of Greece in April 1941 the aircraft had only reached Gibraltar. They were taken over by the FAA as Martlet Mk III(B). As these aircraft did not have folding wings, they were only used from land bases. They served in a shore-based role in the Western Desert.Template:Citation needed<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Ten fixed-wing G-36Bs were used by the FAA as Martlet III(A).

Martlet Mk IVEdit

The Royal Navy purchased 220 F4F-4s adapted to British requirements. The main difference was the use of a Wright R-1820-40B Cyclone in a distinctly more rounded and compact cowling, with a single double-wide flap on each side of the rear and no lip intake. These machines were named Martlet Mk IV. Boscombe Down testing of the Martlet IV at Template:Cvt weight showed a maximum speed of Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt and Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt, a maximum climb rate of Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt weight, and a time to climb to Template:Cvt of 14.6 minutes. The service ceiling at Template:Cvt was Template:Cvt.<ref name="Mason, p.306"/>

Martlet Mk VEdit

The Fleet Air Arm purchased 312 FM-1s, originally with the designation of Martlet V. In January 1944, a decision was made to retain the American names for US-supplied aircraft, redesignating the batch as the Wildcat V.

Wildcat Mk VIEdit

The Wildcat VI was the Air Ministry name for the FM-2 Wildcat in FAA service.

OperatorsEdit

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  • Belgian Air Force: at least 10 G-36A's ordered, never delivered, transferred to France (who then transferred them to the Royal Navy) after surrender.
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  • Aeronavale: 81 aircraft ordered, never delivered, transferred to Royal Navy after French defeat.
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Surviving aircraftEdit

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Specifications (F4F-3)Edit

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See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

NotesEdit

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CitationsEdit

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BibliographyEdit

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