Date:	Sunday 23 April 1944
Time:	17:45
Type:	Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
Owner/operator:	VF-31 US Navy
Registration:	40254
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Off New Guinea -   Papua New Guinea
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	USS Cabot
Destination airport:

Narrative:
From 21 to 25 April 1944 VF-31 aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Cabot flew operations to support the Allied landing in Hollandia, New Guinea.

At 1531 hrs on the 23rd the Cobat launched 20 Hellcats of VF-31 and 9 TBM of VT-31, all except two fighters armed with bombs to attack Wakde airfield, west of Hollandia. Here they ran into opposition from ground AA guns and the F6F-3 Buno 40254 of Lt. John Wirth of VF-31 (then an ace with 5 victories, and who later brought his score to 14) was hit in the engine by a small caliber projectile. He was able to make it back to the Task Force and upon arrival his engine seemed to be running better. He decided to try to land aboard the Cabot. However, when he lost altitude the engine was running so roughly it was impssible to make a carrier landing, so he made a water landing at around 1745 hrs near the USS Iowa, one of the two battleships in TG 58.2. He was picked up uninjured a few minutes later by the Destroyer USS Hull who demanded 20 gallons of ice cream from Cabot for his return the next day.

http://www.vf31.com/sorties/new_guinea.html
http://www.vf31.com/pilots/wirth.html
USS Cabot War Diary, April 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/274230473)
USS CAbot Action Report, Hollandia Area Air Strikes, 21-23 April 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/274220128)
USS Hull War Diary, April 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/274204064)
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLApr44.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Sep-2017 12:45	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
03-Jul-2020 15:10	Digger	Updated [Operator, Operator]
30-Nov-2021 00:30	Ron Averes	Updated [Country]