Photo: NHHC

HISTORY

FM-2 Wildcat fighter on combat air patrol

during the Leyte Invasion.

By THOMAS McKELVEY CLEAVER

By the fall of 1942, production of the F4F Wildcat, which

was seen as a useful aircraft for the composite squadrons

operating from escort carriers that would provide antisubmarine cover and close air support for coming

invasions, was transferred to General Motors Eastern

Aircraft Division. However, Grumman was not completely

through with the Wildcat. The possibility of developing

a lighter version specifically for operation from escort

carriers had been considered before production was

taken over by General Motors.

The main difference of the new version of

Wildcat was substitution of the 1,200 h.p. R-183086 with a 1,350 h.p. Wright R-1820-56 Cyclone

that was 230 lbs. lighter. The XF4F-8 had four

guns like the FM-1; it was visually distinguished

an enlarged rudder and vertical stabilizer to

counteract the increased torque of the more

powerful engine. The airplane was 530 lbs. lighter

12

INFO Eduard

than the F4F-4. Initial climb rate was nearly

doubled, service ceiling was boosted to 36,400

ft. All in all, this was a “wilder” Wildcat. It went

into production in early 1943; between then and

August 1945 4,437 FM-2s were delivered, making

it the most numerous Wildcat of all.

In the Pacific, the FM-2 showed up in the new

Composite Squadrons (VC) in the fall of 1943.

During the invasions of the Marshalls, Carolines,

Marianas, and the Philippines, ten more Wildcat

pilots became aces.

The U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour

The FM-2’s most memorable day came on

October 25, 1944. Task Group 77.4, composed of

three Task Units 77.1, 77.2, and 77.3 known as

Taffy One, Two and Three for their radio callsign

“Taffy,” were operating off the island of Samar to

provide air support to the invasion of Leyte; each

Task Unit was composed of six escort carriers,

with two or three destroyers and four or five

destroyer escorts for support. Each TU had 48

TBM-1C Avengers and around 100 FM-2 Wildcats

between the six carriers.

The previous day, October 24, the Wildcats

defended the fleet against the many Japanese air

attacks. The Wildcats of VC-10 aboard the carrier

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) – part of “Taffy Three”

– were the most successful squadron in the

entire Task Group. VC-10’s Wildcat pilots, who had

August 2023