D-Day FAA Hellcats

[BruceMk11]

Apart from 800 & 804 Sqns on HMS Emperor guarding the Western Approaches on D-Day, were any other FAA Hellcat units active? Could these units have been armed with rockets?

804 was absorbed by 800 on the 18/6/44.

[andy bird]

The Fleet Air Arm employed the F6F and also the F4U. The only fighter-to-fighter FAA F6F action took place in May 1944. On 8 May, F6F's from the Fleet Air Arm's No. 800 Squadron (Lieut. Comdr. SJ Hall, DSC, RN), off HMS Emperor, while escorting a flight of Barracudas was attacked by a mixed group of Me-109's and FW-190's. Two F6F's were lost, one, probably, to anti-aircraft fire (one source indicates that both F6Fs were lost in a mid-air collision, not to any German fire of any kind); the Germans reportedly lost 2 Me-109's and one FW-190. The FW-190 was claimed by Sub-Lieut. Ritchie.

Sub-Lieut. Ritchie had perviously had 3.5 victories when flying a Sea Hurricane.

Six days later on 14 May, 800 Squadron's leading scorer, Sub-Lieut. Ritchie (now with 4.5 victories) added a He-115 to his tally and the shared another He-115 with the CO of 804 Squadron, Lieut. Comdr. Orr, giving him a total of 6 victories for the war.

Prior to these actions, FAA F6F's were used for anti-aircraft suppression on raids against Tirpitz on 3 April 44 (Operation Tungsten). These included - from Emperor - 800 Squadron (Lieut. Comdr. Hall) and 804 Squadron (Lieut. Comdr. SG Orr, DSC, RNVR).

The next and last European appearance would accrue 1,500 miles away to south in the Med

I've got no mention of R/P's only that the FAA Hellcats were employed for flak suppression and bombing.

Andy Bird

[BruceMk11]

Thanks Andy. But...Hellcats actually were in operational use on D-Day: 'Emperor...joined the CVEs Pursuer and Tracker for the naval part of the D-Day landings in Normandy, Operation Neptune, giving fighter cover over the western approaches to the English Channel from June 5th.'

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive....m#.VZJPwhuqqko

My interest was prompted by reading that Lt-Cdr Gerald Haynes, RAN, had flown a rocket-armed Hellcat on D-Day (see link below; also includes details re his Malta service). Having examined his service file in the interim, I can see that wasn't possible; he was in Australia! It was the next month that he embarked for the UK, arriving in September. He instructed at HMS Vulture (St Merryn) 27/10/44-25/11/45. It might have been at Vulture that he flew Hellcats (being both a qualified pilot and observer), as that type is listed as being used there.

http://www.battleship.com.au/battles...gerald-haynes/

The Hellcat could be armed with rockets: 6 x 5 in (127 mm) HVARS or 2 x 113x4 in (298 mm) Tiny Tim unguided rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F6F_Hellcat

Cheers,

Bruce

[Adriano Baumgartner]

BRUCE,

You already may have the following books, from which I took this data:
On Chapter Eleven: D-Day to VE-Day in Europe of the book “Britain’s Fleet Air Arm” by Ron Mackay (Schiffer book) there are only mentions of the activities of 880 Squadron (Seafires III) by Lt. Crosley.

On the excellent book “Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939-45”, by Ray Sturtivant (Air Publications) we do have only two recorded losses for D-Day, which are:

SPITFIRE EN831 (Mk.Vb) To RNDA 9.2.44; 886 Sqn 3.44; 808 Sqn Lee 3.44; D-Day, hit by EA, dived in sea or Le Havre lI.S pilot tried to climb out, Cat Z 6.6.44 (SIt H A Cogill killed)

SEAFIRE L.III
NF533 RY 4.3.44; 761 Sqn Henstridge 5.44 (prefix?); 885 Sqn Lee, D-Day invasion, spouing for RN, presumed hit by flak, FL in field S of Hennanville-sur-Mer, Normandy.
Cat Z 6.6.44 (S/L A H Bassett killed)

I tried to find mentions on rockets, but got no joy too....sorry...this is what I found.
Yours,
Adriano

[BruceMk11]

Thanks Adriano. That's a very handy book you have!

Is there any mention of Lt-Cdr Gerald Mellor Haynes?

[Bruce Dennis]

Hello Bruce, Adriano and Andy
The logs of the two carriers equipped with FAA Hellcats around D-Day make no mention of rockets. The same applies to the Hellcat squadrons employed later in the south of France operations.
Hope this helps,
Bruce

[BruceMk11]

Just noticed there is a pic of FAA Hellcats (on an unidentified carrier) being armed with rockets in the first group of plates in the 1986 edition of Mike Crosley's 'They Gave Me A Seafire'. Several of the groundcrew are wearing only shorts, so the location is presumably the Med or Far East.

