F6F Hellcat part 2 | World War Photos

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: Grumman F6F Hellcat 1943

: Newly delivered Hellcats with red- bordered national marking,

: F6F-3 May 1943

: Captured F6F-5 BuNo 71441, Yokosuka Airfield, Japan 1945

: Hellcat launches from USS Monterey (CVL-26) June 1944

: Hellcats aboard USS Intrepid (CV-11) 1943

: Hellcat of No 800 Squadron FAA on the deck of HMS Emperor in the Aegean Sea, 1944

: F6F-5 “White 24” of the VF-23 crashed on the deck of USS Langley (CVL-27) 1945

: F6F-5N #18 of VF(N)-41 aboard USS Independence 10 October 1944

: F6F-3 of VF-39 landing on the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944 2

: F6F-5 Hellcat crashed on deck of USS Takanis Bay (CVE-89), 18 March 1945

: F6F-3N “White 319” on the deck of USS Solomons (CVE-67)

: F6F-5s of VF-27 USS Independence (CVL-22), Pacific July 1945

: Naval aviators rushing to their F6Fs for a raid on Tokyo, USS Hornet February 1945

: F6F-3 K9 USS Yorktown 1943-44

: Photo-reconnaissance F6F-5P with the camera equipment being fitted in the rear fuselage

: F6F-3 #F29 of VF-39 takes off from USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944

: F6F-5 Hellcat “white 24” of the VF-23 USS Langley 1945

: Lt Maseley in Hellcat BuNo 40090 ready to take off from USS Yorktown (CV-10) June 1944

: F6F of VF-33 explodes as wing hits Island of USS Sangamon (CVE-26)

: F6F-5P “P3” of CASU-27 in flight 1945

: Installing rockets on F6F-5 on board USS Essex (CV-9)

: Ace Alexander Vraciu aboard USS Lexington (CV-16)

: F6F-3 Hellcats in color

: Crashed F6F-5 “D15” of VF-40 aboard USS Suwanee (CVE-27)

: British Hellcat JZ935 White 145

: Hellcats from VF‑80 wait to take off from Ticonderoga on November 5, 1944

: VF-6 pilots aboard USS Hancock

: USS Caperton DD-650 coming alongside USS Enterprise (CV-6), January 1944

: Hellcats onboard USS Yorktown August 1944

: Early F6F-3 Hellcat 10 September 1943

: F6F-5 of VF-75 over Atlantic City NJ

: Grumman F6F-5 X109 USS San Jacinto 1944

: F6Fs in flight over NAS Sand Point September 1943

: Jeep moving Hellcat on deck of USS Princeton (CVL-23) 1944

: British Hellcat, USA 1943

: F6F-3 code 8-F-14 of VF-8 aboard USS Intrepid (CV-11) 1943 2

: Burning F6F-3 BuNo 66101 of VF-25 USS Cowpens, pilot Lt Alfred W. Magee 24 November 1943

: F6F-5P “P3” of VF-75 1945

: Burning F6F-3 BuNo 66101 of VF-25 USS Cowpens, 24 November 1943

: F6F-3 of VF-16 launching from the deck of USS Lexington 23 November 1943

: Preparing for strike on Mili Atoll USS Lexington (CV-16) 1944

: F6F-5 “White 35” of VF-17 taxiing on the flight deck of the USS Hornet (CV-12) 1945

: Ground Crewmen of MAG-24 commended by Gen Ralph Mitchell Bougainville 1944

: F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-31 USS Cabot (CVL-28)

: F6F-3 “White 40” prepared to take off from USS Yorktown (CV-10) June 1944

: Loading rocket onto Hellcat Ordnance Test Station Harvey Field 1944

: F6F-5 of VF-83 traps on board the carrier USS Essex 1945

: F6F-5s Hellcat of VF-75 in flight

: F6F C10 in flight

: F6F-3s and SB2C USS Intrepid 1943 3

: Armorer loading ammunition into a F6F Hellcat USS Enterprise 1944

: Hellcats USS Langley 10 January 1945

: F6F-3 hoisted on board carrier November 1943

: F6F-3 Hellcat “White 24” aboard USS Lexington November 1943

: Crashed F6F-3 30 of VF-2, USS Enterprise 10 November 1943, pilot Ens Byron M. Johnson

