Navy Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat from Fighting Squadron 71 (VF-71) and Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire of No. 603 Squadron RAF on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) on 19 April 1942. Having landed her torpedo planes and dive bombers at Hatson in Orkney (UK), Wasp had loaded 47 Spitfires of No. 603 Squadron at Glasgow on 13 April, then departed on the 14th for "Operation Calendar". Wasp and her consorts passed through the Straits of Gibraltar under cover of the pre-dawn darkness on 19 April. At 04:00 hrs on 20 April, Wasp spotted 11 Wildcats on her deck and launched them
Navy Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat from Fighting Squadron 71 (VF-71) and Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire of No. 603 Squadron RAF on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) on 19 April 1942. Having landed her torpedo planes and dive bombers at Hatson in Orkney (UK), Wasp had loaded 47 Spitfires of No. 603 Squadron at Glasgow on 13 April, then departed on the 14th for "Operation Calendar". Wasp and her consorts passed through the Straits of Gibraltar under cover of the pre-dawn darkness on 19 April. At 04:00 hrs on 20 April, Wasp spotted 11 Wildcats on her deck and launched them to form a combat air patrol. Meanwhile, the Spitfires were warming up their engines and later launched for Malta. When the launch was complete, Wasp retired toward Gibraltar.
Size: 1800px × 1434px
Photo credit: © Niday Picture Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 71, 1942, air, aircraft, april, bombers, calendar, carrier, combat, cover, darkness, deck, dive, engines, fighting, force, gibraltar, glasgow, grumman, hatson, landed, launched, malta, navy, operation, orkney, patrol, planes, pre-dawn, raf, royal, spitfire, spitfires, spotted, squadron, straits, supermarine, torpedo, uss, warming, wasp, wildcat, wildcats
