General Background

The F6F Hellcat was basically designed as the “Zero Killer”. It could fly about an average 55 mph faster than the Zero and it was heavier and more powerful than the Zero. The Hellcat also had the highest kill ratio of any American fighter plane during WWII (19 to1). US Navy pilots referred the Hellcat as the "Aluminum Tank".

The Hellcat could carry two 1,000 pound bombs with its most destructive weapons being six 5-inch HVAR's (High Velocity Aircraft Rockets). It could also carry a torpedo under the fuselage but this was never seen in combat. When it was all over the F6F was one of the most feared and successful planes in WWII.

The Aircraft

Incredibily, of the six Luftwaffe aircraft claimed by the gunnery-spotting VOF-1 during Operation Dragoon, this Hellcat was involved in the destruction of four of them- Ens Wood shared in the destruction of two He 111s near Vienne on 19 August, and Ens Olszewski downed a pair of Ju 52s near Orange two days later. Both pilots went on to scorre kills in the Pacific with the redesignated Voc-1 in 1945.