Tag Archives: Grumman F4F Wildcat

And the real color of the Royal Navy’s Wildcats in WWII was…

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The Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton has recently restored a 1940-vintage Grumman Martlet I (G36A/F4F-3), AL246, in its collection.

Over the past several years, she was “carefully restored by the museum team with the paint removed layer by layer and analyzed, enabling the original camouflage to be identified and repainted to its very original pattern.”

The aircraft had been overpainted several times between 1940 and 1964 for various reasons, and all references to the very unusual original color scheme had seemingly been lost.

Only a few color images of these aircraft exist from the 1940’s, and due to color variations in image processing, have led to many debates about exactly what colors these aircraft were painted.

The wings, tail plane, rudder, and a few small panels still retained their original Grumman factory finish beneath the later over-painted layers, and after 6 years of skilled detail conservation work, the team has revealed and preserved these original and unique painted areas.

Sadly, the fuselage section had been stripped to bare metal before 1964, and so the team has recreated this missing portion with a newly painted finish.

Originally ordered by the French Navy, 81 of these aircraft were diverted to Britain with the fall of France in May 1940. By the end of the war, only a few of the French batch remained; by 1946, AL246 was the only known survivor.

AL246 spent most of her service life in Scotland at Donibristle and Machrihanish. From 1944, she was used as an instructional airframe at Loughborough Aeronautical College and transferred to Yeovilton in the late 1950s. In 1964, she was presented to the Fleet Air Arm Museum and has been on permanent display ever since.

Initially named the Martlet by the Royal Navy, they were re-named Wildcats in 1944 to align with combined U.S. and British operations.

A staggering 1,123 Fleet Air Arm Martlets operated in all theatres of war, including Norway, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Far East, making the stubby little Grumman catfighter one of the most numerous of British WWII RN aircraft.

Martlet fighters aboard HMS Formidable in the Mediterranean Sea, 1942

Martlet MkII British Fleet Air Arm F4F Wildcat No. 888 Squadron, parked at La Senia air base, Oran, Algeria, 14 December 1942, USN photo

Sub-Lieutenant Eric M.Brown, R.N.V.R., Fleet Air Arm, with a Grumman Martlet Mk. I, circa 1941.

Cactus Crew Chief

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80 Years Ago Today: “March 22, 1943: Technical Sgt. R.W. Greenwood, a Marine, sits in the cockpit of a Grumman Wildcat fighter plane, based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, that is credited with shooting down 19 Japanese aircraft, as illustrated by the number of Japanese flags on his plane. Several different pilots have flown the ship during successful missions, but Sgt. Greenwood has remained plane captain.”

(AP Photo)

I’d imagine the good Sgt. Greenwood is from the “Bulldogs” of VMF-223. Led by Major John L. Smith (19 air-to-air kills 21 August-to-03 October 1942 with the “Cactus Air Force” on Guadalcanal) along with XO Capt. Marion Eugene Carl (16.5 air-to-air kills 04 June 1942-to-03 October 1942 with Cactus) the unit was a legend among legends.

Other Marine Wildcat Squadrons on Guadalcanal included the “Fighting Bengals” of VMF-224 under Major Robert E. Galer (11 kills with Cactus), The “Wolfpack” of VMF-112 which included the “Raging Cajun” Lt. Jefferson J. DeBlanc who downed five Japanese aircraft in minutes before being shot down himself in Jan. 1943, the “Green Knights” Of VMF-121, the “Candystripers” of VMF-122 (whose XO at the time was Pappy Boyington of later Baa Baa Blacksheep fame), the “Flying Eight Balls” of VMF-123, and the “Hell Hounds” of VMF-212.

A Field of Devastators

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13 September 1941, 81 years ago today: Douglas TBD-1 Devastator aircraft of Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) parked at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses of Bombing Squadron Five (VB-5) are beyond the TBDs, with Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters and Curtiss SB2U Vindicator scout bombers further in the left background.

U.S. Navy photo # 80-CF-55215-7
U.S. Navy photo # 80-CF-55215-7

The TBDs have recently been repainted in the new blue-gray and light gray color scheme, while the other planes are still in the earlier overall light gray. VT-5 and VB-5 were assigned to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), which left Norfolk on the following day for operations in the North Atlantic.

In late May 1942, VS-5 and VT-5, badly depleted at Coral Sea, were both replaced in Yorktown’s airwing with Bombing Three (VB-3) and Torpedo Three (VT-3), drawn from the sidelined USS Saratoga which was on the West Coast undergoing a repair from a Japanese torpedo, meaning they missed the battle of Midway.