[James A Pratt III]

Both the FCWD part 4 and my notes from the book Seafire the Spitfire that went to sea have 4 Seafire or 3 Seafire and 1 FAA Spitfire lost do to Flak on D-day.
885 Squadron S/Lt A.H Basset and S/lt H.A. Cogshill KIA Lt C.L. Metcalfe WIA
886 Squadron Lt C.L. Metcalfe bailed out unharmed.

VCS 7 1 Seafire lost

Luftwaffe over Norway loss section has JG 5 with 3 109 losses on 8May 1944
and the claims list has JG 5 with 3 Hellcat claims on this date. Uffz Hallstick 2 and Ltn Prenzler 1 both of 10/JG5

On 14 may according to my notes 1/406 lost 2 He-115 shot down and 3 destroyed on the water by 800 Squadron.

Also Oblt Schnieder of 10/JG5 Spitfire claim of 11 Feb 44 was most likely S/LtW.L. Horner in a Seafire IB MB353 HMS Furious off Norway. He was KIA. The other pilots in his flight claimed 1-1-3 but there are no reports of any loss or damage in the Luftwaffe lost list for this day.

[bearoutwest]

Hi BruceMk11,

In Ray Sturtivant's "Fleet Air Arm at war" chapter on East Indies Fleet 1945, there appear two photos of RN FAA Helcats with rocket projectiles.

On p.113, there is Hellcat JX688 B-8H (896 Sqn HMS Empress) armed with British-style RPs on rails (not the usual USN RPs on zero-length launchers).

On p.114, there is a scene of senior officers visiting 896 Sqn ashore. Aircraft JX690 is coded 2-AB, and has what appears to be 4x RP rails under each wing. The partial view of another Hellcat aircraft on the edge of the photo shows 4x RP rails as well.

The Channel Operations chapter (covering the D-Day landing support ops) has photos of Avengers and Wildcats (no RPs) and lots of Swordfish (with RPs), but no Hellcats. These RN FAA aircraft are shore based. 896 Sqn - equipped with Wildcats at that stage - operated off HMS Pursuer. The 24th Naval Fighter Wing - Seafire IIIs of 887 and 894 Sqns - flew escort missions to fighter-bomber Typhoons, but were shore based.

Sorry, no other mentions of other Hellcat squadrons involved in Normandy in this book, but hope it's of some help.

From Kenneth Poolman’s “Allied Escort Carriers of WW2”:
Hellcats of 804 Sqn were aboard HMS Ameer in December 1944, when it arrived to support British Army operation along the coast of Burma. The D-Day reference for Gerald Haynes may just be a journalist mistaking a general D-Day reference – meaning a beachhead landing day – for the Normandy Overlord landings. On 18th Jan 1945, HMS Ameer’s Hellcats flew top cover for the landings at Kyaukpyu, north Ramree Island – on the central west coast of Burma.

In Operation Dracula (imaginative names!), the amphibious assault on Rangoon – 20 Hellcats of 804 Sqn were embarked on the “assault carrier” HMS Empress, as well as 4 additional 804 Sqn Hellcats on the GP carrier HMS Shah. Hellcats of No3 Naval Fighter Wing were aboard HMS Khedive and Emperor. In my 2nd edition copy of “They Gave Me A Seafire” (poorer paper, so photo is quite grainy) the photo of the Hellcat with RP rails – which a number of sailors are rearming with RPs, the Hellcat has the same markings (white engine nose ring and tip of tail above fin flash) as the photo of HMS Khedive’s Hellcats (without RPs) in Poolman’s book. Campaign markings for the entire fleet? So it’s likely the Hellcats used RPs when flying strikes in these amphibious landing campaigns around Burma in 1944-45. The Hellcats off HMS Empress and Shah flew the last strikes on Car Nicobar as part of Operation Dracular.

Following the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro on 16 May 1945, HMS Emperor “…launched four Hellcats with eight 27kg (60 lb) RPs apiece to find Kurishoyo Maru No 2, but she had in fact already berthed at Penang. ….” (This is the only actual reference I managed to find of RN Hellcats operating with RPs.)

Regards,
...geoff

[BruceMk11]

Thanks James. And Geoff, thanks for looking into it and providing certain evidence that FAA Hellcats were sometimes armed with rockets on ops.

Just when and where Haynes flew rocket-armed Hellcats will have to remain a mystery at this stage.

Cheers,

Bruce