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Naval History and Heritage Command

80-G-179006 Loss of Wake Island, December 1941

Loss of Wake Island, December 1941
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Title: Loss of Wake Island, December 1941
Description: Wrecked Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters of Marine Fighting Squadron 211 (VMF-211), photographed by by the Wake airstrip sometime after the Japanese captured the island on 23 December 1941. There appear to be at least seven F4Fs in this group. The plane in the foreground, 211-F-11 was flown by Captain Henry T. Elrod during the 11 December attacks that sank the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi. Damaged beyond repair at that time, 211-F-11 was subsequently used as a source of parts to keep other planes operational. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Catalog #: 80-G-179006
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