Grumman F6F Hellcat 1943
Newly delivered Hellcats with red- bordered national marking,
F6F-3 May 1943
Captured F6F-5 BuNo 71441, Yokosuka Airfield, Japan 1945
Hellcat launches from USS Monterey (CVL-26) June 1944
Hellcats aboard USS Intrepid (CV-11) 1943
Hellcat of No 800 Squadron FAA on the deck of HMS Emperor in the Aegean Sea, 1944
F6F-5 “White 24” of the VF-23 crashed on the deck of USS Langley (CVL-27) 1945
F6F-5N #18 of VF(N)-41 aboard USS Independence 10 October 1944
F6F-3 of VF-39 landing on the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944 2
F6F-5 Hellcat crashed on deck of USS Takanis Bay (CVE-89), 18 March 1945
F6F-3N “White 319” on the deck of USS Solomons (CVE-67)
F6F-5s of VF-27 USS Independence (CVL-22), Pacific July 1945
Naval aviators rushing to their F6Fs for a raid on Tokyo, USS Hornet February 1945
F6F-3 K9 USS Yorktown 1943-44
Photo-reconnaissance F6F-5P with the camera equipment being fitted in the rear fuselage
F6F-3 #F29 of VF-39 takes off from USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944
F6F-5 Hellcat “white 24” of the VF-23 USS Langley 1945
Lt Maseley in Hellcat BuNo 40090 ready to take off from USS Yorktown (CV-10) June 1944
F6F of VF-33 explodes as wing hits Island of USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
F6F-5P “P3” of CASU-27 in flight 1945
Installing rockets on F6F-5 on board USS Essex (CV-9)
Ace Alexander Vraciu aboard USS Lexington (CV-16)
F6F-3 Hellcats in color
Crashed F6F-5 “D15” of VF-40 aboard USS Suwanee (CVE-27)
British Hellcat JZ935 White 145
Hellcats from VF‑80 wait to take off from Ticonderoga on November 5, 1944
VF-6 pilots aboard USS Hancock
USS Caperton DD-650 coming alongside USS Enterprise (CV-6), January 1944
Hellcats onboard USS Yorktown August 1944
Early F6F-3 Hellcat 10 September 1943
F6F-5 of VF-75 over Atlantic City NJ
Grumman F6F-5 X109 USS San Jacinto 1944
F6Fs in flight over NAS Sand Point September 1943
Jeep moving Hellcat on deck of USS Princeton (CVL-23) 1944
British Hellcat, USA 1943
F6F-3 code 8-F-14 of VF-8 aboard USS Intrepid (CV-11) 1943 2
Burning F6F-3 BuNo 66101 of VF-25 USS Cowpens, pilot Lt Alfred W. Magee 24 November 1943
F6F-5P “P3” of VF-75 1945
Burning F6F-3 BuNo 66101 of VF-25 USS Cowpens, 24 November 1943
F6F-3 of VF-16 launching from the deck of USS Lexington 23 November 1943
Preparing for strike on Mili Atoll USS Lexington (CV-16) 1944
F6F-5 “White 35” of VF-17 taxiing on the flight deck of the USS Hornet (CV-12) 1945
Ground Crewmen of MAG-24 commended by Gen Ralph Mitchell Bougainville 1944
F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-31 USS Cabot (CVL-28)
F6F-3 “White 40” prepared to take off from USS Yorktown (CV-10) June 1944
Loading rocket onto Hellcat Ordnance Test Station Harvey Field 1944
F6F-5 of VF-83 traps on board the carrier USS Essex 1945
F6F-5s Hellcat of VF-75 in flight
F6F C10 in flight
F6F-3s and SB2C USS Intrepid 1943 3
Armorer loading ammunition into a F6F Hellcat USS Enterprise 1944
Hellcats USS Langley 10 January 1945
F6F-3 hoisted on board carrier November 1943
F6F-3 Hellcat “White 24” aboard USS Lexington November 1943
Crashed F6F-3 30 of VF-2, USS Enterprise 10 November 1943, pilot Ens Byron M. Johnson
Ace David McCampbell on Hellcat aboard USS Essex
F6F-5 125, 1945
F6F-3 30 of VF-2, USS Enterprise 10 November 1943, pilot Ens Byron M. Johnson
F6F-3 Solomon Islands in late 1943
Ace Fred Ackerman of VF-80
Ace James Bryce of VF-22 on wing of his F6F 1945
Grumman F6F-5 “White 33” of VF-29 USS Cabot
F6F-3 2-F-7 BuNo 25974 of VF-2 USS Charger August 1943
Crew plays football aboard carrier in Central Pacific 1944
Moving a damaged Hellcat USS Lexington 1943
F6F-3 with belly tank on deck of USS Yorktown (CV-10), October 1943
F6F-3 starting to taxi into position for take-off USS Saratoga 20 November 1943
F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-6 traps aboard USS Intrepid 1 February 1944
F6F-3 USS Yorktown November 1943
Ace Alexander Vraciu by scoreboard on his Hellcat
Ace Donald “Flash” Gordon of VF-10 in his F6F 1944
Grumman F6F-3 “White 6” USS Yorktown 1944
F6Fs onboard USS Yorktown (CV-10) 1943
F6F-3 “F20” of VF-39 USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) February 1944
F6F-5 Hellcat ready for take off USS Siboney (CVE-112) 1945
Wounded F6F pilot helped from plane after Kamikaze attack. USS Randolph (CV-15).
F6F Betio Island November 25, 1943
F6F-5 and SB2C USS Randolph 14 August 1945
F6F-3 Hellcat “L9” from training unit 9 September 1943
Hellcat ME-F-44 crash at NAS Opa Locka 2 December 1943
Grumman F6F-3 “White 24” of VF-9, pilot Gene Valencia 1944
F6F-3P “K16” of VF-17 1945
Female Grumann test pilot Barbara Jayne in F6F
Grumman F6F-5 landing on USS Siboney 1945
F6F of 3rd Fleet strafes Japanese freighter near Fukuya Wan 45
Grumman F6F-5 71079 VF-45 is on the ground at Atlantic City
F6Fs and Seafires packed tightly in hangar deck off Saskishima Gunto 24 April 1945
Ships of TF-58 and F6F-5 on deck of the USS Wasp 1945
Grumman F6F-3 of VF-12 prepares to launch from the USS Saratoga
Hellcats and Avengers of CAG-5 on board the carrier USS Yorktown 1943
Hellcat lands on carrier upon return from Marcus Island 1944
F6F-3 training unit 1943
Hellcats of VF-16 USS Lexington 1944
F6F-3 of VF-15 approach for recovery on board the USS Charger December 1943
Flight operations on board the aircraft carrier USS Independence 1944. F6F-5N #5 of VF(N)-41
Cmdr James H. Flatley as Commander CAG 5 flies F6F-3 “00” en route to strike Marcus Island
F6F-3 code M32 of VF-20 NAS Melbourne 1944
US Pacific Fleet AA fire downs Japanese plane 1945
Hellcat was a fighter aircraft descended from the earlier F4F Wildcat, but was a completely new design sharing only a familial resemblance to the Wildcat. Some tagged it as “Wildcat’s big brother”. The Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair were the primary United States Navy carrier fighters in the second half of World War II.
The Hellcat proved to be the most successful aircraft in naval history, destroying 5,171 aircraft in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (5,163 in the Pacific and eight more during the invasion of Southern France), plus 52 with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Postwar, the Hellcat aircraft was rapidly phased out of front line service, finally retiring in 1954 as a night-fighter in composite squadrons.