Allied reconnaissance photos of the near completed DKM Graf Zeppelin revealed a stubby familiar silhouette on her flight deck.
The squared off wings and narrow track landing gear could be, inexplicably, non other than the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat.
Photographed in late fall 1944, the mystery Grumman appeared to have been wearing the Luftwaffe splinter camouflage scheme shared by her round-engined antagonist, the Focke-Wulf FW-190 A-3.
Post war investigation revealed that it was a Wildcat indeed, but in the guise of a Martlet IV. Formerly of royal Navy 842 squadron aboard CVE HMS Fencer. Royal Navy p/o Chesley became disoriented in fog escorting a harbor mining mission off Frohavet Norway, and ran low on fuel. Chesley escaped with help from Norwegian partisans. Returning to England after wars end, with his lovely new wife Kiersten.
Having been ditched in the shallows near the coast, the Wildcat was recovered by the Kriegsmarine and transported to Rechlin Aerodrome for repair, evaluation and flight test. It was first believed to have been an F6F Hellcat. Quite a prize!
Chesley's water-logged former mount remained in Nazi hands. Fitted with a BMW 801 C-2 engine, the 200-some horsepower increase gave the now nicknamed Wildwulf agility before not known. In the hands of a skilled pilot, the doughty little fighter was a near match for older Messerschmitt fighters. Transferred back to the Deutches Kriegsmarine, the now designated F4Fw-190E Wildwulf was used for testing arresting gear, deck handling training, and testing British style catapult gear. The wing-fold mechanism eventually became the inspiration for the wing-fold on the Junkers Ju-87-T Stuka. The FW190A-9T also benefitted from the F4Fw-190E’s arresting hook design. The Focke-Wulf fighter's wide track gear & durable structure making it more desirable, than the rather delicate BT-109T, for carrier service.
Our little Grumman's story ends, tragically, in April 1945. As the "Graf Z" sailed into the Baltic to escape onrushing Soviet hordes, a "cold' catapult shot caused the Wildwulf to cross the end of the forward flight deck without enough airspeed for flight. Last seen, low on the water, the Wildwulf’s BMW engine howled in over boost. Canopy back, the pilot frantically walking his rudder to coax her into the air, the F4Fw-190E succumbed to the laws of physics, to end, one final time in a watery grave.
This is how the F4Fw-190E Wildwulf would have appeared late fall, 1944, aboard DKM Graf Zeppelin.
And here it is with the rest of my 72nd Wildcats.
Ok, about the model. Its built from the 1/72 Academy kit. I've added a resin engine, resin cockpit, and resin wheels. I also added PE details throughout, including flaps. The prop and spinner came from an Academy Fw-190 kit. Decals came from the Hobby boss Fw-190 kit.
