Hobby Master Archive

Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat “Death & Destruction” Bu.No 72534 White 115 belonged to VF-83 onboard the USS Essex that between March 23 and May 28, 1945 was assigned to assist in the invasion of Okinawa. F6F-5 “Death & Destruction” had mostly been shared by three pilots, McPherson, Kingston and Ward but it was on May 4, 1945 when Task Force 58 was attacked by a concentration of Kamikaze that Ward downed three Alf’s (Kawanishi E7K) and an Oscar (Nakajima Ki-43). All three of these pilots would achieve ACE status.