VMF-251 got flat-out overwhelmed while escorting Fate's heavy F6Fs. We opted to stay with the strike force while Damned proceeded with the orders as written due to the small size of the strike (only four TBMs from Skyknights, and Fate had maybe 8 F6Fs). The decision more or less paid off, as we ran into a LARGE group of enemy fighters (mixed Ki-61s and Ki-84s) right along the strike package's inbound route. The Bucs were able to hold them off long enough for Fate to get through to target, but we were outnumbered at least 2-3 to 1 with an equal starting altitude, so despite a hard fight we didn't last very long. We only got 6 for the loss of our ten Hellcats, but I'm confident had the numbers been more evenly matched or we had the positional advantage we'd have survived, even against the Ki-84s (I think all but one of our kills was a Frank).