Military Aviation Art
May
1935. A flight of Boeing F4B-4 fighters from the USS Saratoga's FIGHTING 6
forms up on a Marine Corps J2F Grumman Duck over the island of Oahu. Far
below, CV-3 and her escort of flush deck destroyers begins rounding
Diamondhead en route to Pearl Harbor's main channel. They will easily make
it before the sun sets. Since joining the Fleet in 1928, Saratoga and her
sister ship USS Lexington frequently operated together in Hawaiin waters,
causing confusion among some aviators who attempted landings on the wrong
ship. To set them apart, Saratoga sported a black stripe on her stack for
many of her pre-war years. By 1939, that stripe would sport a large white
letter "E", with two hash marks, signifying that her crew had
been recognized three times for Excellence in Engineering.
Since
the late 1920's, various airwings have used Felix the Cat as their mascot.
By the early 30's, VF-6, based on Saratoga until 1936, was the official
residence of this once-famous cartoon character. Later, during WW2, the
mascot was adopted by VF-3 where he adorned the F6F Hellcats off the USS
Yorktown. Today, he rides with the F-14 Tomcats off the USS John C.
Stennis. But when he flew with FIGHTING 6 in 1935, he rode one of the most
manueverable aircraft ever to see service with the US Navy. Boeing's
little biplane fighter, their last to be manufactured, was said to be so
nimble that all one had to do to execute a turn was to put an arm out of
the cockpit. Note that each fighter sports a white "E" beneath
the cockpit. This denotes Excellence in Aerial Gunnery.
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