[Illustration: MARTIN PBM _MARINER_ NAVY PATROL BOMBER AND TRANSPORT PLANE.]
When Japan struck we had eleven aircraft carriers under construction, and two thousand new planes went into service for the Navy. Great training stations were being put into service to increase the Navy’s flying personnel to over 15,000 men.
A new patrol bomber, the long-range Martin PBM-1 _Mariner_, went into service for the Navy in 1941. It had a wingspan of 118 feet and a length of 77 feet 2 inches. It was powerfully armed and carried a heavy load of bombs. It was capable of long range and was able to carry out extensive over-ocean patrols without returning to its base. Ample living accommodations were provided for its eleven-man crew. In addition to its duties as an anti-submarine patrol and long-range bomber, the _Mariner_ was used as a Navy transport.
The Vought F4U-1 _Corsair_ fighters began to go into service in the Pacific soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The _Corsair_ was a single-place fighter of unusual design. Its wing had the shape of an inverted gull wing. This design allowed clearance for the _Corsair’s_ 13-foot, 4-inch propeller. A straight wing would have needed a dangerously high landing gear to provide clearance for such a large propeller. Originally designed for carrier use, the 2,000-horsepower, 400-mile-an-hour _Corsair_ was adopted for land-based operations by the United States Marine Corps. Marine Corps aviators used the _Corsair_ with deadly effect against the Japs from Guadalcanal on. Navy pilots flew the _Corsair_ as a night-fighter to put a stop to the Jap’s habit of bombing our Pacific airfields at night.
[Illustration: VOUGHT OS2U _KINGFISHER_ OBSERVATION SCOUT PLANE.]
The Navy’s newest torpedo plane, the Grumman TBF _Avenger_, first appeared in the battle off Midway. The big _Avenger_ had a speed of 270 miles per hour, a range of 1,400 miles, and carried a 2,000-pound bomb load or a full-sized torpedo concealed in its fuselage. The famous Torpedo Squadron 8, in fourteen weeks sank as many Jap warships including two aircraft carriers and one battleship; bombed one heavy cruiser, one light cruiser, and a number of smaller ships.
_Avengers_ helped to pave the way for the establishment of bases in the Pacific. _Corsairs_, used as the Navy’s first night-fighters, broke up Japanese night bombings of the newly won island bases and allowed our hard-worked men to rest at night.