| The
Battle of Midway June 3 - 6, 1942 |
READER CONTRIBUTIONS BATTLE OF MIDWAY MODELS: BY JOHN TATE |
LCDR John S. Thach's
Grumman F4F-4 "Wildcat"
Commander, Fighting Three
By John Tate
This Tamiya 1/48th scale Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat has been built to depict the plane flown by LCDR John S. "Jimmy" Thach while flying a strike escort mission on June 4, 1942. Thach, flying F-23 (BuNo 5093), along with five other F4F-4s from Fighting Three, was escorting Yorktown's strike against the Kido Butai, consisting of 17 SBD-3s of Bombing Three (led by LCDR Maxwell F. Leslie) and 12 TBD-1s from Torpedo Three (led by LCDR Lance E. "Lem" Massey).