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World War Two
Naval Aviation Statistics

Sorties by Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft

Action against enemy aircraft, land targets and surface ships
Year Carrier Based Land Based Total
1941-42 2673 2604 5277
1943 5129 16145 21274
1944 68807 66915 135722
1945 70166 51316 121482
Total 146775 136080 283755

Aircraft Destroyed in Aerial Combat
Type of
Operation
and Year

Enemy Aircraft Destroyed

 Navy-
Marine
Corps
losses		 Ratio of
 enemy
 planes
 shot down
to Navy-
Marine Corps
losses
Fighters Bombers Total

Carrier Based
1941-42 179 203 382 114 3.4 : 1
1943 169 131 300 34 8.8 : 1
1944 2396 900 3296 184 17.9 : 1
1945 1736 763 2499 120 20.8 : 1
Total 4480 1997 6477 452 14.3 : 1

Land Based
1941-42 283 193 476 152 3.1 : 1
1943 762 177 939 199 4.7 : 1
1944 635 93 728 77 9.5 : 1
1945 367 295 662 26 25.5 : 1
Total 2047 758 2805 454 6.2 : 1

Total, All Navy and Marine
1941-42 462 396 858 266 3.2 : 1
1943 931 308 1239 233 5.3 : 1
1944 3031 993 4024 261 15.4 : 1
1945 6527 1058 3161 146 21.6 : 1

Grand Total

 6527 2755 9282 906 10.2 : 1

Notes:
Land based combat in 1943 was spread evenly throughout the year and involved F4F's, F4U's and F6F's while carrier based combat was concentrated principally in the last three months and involved largely F6F's.  Land based combat in 1944 was principally in the Solomons in January and February, while carrier activity was spread throughout the year.  Thus the apparent combat superiority of carrier based planes may be at least partly explained by the less favorable conditions prevailing and by the inferior plane types available at the time of the heaviest land based operations. 


Total Enemy Aircraft Destroyed by Navy-Marine Corps Planes
 

By Carrier Planes

By Land Based Planes

  
Year In
Aerial
Combat		 On
Ground
Water
or
Carrier		 Total Year In
Aerial
Combat		 On
Ground
Water
or
Carrier		 Total Grand
Total
1941-42 382 290 672 1941-42 476 8 484 1156
1943 300 150 450 1943 939 69 1008 1458
1944 3296 2740 6036 1944 728 127 855 6891
1945 2409 2713 5212 1945 662 124 786 5998
Total 6477 5803 12370 Total 2805 328 3133 15503


Aerial Combat Record by Principal US Naval Aircraft

Includes Navy and Marine Corps Carrier Based and Land Based Aircraft

Model Year Enemy
Aircraft
Destroyed
in Combat		 Losses to
Enemy
Aircraft
in Combat		 Ratio of
Enemy
Losses
to Navy-
Marine Corps
F4F Wildcat 1941-42 717 122 5.9 : 1
1943 188 56 3.4 : 1
1944 235 12 19.6 : 1
1945 187 1 187.0 : 1
Total F4F Wildcat   1327 191 6.9 : 1
F4U Corsair
includes FG		 1943 636 94 6.8 : 1
1944 491 49 10.0 : 1
1945 1008 46 21.9 : 1
Total F4U/FG Corsair   2135 189 11.3 : 1
F6F Hellcat 1943 320 35 9.1 : 1
1944 3040 155 19.6 : 1
1945 1796 80 22.5 : 1
Total F6F Hellcat   5156 270 10.1 : 1
PB4Y Liberator
and Liberator		 1943 39 10 3.9 : 1
1944 131 8 16.4 : 1
1945 134 7 19.1 : 1
Total PB4Y Liberator   304 25 12.2 : 1

Aircraft Production by Nation (All Types)
  1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
U.S. 2,141 6,086 19,433 47,836 85,898 96,318 46,001 303,713
Britain 7,940 15,049  20,094  23,672 26,263 26,461 12,070 131,549
U.S.S.R.  10,382  10,565 15,737  25,436 34,900 40,300  20,900  158,220
Germany 8,295 10,826 12,401  15,409  24,807  40,593 7,540 119.871
Japan 4,467 4,768 5,088 8,861 16,693 28,180 8,263  76,320
 

Sources:

1) Office of Public Information, United States Navy
2) Department of Naval Intelligence, United States Navy, Report, 1945