F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 write by Edward M. Young. This book was released on 2014-03-20. F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. VF-9 was activated in March 1942 as part of Carrier Air Group (CAG) 9, one of the many air groups the US Navy was hurriedly forming in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Equipped with Grumman F4F Wildcats, VF-9 first saw combat during the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, where the squadron engaged Vichy French fighters over Morocco. Returning to the United States, VF-9 became one of the first squadrons to receive the Grumman F6F Hellcat and to deploy on the USS Essex, the first of its class of fleet carriers that would form the backbone of the US Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force. VF-9, the Hellcat, and the Essex all entered combat in the fall of 1943. In the hands of the squadron's pilots, and with other Navy fighter squadrons, the Hellcat proved superior to the Imperial Japanese Navy's A6M Zero, which had heretofore been the world's premier carrier fighter plane.
F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9
F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 write by Edward M. Young. This book was released on 2014-03-18. F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9 available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. After Pearl Harbor, the US Navy's VF-9 carrier fighter group formed, seeing action in North Africa, The Marshalls, Kwajelein, Truk, the Marianas Turkey Shoot and on to Tokyo and Okinawa. VF-9 was activated in March 1942 as part of Carrier Air Group (CAG) 9, one of the many air groups the US Navy was hurriedly forming in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Equipped with Grumman F4F Wildcats, VF-9 first saw combat during the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, where the squadron engaged Vichy French fighters over Morocco. Returning to the United States, VF-9 became one of the first squadrons to receive the Grumman F6F Hellcat and to deploy on the USS Essex, the first of its class of fleet carriers that would form the backbone of the US Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force. VF-9, the Hellcat, and the Essex all entered combat in the fall of 1943. In the hands of the squadron's pilots, and with other Navy fighter squadrons, the Hellcat proved superior to the Imperial Japanese Navy's A6M Zero, which had heretofore been the world's premier carrier fighter plane. During its second combat tour, beginning in August 1943, VF-9 participated in the initial stages of the US Navy's successful island-hopping campaign across the Pacific. Flying strikes against Marcus Island, Wake Island, Rabaul, the invasions of Tarawa and Kwajalein, and the attack on Truk, VF-9 helped prove the Hellcat as a fighter and supported CAG-9 in its relentless attacks on Japanese forces, helping to validate the concept of the multi-carrier task force and the new carrier doctrine that led to the US Navy's complete defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During its second combat tour VF-9 claimed 120 Japanese aircraft and produced the first Hellcat ace in Lt(jg) Hamilton McWhorter and nine additional aces. VF-9 began its third combat tour in February 1945 aboard the USS Lexington, shifting to the USS Yorktown a month later. The squadron participated in the February strikes against Tokyo and played a significant role in the Okinawa Campaign from March to June 1945. Now equipped with the F6F-5 Hellcat, the squadron claimed 130 Japanese aircraft shot down. Ten VF-9 pilots became aces during the campaign, most notably Lt Eugene Valencia, who ended the war as the second highest scoring Hellcat ace and tied with Lt Cecil Harris as the US Navy's second highest scoring ace overall with 23 victories. Valencia's division became famous as the most successful fighter team in the US Navy during World War 2, claiming a combined total of 43 Japanese aircraft. In addition VF-9 had one of the US Navy's few nightfighter aces in Lt(jg) John Orth, who flew an F6F-5N Hellcat.
F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-sen
F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-sen - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-sen write by Edward M. Young. This book was released on 2014-08-20. F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-sen available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The Grumman F6F Hellcat and Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen were the two principal opposing fighters in the brutal aerial clashes of the Pacific War from 1943 onwards. Reminiscent of the preceding F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat was designed specifically to counter the earlier A6M2 Zero-sen, the strengths and weaknesses of which became fully understood by US designers after an undamaged example was recovered in the Aleutians. The powerful Hellcat had an impressive top speed, rate of climb and armament, and it retained its predecessor's incredible ruggedness. The A6M5 Zero-sen was also born out of an earlier type, but was intended merely as a stop-gap until more modern Japanese fighters could be produced to restore performance parity with Allied aircraft. The chaotic conditions of the Japanese Aircraft industry and war economy prevented new types from being built.Featuring detailed artwork illustrating the technical specifications of these two types and the dramatic encounters between them, this volume focuses on how these iconic fighters came into being, and how they fared as they faced one another over the Pacific skies of World War II.
F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2
F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 write by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver. This book was released on 2015-02-20. F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the 'hottest outfit afloat' due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second 'Fighting Two' was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr Edward H 'Butch' O'Hare, the Medal of Honor-winning first US Navy ace of World War 2, that he requested the squadron replace VF-6 in his CAG-6 aboard USS Enterprise. No unit US Navy unit created more aces than VF-2, whose pilots went into action over the Carolines, Marianas, Guam, Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Using exquisite photographs and first-hand accounts from the elite fliers themselves, this volume tells the story of the ace pilots who comprised the original VF-2 and the second.
F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2
F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 write by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver. This book was released on 2015-02-20. F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the 'hottest outfit afloat' due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second 'Fighting Two' was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr Edward H 'Butch' O'Hare, the Medal of Honor-winning first US Navy ace of World War 2, that he requested the squadron replace VF-6 in his CAG-6 aboard USS Enterprise. No unit US Navy unit created more aces than VF-2, whose pilots went into action over the Carolines, Marianas, Guam, Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Using exquisite photographs and first-hand accounts from the elite fliers themselves, this volume tells the story of the ace pilots who comprised the original VF-2 and the second.
