Grumman F4F Wildcat Archives

Grumman F4F Wildcat

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was a Rugged, Lethal Tool for the U.S. Navy

By Joseph Frantiska, Jr.

From the time of the Wright brothers, the vast majority of aircraft were biplanes with two wings stacked one above the other. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Battle of Rennell Island: A Fiery End for the USS Chicago

by John Domagalski

With bond clerk Marge Henning standing by as a witness, Colonel Frank Eldridge removed the first piece of the puzzle. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Heroic Fight for Wake Island

By Joshua Donohue

“All hands have behaved splendidly and held up in a manner in which the Marine Corps may well tell.” Read more

In this James Dietz painting, Foss’s Bluff Saves Guadalcanal, ground troops at Henderson Field thank squadron leader Joe Foss for his aerial heroics that saved the island airstrip. In October 1942, flying Wildcats, Foss, the leading Marine Corp fighter ace, and his men fought off a Japanese attack of 100 bombers by bluffing them into thinking there were more American planes than there actually were.

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Marines in the Air: The Story of Joe’s Jokers

By Allyn Vannoy

“As a returning flight of Marine SBDs, dive bombers, were setting down on the airstrip, one of the planes lost a bomb which had failed to release during the mission. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Naval Assault On Munda

By John J. Domagalski

The first days of January 1943 found American forces winning the prolonged struggle for control of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

The Airborne Defenders of Midway

By Colonel Dick Camp (ret.)

Prologue: At the start of World War II, Midway Atoll was a key U.S. base in the central Pacific. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Joe Foss and Charles Lindbergh

By Allyn Vannoy

Joseph J. Foss (April 17, 1915–January 1, 2003) was born on a farm near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair: Whistling Death in the South Pacific

by Sam McGowan

Thanks to the rather far-fetched mid-1970s TV series Black Sheep Squadron, the bent-wing image of the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair is no doubt one of the most vivid of the World War II fighters in the minds of most Americans. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

The Indian Ocean Raid: Disaster for the Royal Navy

By David H. Lippman

“So this is the Eastern Fleet,” ran Vice Admiral Sir James Fownes Somerville’s signal. “Never mind. Many a good tune is played on an old fiddle.” Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Wake Island: Alamo in the Pacific

By Kelly Bell

It was already December 8, 1941, on Wake Island’s side of the international date line. The Americans on the tiny specks of land in the western Pacific Ocean roused themselves at 6 am. Read more

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Confident Carrier Admiral Marc “Pete” Mitscher

By Michael D. Hull

He was a seagoing J.E.B. Stuart who hid beneath weather fronts to make his attacks, and he fought more naval engagements than John Paul Jones and David Farragut combined. Read more

Deck crewmen race to an SBD Dauntless dive bomber after a barrier crash. The extended tailhook failed to catch the arresting wire, but the propeller stopped the forward momentum, almost flipping the plane. Aviators claimed that SBD stood for “Slow But Deadly.”

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Hard Charging Landings

By Kevin M. Hymel

To naval aviators, any landing they could walk away from was a good landing. The escort aircraft carrier USS Charger trained men in good landings, but bad landings were also part of the education. Read more