: Ace David McCampbell on Hellcat aboard USS Essex

: F6F-5 125, 1945

: F6F-3 30 of VF-2, USS Enterprise 10 November 1943, pilot Ens Byron M. Johnson

: F6F-3 Solomon Islands in late 1943

: Ace Fred Ackerman of VF-80

: Ace James Bryce of VF-22 on wing of his F6F 1945

: Grumman F6F-5 “White 33” of VF-29 USS Cabot

: F6F-3 2-F-7 BuNo 25974 of VF-2 USS Charger August 1943

: Crew plays football aboard carrier in Central Pacific 1944

: Moving a damaged Hellcat USS Lexington 1943

: F6F-3 with belly tank on deck of USS Yorktown (CV-10), October 1943

: F6F-3 starting to taxi into position for take-off USS Saratoga 20 November 1943

: F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-6 traps aboard USS Intrepid 1 February 1944

: F6F-3 USS Yorktown November 1943

: Ace Alexander Vraciu by scoreboard on his Hellcat

: Ace Donald “Flash” Gordon of VF-10 in his F6F 1944

: Grumman F6F-3 “White 6” USS Yorktown 1944

: F6Fs onboard USS Yorktown (CV-10) 1943

: F6F-3 “F20” of VF-39 USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944

: F6F-5 Hellcat ready for take off USS Siboney (CVE-112) 1945

: Wounded F6F pilot helped from plane after Kamikaze attack. USS Randolph (CV-15).

: F6F Betio Island November 25, 1943

: F6F-5 and SB2C USS Randolph 14 August 1945

: F6F-3 Hellcat “L9” from training unit 9 September 1943

: Hellcat ME-F-44 crash at NAS Opa Locka 2 December 1943

: Grumman F6F-3 “White 24” of VF-9, pilot Gene Valencia 1944

: F6F-3P “K16” of VF-17 1945

: Female Grumann test pilot Barbara Jayne in F6F

: Grumman F6F-5 landing on USS Siboney 1945

: F6F of 3rd Fleet strafes Japanese freighter near Fukuya Wan 45

: Grumman F6F-5 71079 VF-45 is on the ground at Atlantic City

: F6Fs and Seafires packed tightly in hangar deck off Saskishima Gunto 24 April 1945

: Ships of TF-58 and F6F-5 on deck of the USS Wasp 1945

: Grumman F6F-3 of VF-12 prepares to launch from the USS Saratoga

: Hellcats and Avengers of CAG-5 on board the carrier USS Yorktown 1943

: Hellcat lands on carrier upon return from Marcus Island 1944

: F6F-3 training unit 1943

: Hellcats of VF-16 USS Lexington 1944

: F6F-3 of VF-15 approach for recovery on board the USS Charger December 1943

: Flight operations on board the aircraft carrier USS Independence 1944. F6F-5N #5 of VF(N)-41

: Cmdr James H. Flatley as Commander CAG 5 flies F6F-3 “00” en route to strike Marcus Island

: F6F-3 code M32 of VF-20 NAS Melbourne 1944

: US Pacific Fleet AA fire downs Japanese plane 1945

Hellcat was a fighter aircraft descended from the earlier F4F Wildcat, but was a completely new design sharing only a familial resemblance to the Wildcat. Some tagged it as “Wildcat’s big brother”. The Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair were the primary United States Navy carrier fighters in the second half of World War II.
The Hellcat proved to be the most successful aircraft in naval history, destroying 5,171 aircraft in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (5,163 in the Pacific and eight more during the invasion of Southern France), plus 52 with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Postwar, the Hellcat aircraft was rapidly phased out of front line service, finally retiring in 1954 as a night-fighter in composite squadrons.