USN in the ETO and MTO WWII

[ripcord]

I've been trying to research how the F4F, F6F and F4U did against German and Itallian fighters without a much luck. Any suggestions on where to look?

[jdvoss]

I think that you probably find that the British Royal Navy made greater use of these aircraft types than did the USN. The only dedicated USN air station in the European Theater was that of NAF Dunkeswell (Cornwall) which was a PB4Y-1 Liberator base.

[Oscar Duck]

USN flew Spitfires...

[Dan K]

The only Wildcat/Hellcat vs Luftwaffe fighter episodes I could find were with the FAA in May 1944. This link was an interesting read. Perhaps you've discovered it already?

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive ... 01243.html


The only US Navy Hellcats in the MTO were off the CVEs USS Tulagi (VOF-1) and USS Kasaan Bay (VF-74) during the invasion of southern France. No fighter vs fighter combat that I could find, although a number of bomber and transport types were shot down by both units.

Probably old news, but happy hunting anyway.

[jdvoss]

A bit of research has revealed that the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) did participate in some air actions in the ETO. I've attached a Wikipedia link that outlines some of the air actions against the German facilities in Norway and North Africa. Apparently they used Wildcats, Avengers and Dauntless with some air victories by the F4F's in both theaters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ranger_(CV-4)

[ripcord]

Thanks, everyone, for the help!