U.S. NAVAL AVIATION RESOURCE CENTER > FIGHTERS > HELLCAT > PREVIOUS PAGE
GRUMMAN F6F HELLCAT

[Source: U.S. Navy]

    The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft conceived to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy service. Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat in some ways, it was a completely new design, powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, the same powerplant used for both the Vought F4U Corsair and the United States Army Air Force's Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters.

   The F6F was best known for its role as a rugged, well-designed carrier fighter which was able, after its combat debut in early 1943, to counter the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and help secure air superiority over the Pacific Theater. Such was the quality of the basic simple, straightforward design, that the Hellcat was the least modified fighter of the war, with a total of 12,200 being built in just over two years.

Hellcats were credited with destroying 5,223 aircraft while in service with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. This was more than any other Allied naval aircraft. Postwar, the Hellcat was phased out of frontline service, but remained in service as late as 1954 as a night fighter.

- Design & Development
- Operational History
- Variants
 - Specifications
- Gallery
- Survivors
U.S. NAVAL AVIATION RESOURCE CENTER > FIGHTERS > HELLCAT > PREVIOUS PAGE