Special thanks to the Olympic Flight Museum, Olympia Regional Airport, Olympia (WA):

The Specs

Wing Span:  38 feet
Length:  28 feet, 9 inches
Maximum Weight: 7,950 lb.
Performance: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-36 Twin Wasp, 1200hp 14-cyl. 
Top Speed: 318 mph
Range:  770 miles
Ceiling:  39,500 feet
Rate of Climb:  1950 feet per minute
Armament:  Six 12.7-mm (0.50 in) Browning machine guns (FM-2 had four guns); two 100-lb bombs (FM-2 could carry two 250-lb bombs).

Pre-WWII History

In 1936, the US Navy submitted its requirement for new carrier-based, monoplane fighter to the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation for its XF2A-1 "Buffalo."  Skeptical of its performance, the Navy allowed a single prototype of the Grumman's competing biplane design, the XF4F-1.  The biplane prototype proposal was superseded by an order for a prototype Grumman monoplane fighter, the XF4F-2, on July 28, 1938."  It had a maximum speed of 290 mph.

In a 1938 "fly-off" evaluation, the Grumman XF4F-2, with a Pratt & Whitney 1,050-hp  R-1830-66 Twin Wasp engine, outperformed the Sversky XFN-1.  It proved to be slightly faster than the Brewster "Buffalo."  On June 11, 1938, the US Navy ordered the XF4F-2 into production.  In March 1939, the prototype was modified as the XF4F-3, which included installation of the more powerful Twin Wasp XR-1830-76, increased wing span and area, redesigned tail surfaces and modified machine gun mounts.  The XF4F-3 featured good handling characteristics and pushed a maximum speed of 335 mph at 21,300 feet.  On August 8, 1939, the Navy ordered 78 F4F-3s into production.

With war ragging in Europe, the F4F-3 was exported to the Greek, French, and British governments.  The British ordered 90, and the first reach the United Kingdom in July 1940 and were designated the Martlet Mk I. 

The British Martlet Mk I, holds the distinction of being the first US-built fighters in service to destroy enemy aircraft.  On September 20, 1939, a naval pilot from HMS Audacity shot down a four-engined Focke-Wulf 200 Condor near Gibraltar.  Later exports included the folding-wing Martlet Mk II serving with the Fleet Air Arm; the F4F-4As and the Greek G-36A aircraft (Martlet Mk III); and the Lend Lease Act Martlet Mk IV (F4F-B with a Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine).  By March 1944, these aircraft were re-designated as "Wildcats" to ensure standardization among British and US aircraft.

The US Navy's first F4F-3 flew on August 20, 1940.  95 were ordered with the R-1830-90, single-stage supercharged engine with deliveries occurring in 1941.  The name "Wildcat" was introduced in service on October 1, 1941.  Based on combat experience of the British export Martlet, the XF4F-4 was introduced with a six-gun armament, folding wings, self-sealing tanks, and armor.  Delivery of the F4F-4 began in November 1941. 

WWII History

At the outbreak of war in the Pacific, the Wildcat held the line as the American fighter pitted against the agile Japanese Zero.  In the early dark hours of Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and at Guadalcanal, the Wildcat delivered the crucial punches.  It never out-performed the Zero, but it won battle after battle between 1942 and 1943 against an seemingly unbeatable Japanese enemy.  When the initial smoke cleared from those battles, the tide of the war turned in favor of an Allied victory.

Serving initially aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Hornet (CV-12), and USS Saratoga (CV-3), the Wildcats fought the significant early battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, and operations at Guadalcanal.  The Wildcats held the operational center of actions throughout the Pacific until the American industrial arm introduced more advanced aircraft in 1943.  The Wildcats also saw action with the US Navy in the Mediterranean region in late 1942.

The Wildcat became the stuff of legend during the early years of the war.  At Midway, Lt. Commander John S. Thach, squadron VF-3 form the USS Yorktown introduced a criss-cross dogfighting tactic that compensated for the Wildcat's lack of maneuverability--it became the "Thach Weave" .  Lt. Commander Thach won the Medal of Honor.  At Guadalcanal, Major John L. Smith's VMF-223 'Rainbow" Squadron operated from Henderson Field and provided ground support as well as aerial intercept operations.  On August 24, 1942, VMF-223 pilots, accompanied by five USAAF P-39 Airacobras intercept a Japanese flight of 15 bombers and 12 fighters.  10 Japanese bombers and six Japanese fighters were shot down.  Major Smith became the third Wildcat pilot to earn the Medal of Honor. 

The wingman was crucial for survival.  In a dogfight, the a pilot depended on his wingman to shoot an enemy pilot of his tail.  Those fighting alone didn't last long.  However, Major John Smith proved an exception and is credited with downing 19 Japanese aircraft and Major Marion Carl with 18.5 aerial victories.

On February 20, 1942, the USS Lexington was approximately 400 miles from its destination of Rabaul Harbor in the Solomon Islands when the aircraft carrier was spotted by enemy patrols. Six Wildcats roared off the USS Lexington to intercept the enemy bombers.  Lt. O'Hare and his wingman picked up the formation of enemy fighters closing in on the Lexington and immediately ordered an attack. Within moments, his wingman's guns jammed, and alone, Lt. O'Hare attacked the enemy formation head-on.  He attacked the last plane in the V formation and knocked an engine out of it's mounting.  Thereafter, he systematically attacked each remaining aircraft despite the concentrated tracer fire from the enemy bombers. Lt. O'Hare received the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the mission that saved the Lexington, "one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation."

As Naval and Marine pilots honed their aerial combat skill, they learned never to dogfight with the more agile Zero.  Instead, Wildcat pilots sought to break through a flight of enemy bombers directly.  This could force Zero pilots to overshoot giving the Wildcat pilot an edge in breaking though enemy bomber formations.  As a result, Wildcat pilots were able to down enemy bombers before the Zeros could pounce on them.  The Wildcat hit-and-run tactics forced Zero pilots to waste fuel.

Before VJ day, 7,815 Wildcats were built, most by the Eastern Division of General Motors Corporation.  The final production built was the F4F-7 with increased fuel capacity as a long-rang reconnaissance aircraft.  With the concentration to develop the more powerful and advance Grumman F6F "Hellcat," Grumman negotiated with General Motors to continue production of the Wildcat under the designation FM-1.  The General Motors Eastern Division first aircraft flew on August 31, 1942.  A total of 1,151 were produced, of which 312 were supplied to the United Kingdom as the Martlet MV.  General Motors was working on an improved FM-2 version (two XF4F-8 prototypes) with a 1,350 hp Wright R1820-56 Cyclone 9 radial engine and a larger vertical tail.  A total of 4,777 FM-2s were built, of which 370 were supplied to the UK as the Wildcat Mk VI.

FMI: http://olympicflightmuseum.com, www.confederateairforce.org