HISTORY

GRUMMAN F4F-3 WILDCAT

PART TWO

By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

„Butch“ O‘Hare

Saves USS Lexington

Edward H. „Butch“ O‘Hare graduated from

the U.S. Naval Academy in 1937. After two

years of sea duty aboard the U.S.S. New

Mexico, he was sent to Pensacola in 1939,

becoming a Naval Aviator in May, 1940.

He was assigned to VF-3, which was then

aboard Saratoga, where Lt John Thach,

Executive Officer of VF -3, took O‘Hare

The task force was 400 miles out when

radar spotted a bogey 35 miles away.

Squadron CO Thach led the first division to intercept, with Squadron XO Lt Cdr

Don Lovelace’s four orbited the task force.

Vectored in and out of clouds and squall

lines, Thach finally found an H6K “Mavis”

in a rain squall. Thach made a starboard

overhead pass as his wingman closed

On February 20, 1942, Lexington approa- with a portside high overhead pass. Under

ched New Ireland from the north to strike their combined fire the „Mavis“ spun into

Rabaul, recently taken by the Japanese. the ocean. A second was shot down 50

minutes later; it was clear the task force had been discovered. Lexington was

about to find out if a carrier task force

could stand up to a determined land based bombing attack.

as his wingman. Thach emphasized gunnery training (as did every USN Fighter

Squadron XO unlike their Army Air Corps

compatriots). At the fleet gunnery competition in November 1940, eight of 16 VF-3

pilots qualified for the covered „Gunnery

E“, and O‘Hare won the fleet trophy for

best gunnery.

At 1630 hours, 17 G4M1s of the 4th Kōkūtai

closed on the fleet in two formations: one

nine-plane formation from starboard, one

eight-plane formation from port. The nine

were 25 miles distant when radar spotted

them. Their timing could not have been

worse, with Lovelace‘s division ready to

land just after Lt Noel Gaylor’s relief CAP

was launched. The bombers overflew the

ships and turned to attack from astern.

Lovelace‘s division broke off from landing

and attacked, disrupting their bomb run.

Gaylor‘s division lost two Wildcats to the

bombers’ then-unknown 20mm tail stingers. Thach was launched with six F4Fs,

including O’Hare, who was ordered to orbit the ship with his wingman Lt.(jg) MaLt. Cdr. John Thach (near airplane) and Lt.

Edward “Butch” O’Hare of VF-3 in their F4F-3

Wildcats.

8

INFO Eduard

September 2022