The XF4F-3 first production contract was awarded just before the outbreak of war in Europe. Above is the production line for the F4F Wildcat in Bethpage, Long Island.
The F4F Wildcat was used very successfully in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, as well as in the operations of Guadalcanal.
Mitsubishi G3M Nell
On 24 August 1942, as the Japanese made their first major attempt to recapture Guadalcanal, Mutuski briefly bombarded U.S. Marine Corps' positions at Henderson Field. The next day, she went alongside the disabled transport Kinryu Maru to rescue that ship's crew and troops. While so immobilized, a formation of U.S. B-17 bombers appeared. Aware of the poor accuracy of high-level bombing, the destroyer's captain elected to continue his rescue efforts. However, in a rare event, the bombers scored well and Mutuski was sunk. Her captain, hauled from the water with his ship's other surviving crewmen, is said to have remarked "even the B-17s could make a hit once in a while!".
Destroyer Hayate
Kawanishi H6K "Mavis"
Val Dive Bomber
Soryu
Hiryu, a 20,250-ton aircraft carrier built at Yokosuka, Japan, was completed in July 1939. Active throughout the first six months of the Pacific War, she took part in the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack as well as operations in the East Indies and Indian Ocean area. On 4 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, Hiryu's aircraft inflicted serious bomb and torpedo damage to USS Yorktown (CV-5), causing her abandonment. Later that day, Hiryu was hit by U.S. carrier dive bombers. Though she remained underway for a time, she had been fatally damaged. Abandoned early the following morning, Hiryu sank at about 0900 on 5 June, the last of four Japanese aircraft carriers to be lost in the battle.
Surrender of Wake Island Aboard USS LEVY DE 162 4 September 1945
Left to right, sitting at table:
Japanese Army Colonel Shigeharu Chikamori, Sakaibara, Japanese Paymaster Lieutenant P. Hisao Napasato, Marine Brigadier General Lawson H. M. Sanderson, of Santa Barbara, Cal., Commander of the Fourth Marine Air Wing who accepted the surrender in the name of Rear Admiral W. K. Harrill, Army Sergeant Larry Watanabe of Honolulu, official interpreter at the surrender, and Colonel T. J. Walker Jr., Sanderson's Chief of Staff.
Standing, center back, holding pipe, is Colonel Walter L. J. Baylor, last man to leave and first to return to Wake Island.
The Wake Island POWs
An example of a war crimes trial for mass murder was the trial for the mass execution of 98 Allied POWs on Wake Island in October, 1943.[4] The story of the siege of Wake Island is well known as U. S. military personnel held out against overwhelming odds. When Wake Island finally fell 1,603 Americans (both military and civilian) were captured. Most were sent by ship to a prison camp in Shanghai, China. 98 prisoners of war remained on Wake Island, kept alive to run heavy equipment to build fortifications. In October, 1943, Wake Island was under siege by an Allied carrier force. On October 7, 1943, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, then a captain and commander of Japanese forces on Wake Island, ordered the execution of the 98 prisoners of war without trial. The POWs were marched to a northern beach, blindfolded, and shot. [One POW managed to elude execution, was hunted down, and was executed with a sword by Sakaibara himself.] In 1947 Rear Admiral Sakaibara and a subordinate, Lieutenant Commander Tachibana, were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. [Tachibana's sentence was later reduced to life in prison.] Rear Admiral Sakaibara was executed on 18 June 1947 on Guam. At the end he maintained: "I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure."
