Wildcats were used in anger the next day in the attempted December7th/8th Japanese invasion of the Wake Island atoll. About a dozen F4F-3's were stationed there - these also belonging to the VMF-211 - to which eight of the twelve fighters were damaged or destroyed on the ground. Four Wildcat fighters did succeed in sinking the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi (Wildcats used as bombers) during the assault. The Japanese destroyer Hayate was also sunk though this was attributed to the defensive coastal guns. Events forced the Japanese to abandon the invasion and retreat, leaving Wake to fight on for another day. Survival of this small island - for the time being at least - was in part due to the heroics of these USMC airmen and their Wildcats, delivering Japan's first major defeat in the war .
1942 saw the introduction of the definitive Wildcat in the F4F-4. F4F-4 models were given 6 x 12.7mm Browning machine guns (upgunned from the 4 x arrangement) and folding wings for improved carrier storage aboard the space-strapped Allied aircraft carriers. The armament change was an upgrade over earlier Wildcat forms and was made at the behest of the British. These changes however, came at a cost. The added machine guns forced the total ammunition count to be spread out across the six gun systems instead of four bringing the total "gun burst" time down from the total of 34 seconds to a measly 20 seconds, effectively supplying Wildcat pilots with less ammunition overall. This limitation essentially forced Wildcat pilots to work harder for their kills as more guns firing did not necessarily equate to better accuracy. To add insult to injury, the guns also had a wicked and deadly tendency to jam forcing many-a-Wildcat pilot to become spectators in dogfights.
These internal changes also made for a much heavier Wildcat, adding some level of diminished performance to content with. The extra armament and folding wing understructure brought the Wildcats top speed down to 318 miles per hour while offering up a slower rate-of-climb. Despite these negatives, the F4F-4 became the most produced aircraft, overtaking the F4F-3 on the assembly lines (it was not common practice to produce two variants simultaneously). The British received their F4F-4 models as the Martlet Mk IV, complete with a Wright Cyclone powerplant and revised cowling. Armament was further enhanced (and one can expect that performance was decreased as a result) by the provision for 2 x 250lb external bombs held under the wings (or 2 x 58 gallon drop tanks as needed). The F4F-4 first flew on April 14th, 1941.
February 20th, 1942 saw Wildcat pilot Lieutenant Edward H. O'Hare best five Japanese bombers over Rabaul.
May 1942 added the Battle of Coral Sea, pitting American carriers USS Yorktown and USS Lexington against the Japanese carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku along with the light carrier Shoho. The Japanese were targeting Port Moresby on Papau. Wildcat pilot Lieutenant J.G. McCuskey scored five confirmed kills in the ensuing action. Despite it being a tactical victory for Japan by the sheer number of Allied warships it had sunk or damaged, it turned into a strategic victory for the Allies for the Japanese war machine was finally halted from expanding its reach any further in the Pacific any further. For the British, May of 1942 saw their Fleet Air Arm Martlets operating over Madagascar against Vichy French air elements. Similarly, Martlets sparred with Italian bombers while escorting a convoy to Malta in August. Combat experience had evolved the Wildcat into quite the formidable fighter.
June 1942 brought about the Battle of Midway. By this time, the Pacific carrier fleet were all fielding the F4F-4 models with more trained pilots and better tactics. The Japanese intent in this battle was to 1) respond with force to the brazen "Doolittle Raids" of April and 2) lure the American carriers into a final showdown. American intelligence bested Japanese intent here as the American carriers were already lying in waiting off of Midway to ambush the Japanese. The resulting action and subsequent Allied victory secured Midway as a future vital trans-Pacific launching platform and sunk four Japanese fleet carriers in the process (to only one American carrier).
Between August 7th, 1942 and February 9th, 1943, the Allies launched their first full offensive at Guadalcanal, taking the defending Japanese by surprise. Wildcats fought on in nearly daily engagements as ground and sea forces made their moves. The end result netted the Allies use of Henderson Field and the construction of two more runways becoming a strategically important junction for further Allied operations in the Pacific.
Wildcats took action in several of the major Allied amphibious landings as well, partaking in the invasions of North Africa, Madagascar, Italy and ultimately Normandy. Wildcats in this role provided valuable air cover to the vulnerable landing ships and men called to storm the beaches. The F4F also assisted in U-Boat hunts (in cooperation with Fairey Swordfish aircraft) and anti-reconnaissance sorties against German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors.
By late 1942 and into early 1943, Grumman was wrapping up its own production commitment to the F4F-4. General Motor's Eastern Aircraft Division took over and produced the FM-1 Wildcat models. These aircraft brought the armament total back down to 4 x 12.7mm machine guns. In late 1943, GM introduced the improved FM-2 Wildcat. Beyond that, the Wildcat in America was all but done.
The Wildcat was trialed as a photographic reconnaissance platform in the F4F-7. These aircraft, produced to the tune of 21 examples, saw their guns removed in favor of camera equipment and more fuel. As these aircraft featured fuel fitted into their wings, these "wet wings" were of the non-folding variety, reducing effective in carrier storage. Range on these birds was an impressive 3,700 miles.
Total Wildcat production amounted to 7,722 examples. Martlets made up approximately 1,191 of these. Operators were limited to the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.
Operationally, the Wildcat was not the perfect answer for these rapidly changing times. Its 1930's decade design was brought to the forefront on many -an-occasion. The Japanese A6M Zero proved to be a vastly superior in performance and firepower when compared to the Wildcat. Despite the early superiority of Zeros, Wildcat pilots gained valuable experience and unparalleled "dive and zoom" tactics that eventually played up the inherent benefits of the Wildcat to offset her shortcomings. Better armor protection and self-sealing fuel tanks - two key survival elements that the Zero lacked - meant that the Wildcat could absorb more punishment than her adversary and stay in the fight longer than most. The Wildcat proved to offer "just enough" in every combat-related category that the Pacific Theater was "contained" until better aircraft systems could be produced by the Allies.
Unlike their navy brethren, USMC Wildcats operated almost exclusively from land-bases. USMC Captain Joe Foss lead his VMF-121 squad of eight Wildcats to 72 confirmed air kills. Foss added 26 of that total himself, accounting for at least five of those in a single day. He was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for his exploits.
The F4F Wildcat remained the top carrier-born fighter for the US Navy until the arrival of the Grumman F6F Hellcat in 1943. The British dropped the "Martlet" name and accepted the American "Wildcat" designation beginning January 1944. Despite the system being replaced in the American inventory in the latter years of the war, the British Fleet Air Arm Wildcats fought on through to the end of the conflict, netting four more Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters over Norway March of 1945 - making these German fighters the FAA last air kills of the war.
The F4F Wildcat proved to be up to the seemingly insurmountable challenges of carrier operations the world over. Despite aforementioned disadvantages, the Wildcat made up for it in immeasurable terms - pilot training, tactics and instincts. She proved a reliable and rugged ace-making mount for many-a-navy airman. Despite it being superseded by the impressive Grumman F6F Hellcats and Vought F4U Corsairs, the F4F Wildcats would still leave their undisputed marks on military aviation history - effectively setting the stage for the ultimate Allied victory against Axis aggression.
In the end, she became the only America-built aircraft to serve throughout the entire conflict. In the latter years of the war, her light-weight and relatively small size made her a regular aboard the smaller escort carriers that the newer, heavier and larger fighters simply could not operate from.
And all this from a fighter design that was nearly discarded.
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