Grumman F4F-4 'Wildcat' Fighter (Bureau #5171), of Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3) At Naval Air Station, Kaneohe, Oahu, on May 29, 1942, with ground crewmen folding the starboard wing. On June 4, 1942, in the Battle of Midway, this plane was flown by Lieutenant Commander John S. Thach, VF-3's Commanding Officer, during the afternoon combat air patrol defending USS Yorktown (CV-5), wherein Thach probably shot down Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga, leader of the attacking Japanese torpedo planes. (Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the US National Archives.)
