"Wildcat" Bag

With the recent discovery of the wreck of USS Lexington (CV-2) in the depths of the Coral Sea in March 2018, a large number of wrecked aircraft from the embarked air group were spotted near the carrier.

Among them was an F4F-3 Wildcat on which the “Felix the Cat” insignia was painted, which at first glance seemed out of place. It is true that Fighting Squadron (VF) 3 had flown from the carrier’s deck earlier in the Second World War, but at the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 and 8 May 1942, VF-3 was land-based in Hawaii.

However, a closer examination of historical records reveals that before embarking on Lexington on 15 April 1942 for what would be the ship’s final cruise, VF-2 took possession of nineteen of VF-3’s Wildcats for the upcoming campaign.

In addition, twelve pilots from the “Felix the Cat” squadron were transferred to VF-2. As part of organizing the squadron’s aircraft, maintenance personnel reassigned all of them new side numbers. Under the pressure of events, no effort was made to paint over the markings the VF-3 aircraft already carried, including the squadron insignia, the Japanese “Rising Sun” flags indicating air-to-air kills, and the bomb silhouettes representing air-to-ground attacks.

One of the former VF-3 aircraft was given the side number F-5 and assigned to Lt. Albert O. Vorse Jr., who had fought with the “Felix the Cat” squadron. This is the aircraft that inspired our jacket.