Royal Navy carrier at Malta with Fairey Barrcuda's and a Grumman Hellcat on deck. The presence of the Hellcat suggests that this is during WW2 as they were almost all returned to the US or dumped overboard after the end of hostilities.
Royal Navy carrier at Malta with Fairey Barrcuda's and a Grumman Hellcat on deck. The presence of the Hellcat suggests that this is during WW2 as they were almost all returned to the US or dumped overboard after the end of hostilities.
Yes the Hellcats did see ETO action. The Fleet Air Arm credits them with 52 kills to go with the 6,000+ the Pacific Theatre US Navy and BPF ones made.
As King George didn't pass away until 1952, I'd suggest a more likely candidate for half mast flags would be the death of US President Roosevelt in April 1945 which would match up with a carrier stopping at Malta on the way to join the British Pacific Fleet.
HMS Ocean was deployed to the Mediterranean fleet in December of 1945 and had a temporary detachment of Hellcat Night Fighters from 784 NAS on her at the time. So that time period would work.
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