The F4F "Wildcat" fighter, as the capital carrier aircraft of the US aircraft carrier in the early stages of the Pacific War, has always been considered mediocre in performance and belongs to the target of bullying by the Japanese "Zero" fighter.
On the other hand, many people also believe that the technical level of the "Wildcat" and "Zero" is far behind the German Bf-109G, and it is impossible to be the opponent of this ace fighter. However, an air battle in March 1945 completely upended this view.
The despised "Wildcat" fighter
The F4F Wildcat fighter, first tested in September 1937, began to be equipped with the U.S. Navy in December 1940. The aircraft is equipped with a 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 air-cooled piston engine (F4F-4), a maximum speed of 515 km/h (F4F-4), and carries six 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns.
In contrast, the German Messerschmidt Bf-109G was the most important variant of the Bf-109 series, entering service in 1942. The G-14 was a late-production version of the Bf-109G, which entered the battlefield in July 1944, and was equipped with a 1775 hp DB-605 liquid-cooled piston engine, and used water injection and pressurization technology, with a maximum speed of 665 km/h, and armaments of 1 30 mm cannon, 3 20 mm guns and 2 13 mm machine guns.
Judging from the main indicators, the gap between the "Wildcat" and the Bf-109G seems to be very large. The Bf-109G has a lighter engine power than the Wildcat and a speed of 150 kilometers per hour.
In fact, the Bf-109G, as the best German fighter in World War II, flew the aircraft by most of the German aces with a record of more than 100 crashes. Relatively speaking, the "Wildcat" has been suppressed by the Japanese "Zero" in the Pacific theater and is recognized as a second-rate fighter. It was not until late 1943 that the U.S. military equipped the F6F "Hellcat" to reverse the performance disadvantage of the carrier-based aircraft.
That is to say, as the first-class Bf-109G in the European theater, encountering the second-rate "wildcat" in the Pacific theater, the result of the air battle should not seem to have much suspense.
But more than a month before the end of the war in Europe, the second-rate "Wildcat" fighter accidentally encountered the Bf-109G off the coast of Norway, and the two sides launched a collective air battle. The performance of the Bf-109G was surprising.
8 to 8, Germany's first-class fighters lost 0-4
On 26 March 1945, eight FM-2 "Wildcat" MK6 fighters from the 882nd Squadron of the Royal Navy's escort carrier Explorer (generally licensed production, power increased to 1350 horsepower) escorted the Avengers attack aircraft of the 853rd squadron of the escort carrier "Queen" to destroy German shipping ships in the Norwegian fjords.
Approaching the target area, the British "Wildcat" squadron was suddenly attacked by 8 Bf-109G-6/14 fighters from the German JG5 fighter wing. The strength of the two sides was 8 to 8, and in the case of a sneak attack, a British "Wildcat" was injured and lost some of its wings, but still tenaciously returned to the "Explorer" escort aircraft carrier.
The ensuing battle became a one-sided performance by the "Wildcats".
Eight German Messerschmidt fighters were toyed with by the British "Wildcats" in low-altitude dogfights. The Wildcat shot down three Bf-109Gs (two G-14s and one G-6) on the spot, killing German pilot Hermann Jaeger and two other pilots, Gottfried Roche and Heinrich Dreisbach. In addition, one Bf-109G crashed during the forced landing, and two successfully forced landings after being injured.
The Germans claimed to have shot down 6 "Wildcats", but in fact only one "Wildcat" (number JV719/SB) was injured at the beginning, and the pilot was Captain Pren. This tenacious "Wildcat" carrier-based fighter was not repaired afterwards, but was given to the museum for collection.
Taken together, the German fighter suffered a crushing defeat, with a result of 4-0 on both sides according to the number of shots down and destroyed, and 6 to 1 in terms of damage. The victory of the "Wildcat" turned out to be "one-sided"!
Why did the second-rate fighters in the Pacific beat the first-rate fighters in Europe?
There is a strange phenomenon in World War II, that is, second-rate fighters who did not perform well in the Pacific Theater unexpectedly performed well in the European theater. For example, the F2A Buffalo and P-39 Flying Snake, two aircraft with a poor reputation in the Pacific, became ace fighters in the hands of finland and the Soviet air force.
On the other hand, the first-class fighters in the European theater ran to the Pacific theater, such as the Spitfire, P-51, P-47, etc., and were once beaten by low-speed Japanese fighters in the initial war.
The reason for this is actually not complicated, and the key reason is that the battlefield environment has changed. Fighters with different performances can play their maximum potential if they can match the suitable battlefield environment. The same is true of the Wildcats beating the Bf-109G.
The Feral Cat, though much slower, has a lower wing load of only 149 kg/m2, while the Bf-109G is as high as 196 kg/m2. As a result, the Feral Cat's low-altitude horizontal maneuverability is much stronger than that of the Bf-109G, which has the advantage of high-altitude high speed and dive-climb performance.
This air battle off the coast of Norway took place precisely in the low-altitude area, allowing the "wildcats" to occupy the geographical advantage. Although the low-speed horizontal maneuverability of the Wildcat was not as good as that of the Zero and Falcon (the early aircraft had a load of less than 120 kg/m2), it was far superior to the German fighters in the later European theaters.
Messerschmidt and the Wildcat played dogfighting at low altitude, which was tantamount to allowing the Wildcat to replicate the old scene of the Zero and Falcon that teased the U.S. fighter with excellent maneuverability.
The British had previously compared the Wildcat with the Bf-109F and made the following assessment: "The Wildcat, although faster and more maneuverable than hurricane, was still 60 mph slower than the German fighter. But the lower the altitude, the smaller the Me109F's chances of winning, and the "Wildcat" also has a stronger momentum. The conclusion is that the Low Altitude Maneuverability of the Wildcat is superior to that of the Bf-109F, but due to the Bf-109F's superior speed performance, the initiative will always be in the hands of the Germans.
As for the more powerful Bf-109G-6, the British believe that the differences between the two sides have become greater, and German fighters can run around the "Wildcat" with high speed, but if the Bf-109G-6 tries to dogfight, the chances of the "Wildcat" winning will soar. The British also believe that the two should not be "in the same order of magnitude" opponents.
The Bf-109G's crushing defeat to the Wildcats in actual combat actually hides the fact that these German pilots are a bunch of rookies. By 1945, the last phase of the war, Germany's experienced pilots had been exhausted. The Bf-109G fighter gave up its high-altitude and high-speed advantage and ran to low altitude for dogfighting, which was obviously a manifestation of inexperience.
For the Bf-109G, the best tactic in this air battle is "high-speed one-hit disengagement", that is, the means by which US fighters deal with the "Zero". But the actual battle is cruel, and there is no time to give people the opportunity to reflect and correct. (Author: Tao Mujian)