The Grumman F6F Hellcat first saw action against the Japanese on 1 September 1943, when fighters off USS Independence shot down a Kawanishi H8K "Emily" flying boat. Soon after, on 23 and 24 November, Hellcats engaged Japanese aircraft over Tarawa, shooting down a claimed 30 Zeros for the loss of one F6F. Over Rabaul, New Britain, on 11 November 1943, Hellcats and Corsairs engaged in day-long fights with many Japanese aircraft, including Zeros, and claimed nearly 50 kills. However, while the F6F’s claimed shoot-down ratio over the Zero was 13-to-1, it scored a less impressive 3.7-to-1 against the Zero’s successor, the J2M Raiden. Flown by pilots of equal skill, the two would have been closely matched.
During the course of World War II, 2,462 F6F Hellcats were lost to all causes – 270 in aerial combat, 553 to antiaircraft ground and shipboard fire, and 341 due to operational causes. Of the total, 1,298 were destroyed in training and ferry operations, normally outside of the combat zones.
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⏰ Timestamps
00:00 An Urgent Need
03:24 Power and Armor
07:50 World War 2 Action
14:45 Later Use
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