*** This is the Standard version ***
The
Grumman F6F Hellcat was a
carrier-based fighter aircraft designed to replace the earlier
F4F Wildcat in
United States Navy (USN) service. The Hellcat competed with the faster
Vought F4U Corsair for use as a carrier based fighter. The Corsair had significant issues with carrier landings which the Hellcat did not, allowing the Hellcat to become the Navy's dominant fighter in the second part of World War II, a position the Hellcat did not relinquish. The Corsair instead was primarily deployed to great effect in land-based use by the
U.S. Marine Corps.
Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat in some ways, it was a new design, powered by a 2,000 hp
Pratt & Whitney R-2800, the same powerplant used for both the Corsair and the
United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother".
The F6F was best known for its role as a rugged, well-designed carrier fighter which was able, after its combat debut in early 1943, to counter the
Mitsubishi A6M Zero and help secure air superiority over the
Pacific Theater. Such was the quality of the basic simple, straightforward design, that the Hellcat was the least modified fighter of the war, with a total of 12,200 being built in just over two years.
Hellcats were credited with destroying 5,223 aircraft while in service with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. This was more than any other Allied naval aircraft. Postwar, the Hellcat was phased out of frontline service but remained in service as late as 1954 as a night fighter.