How many planes were there in a World War 2 Hellcat squadron? 
Preferably squadrons based in Corsica.

Hello nreamer,

    This has proved a tricky one - the previous comment doesn't
actually provide the specific details given concerning the number of
aircraft in a squadron but it's pretty hard to find this specific
information on the Web. I tried various strategies for searching the
Web but couldn't come up with much and in the end turned to Google
Groups (which indexes Usenet discussion groups).

With the Hellcat being a predominantly carrier-based fighter, there
are few references to the aircraft operating directly from a land-base
such as Corsica, but I did find the following message:

(Sorry about the horrendously long URL)

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=38A0D2B1.7E57B7FD%40erols.com&rnum=8&prev=/groups%3Fq%3DF6Fs%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bsquadron%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D38A0D2B1.7E57B7FD%2540erols.com%26rnum%3D8

This contains the following reference:

"For the USN, the only F6F action over Europe transpired during the
invasion of southern France in August 1944.  USS TULAGI with VOF-1
(F6F-5's),  USS KASAAN BAY embarking VF-74 (F6F-5's), and a 7 plane
night fighter detachment from VF-74 operating F6F-3N's out of Ajaccio
on
the island of Corsica were the USN fighters involved.  On the day of
the
invasion, 15 August, VF-74 flew 60 sorties,  VOF-1, 40 sorties, all
ground support missions."

The F6F is the Hellcat and the F6F-3N was a version of it modified for
night-fighting. VF-74 is a squadron designation, their nick-name was
the 'Be-Devilers' and call-sign was 'Devil'.

So this shows 7 hellcats from a squadron operating out of Corsica, but
I figured this was very likely only a part of the squadron so I
widened the search to squadron size in general and found a further
reference (which is also interesting because it relates to former
President George Bush's wartime flying experience):

This is at the following address

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=hellcats+in+our++squadron&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=3CEC0FF8.AB8A2A9C%40att.net&rnum=5

and contains this reference:

"An aircraft carrier the size of San Jacinto could only hold nine TBM
Avengers for VT-51 and 24 F6F Hellcats for VF-51. "

So this perhaps suggests 24 hellcats in a standard squadron (Vf-51
being another squadron). However, I did find another reference which
suggests that the size of a squadron was liable to change: (The
reference I've given is from the google cache and therefore likely to
expire shortly - I couldn't find a link to an archive of the story):

http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:MmS-5FSjQWwC:www.thereminder.com/innews/innewsfeature.html+size++squadron+hellcats&hl=en&start=4&ie=UTF-8

"The air group now had four squadrons, the dive bombers, the torpedo
bombers, and two squadrons of F6Fs, one designated VBF-12 and one
VF-12. Hayes explains that splitting the Hellcats into two squadrons
was a decision based on the unwieldy size of a single squadron with
too many pilots and aircraft"

To summarize: 7 Hellcats from a single squadron were involved in the
only Hellcat action in Europe and they flew from Ajaccio, Corsica.
Another squadron contained 24 Hellcats in total but it seems that
squadron size, in general, could vary.

Further Links

Grumman F6F-3N 'Hellcat' 
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/grumman/f6f-3n.htm

VF-74 Be-Devilers
http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-squadron-vf074.htm

VF-74 Squadron History
http://www.topedge.com/alley/squadron/lant/vf74hist.htm

Google Groups
http://groups.google.com



Cheers (Hope this is what you need to know),
                         
mikepake-ga

Search Strategy:
Searched for "F6Fs in the squadron", "Hellcats in our squadron" and
"F6Fs Corsica" all on Google Groups. Also "F6F-3N" and "size squadron
hellcats" on Google.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair 

Click below to see the Total Planes of "F6F Hellcat" in world war 2 in
 Table format

http://www.acepilots.com/planes/air_wins.html

Description of above Link:
This table shows in the above link aerial combat victories credited to
U.S. Navy fighter planes (Wildcat, Hellcat, and Corsair) in the
Pacific during World War Two. It includes both Marine Corps and U.S.
Navy credits. The table displays the victories for land-based and
carrier-based aircraft, by month of the war.

For more source check the sites listed below 

http://membres.lycos.fr/historicair/art3us.htm


Search terms used: 

Planes in Hellcat squadron
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&q=Planes+in+Hellcat+squadron&btnG=Google+Search

Hope this answers your question! 
 
Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question, if you require
more information, please clarify the question, or if you find this
answer satisfactory, please feel free to rate it. Thank you!

iffi-ga

iffi, I think you accidently posted your answer in the wrong spot! I'm
placing on a comment so it updates in your researcher screen and
you'll see this.

xemion-ga ~ Google Researcher