Ducks on the Pond by Rick Herter

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the US Navy's front line fighter of the day was the Grumman F4F Wildcat. The tough, stubbly little fighter wasn’t the prettiest aircraft in the fleet. However, in the hands of a skilled Navy or Marine Corps pilot, the Wildcat could not only hold its own over the faster and more nimble Japanese Zero, but could achieve aerial victories at a surprising rate. The Wildcat made Aces out of many American pilots and WWII’s first Congressional Medal of Honor was given (posthumously) to Wildcat pilot Butch O’Hare.

As the war dragged on, Grumman built the follow on fighter to the Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat. But while more and more Hellcats joined the fleet, Wildcats continued to serve as a fighter aircraft and began to be used to drop bombs on Japanese targets. This painting, portrays an F4F Wildcat joining other Navy aircraft in an attack on Japanese shipping and ground targets.