It was supposed to be a routine combat air patrol for the 12 F6F Grumman Hellcat pilots of the “Pistol-Packin’ Airedales” ...

The Grumman F6F Hellcat could be ranked among the top aircrafts; however, it was introduced late in the war, making its service time much shorter than others. While early models suffered losses ...

According to the Allies, one of the most critical aspects of winning World War II was establishing air superiority ... The United States manufactured 12,275 Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter planes ...