KITS 10/2022

F4F-3, Lt. Frank Bernard Quady, VF-6, USS Enterprise (CV-6), April 1942

The attack against Japan, scheduled for April 1942 was

going to be conducted by B-25 medium bombers taking

off of the aircraft carrier and was going to attack Japanese homeland islands. USS Hornet (CV-8) aircraft carrier became the “floating airport” for these bombers

and was escorted by the formation gathered around

USS Enterprise (CV-6) which was going to provide the

air cover for the mission since the Hornet aircraft

were not available until the bombers departure. One

of the VF-6 pilots providing the fighter cover for the

whole mission was Minneapolis native Lt. Frank Quady.

He graduated from the Annapolis Academy and pinned

his “wings” on in April 1941. He flew with VF-6 aboard

USS Enterprise (CV-6) participating in Hornet escort

during the Doolittle raid but also in all preceding missions flown by this unit during the first six month of

the war. His last combat mission with VF-6 was Battle

of Midway. Then the service with VF-11 followed and

he increased his score by two D3A Val dive bombers

shot down. Later he became member of the staff of

the TF 58 commanding officer, Vice Admiral Mark

A. Mitcher and was among the staff members killed

during the attack of two kamikaze aircraft on USS

Bunker Hill (CV-17) on May 11, 1945.

F4F-3, BuNo. 3986, Lt. Albert Ogden Vorse, VF-2, USS Lexington (CV-2), May 1942

Albert Vorse was born on August 9, 1914, in Philadelpia,

Pennsylvania and after he finished his studies at the

Naval Academy in 1937, he was ordered on board of the

USS Astoria heavy cruiser (CA-34). In March 1940 he was

dispatched to the Pensacola base where he completed

his pilot training. In 1941 he was assigned to VF-3. After

the USS Saratoga (CV-3) was torpedoed by I-6 submarine in January 1942 and sent for repairs back to the USA

part of VF-3 pilots, including their mounts was assigned

to VF-2 on board of USS Lexington (CV-2). Therefore,

within VF-2 operation out of USS Lexington the aicraft

carrying VF-3 markings flew as well. Wildcat BuNo. 3986

originally was operated by VF-3 and assigned to Lt. Noyel Gayler therefore the kill markings under the canopy

was actually his personal score. On USS Lexington “Fox

5” was assigned to Lt. Vorse who within VF-2 took part

in the Battle of the Coral Sea where USS Lexington was

sunken. After more than 76 years the shipwreck was

found by Paul G. Allen on his research vessel R/V Petrel.

The photographs released after researching Lady Lex

capture a Wildcat marked F-5 (previous marking F-13) in

which Lt. Vorse fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea and

claimed one bomber and one fighter shot down. His total

score at the end of the war was 11.5 kills.

F4F-4, BuNo. 5171., Lt. Cdr. John Smith Thach, VF-3, USS Yorktown (CV-5), May/June 1942

In May 1942 a new Wildcats F4F-4 with folding wings were

delivered to VF-3. The handful of pilots of the emerging

VF-3 squadron flew these aircraft at Kaneohe Bay base.

The unit was commanded by John “Jimmy” S. Thach who

developed the tactics known as Thach Weave, first time

applied in combat during the Battle of Midway. It was a manner of mutual protection of the pairs of Wildcats against

more agile Zero fighters. Mainly thanks to this tactic the

Wildcats could defend themselves against the numerically

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INFO Eduard

superior Zeros while they escorted the first wave of bombers launched against the fleet of the Japanese carriers

in the Battle of Midway. Thach himself claimed three Zeros

shot down and other pilots of his section scored kills as

well. At the controls of the Wildcat “Fox 1” “Jimmy” Thach

shot down a B5N Kate bomber on his second sortie during

the battle. In the period photographs of Jimmy Thach’s

Wildcat it is clearly visible that VF-3 insignia under the

canopy was damaged. Nevertheless, our decal sheet con-

tains its undamaged version too. Wildcats were camouflaged in Light Gray on the lower surfaces and Blue Gray on

the side and upper surfaces. The national insignia in the

form of the blue circles with white star and red circle in

the center were painted on the fuselage and four positions

on the wings. The additional marking was red and white

stripes on the rudder. During the Battle of Midway these

stripes were overpainted with the camouflage color and

the red circles were deleted from the national insignia.

October 2022