All are welcome, walkons and squads, the more that fly the better the event for all
Roll time 1500 (3PM) EST. 2000UK and 2100 CET
Special Events Arena
Hellcats Over Mindanao
Historical Background
American grand strategy in the Pacific was decided at a conference in the summer of 1944. Gen Douglas MacArthur, Adm Chester Nimitz and the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chose to reoccupy the Philippine islands rather than strike toward the Chinese mainland.
Sixteen fast-carriers departed at the end of August with some 520 Hellcats. The ever increasing requirement for fleet defense had resulted in big-deck carriers embarking up to 54 fighters (with fewer dive- and torpedo bombers) - a significant increase over the previous standard of 36 fighters. The resulting surface action was second only in size to that employed in the 1916 Battle of Jutland, though for variety and concentrations of forces engaged - air, surface and submarine- no other action could match it.
From the initial sweeps over Mindanao in September 1944 to the withdrawal of Task Force 38 in January 1945m the twenty-two squadrons of Hellcats that saw action over the Philippines claimed an astonishing (and devastating or the Japanese) tally of 1300 air-to-air kills.
Mission Briefing:
This Snapshot represents initial fighter sweeps and strikes of Imperial Japanese forces on Mindanao by USN F6F Hellcats operating from Task Force 38.
Arena
SEA
Plane set: Americans F6F Japanese NIK2, KI61 and A6M5
Design By
Skyfoxx-880 FAA
