pemcg

From an aircraft detail point of view it's interesting to see the slight differences in F6F-3 variants - some have the gun fairings and lower cowling flaps from the early production F6F-3s.

I think you might be right, it does look like its missing. It's difficult to judge the perspective but it looks like the aircraft is just above the 'V' on the deck just aft of the rear elevator (see the aerial photo of the ship), in which case I'd give the poor guy a fighting chance of making it at least into the barriers as I can't see a tail hook. My bet is still on battle damage as I don't think they used to "bounce" quite that well.

Here are a couple of gun camera pictures showing how low they used to get: Brave young men! Cheers, pemcg

I had always assumed that this was battle damage, although I have no way of confirming. The Hellcats were used quite extensively in a ground attack fighter-bomber role especially during Operation "DRAGOON" in southern France, and used to pick up quite a bit of flak/AA damage. I recall my father saying that the Hellcats were very popular with pilots because of their ability to absorb quite a bit of damage and still make it back, and also their relative ease/straightforwardness of landing. Just cut the power at the appropriate time and "bang" you're down he used to say. Apparently one of the least popular FAA fighters was the Seafire which was notoriously difficult to land with its narrow undercarriage, and also its tendency to glide over the deck and not catch the wire. Cheers pemcg

Thanks. The visit of the King was after the Tirpitz attacks I believe. I'm amazed at the guys lying down beside the wheels waiting to pull the chocks away in this picture:

Hi I happened to noticed that over the past few years some people have been asking for photographs of Royal Naval F6F Hellcats. My father was radar officer aboard HMS Emperor from Sept '43 until Jan '45, and he kept a small collection of photographs from his Naval career. I've scanned and cleaned most of the HMS Emperor ones, which are here if anyone is interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/167119724@N05/albums/72157707228517651 Hope this helps somebody. Cheers, pemcg