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Grumman F6F
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was descended from the earlier F4F Wildcat, sharing only a slight resemblance. The F6F was a carrier-based and land-based fighter. The design was strongly influenced by the Navy’s need for a powerful fighter to counter Japan’s air superiority in the Pacific – a dominance due principally to their A6M Zero fighter. The F6F was very maneuverable, and it had good pilot visibility as well as excellent armor plating.
Powered by the reliable Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine, the Hellcat was equipped with six 50 caliber machine guns, making it a match for any fighter of World War II. In fact, Hellcats claimed more than 5,000 confirmed victories over enemy aircraft during the war, resulting in a 19:1 kill ratio. Superior to the fabled Japanese Zero in virtually every way, except for rate of turn at low speed, the Hellcat was the platform upon which naval aviation swept the skies of enemy air power from 1943 to 1945.
The first encounter between a Japanese fighter pilot and the Hellcat
But what was the first encounter between an Imperial Japanese fighter pilot and the legendary Hellcat?
‘Ensign Robert Duncan was deployed on the USS Yorktown in Fighting Squadron 5 in the fall of 1943. This rookie naval aviator was the first to secure a victory against the vaunted A6M Zero in a F6F Hellcat,’ says Maryellen Reilly, a WWII expert, on Quora.
‘Duncan’s second chance at aerial combat involved a A6M Zero flown by Japanese Ace Warrant officer Toshiuki Sueda with nine victories.
‘Sueda was very good at luring F4F Wildcats into a climbing loop and when the Wildcat stalled and fell away, Sueda would wing over and destroy the Wildcat.
‘Misidentification is a bitch, and Sueda assuming his opponent was a Wildcat went into his climbing loop and Duncan with his spanking new F6F Hellcat with a 2000 HP P&W R-2800 engine followed Sueda into his climb and blew him out of the sky.
A rude awakening
‘With it’s speed, armament and armoured protection the Grumman F6F Hellcat was a rude awakening for the Imperial Japanese pilots.’
Reilly concludes;
‘The question was about their first encounter…. It was usually their last encounter.’
Late in the war the Navy conducted evaluations of Allied and captured Axis fighters. The Hellcat ranked at the top in most categories, making it one of the best fighters in the war, an amazing accomplishment considering the very short design-to-production period. In just 30 months, 12,275 Hellcats were produced by Grumman at its Bethpage Plant Number 3, much of the factory still being constructed as some of the first F6Fs were being built inside.
Photo credit: Osvaldo 201 via Live War Thunder, eduard.com and Marion Illinois History Preservation
