Strana 48
VMF-441, Nanumea, November 1943
VC-13, USS Core (CVE-13), August 1943
Marine Fighting Squadron 441 (VMF-441) was
formed on October 1, 1942, at Tutuila, American
Samoa, from part of VMF-111 and flew F4F
Wildcats. By the end of May 1943, the entire
squadron moved to Funafuti in the Ellice Islands,
followed by another move to Nanumea Base on
September 28, 1943. The squadron moved back
to Tutuila in December 1943, where it rearmed
to the F4U-1 Corsair. VMF-441 was also known
as “The Blackjacks”. The unit was credited with
a total of 49 aircraft shot down during World War
II and was inactivated after the surrender of
Japan on July 11, 1946. The Wildcat shown here
wore non-standard camouflage with a third
shade of Semi-Gloss Sea Blue added to the
original older Blue Gray/Light Gray scheme on
the upper fuselage and wing surfaces. The nose
of the aircraft was decorated with a white “Little
Joe” inscription on the left side of the engine
cowling with a dice motif.
The Tacoma-built Bogue-class escort carrier
USS Core (CVE-13) was commissioned on
December 10, 1942, and named after Core Sound.
USS Core operated on the west coast off San
Diego, but soon joined the Atlantic Fleet to take
part in the bloody war against submarines with
TBF-1C Avengers and F4F-4 Wildcats on board.
Core’s first combat cruise in the Atlantic lasted
from June 27 to July 31, 1943, during which
VC-13 hit a pair of submarines. USS Core and
VC-13 scored a total of four submarine kills by
the end of 1943, helping to end the good times
of the German U-boat fleet. The Wildcats on
USS Core carried combination of colors from
the factory blue-grey NS through light grey
NS as well as both the then-new ASWN I and
II schemes designed for the Atlantic. The aircraft
shown, with the black identification number
3 on the rudder, had a three-tone camouflage,
i.e. ASWN I scheme, and was sporting red
outlined insignias. These were repainted with
Insignia Blue in September 1943.
KITS 01/2025
INFO Eduard48
January 2025