The Corsair is a single seat long-range, single-engine inverted gull wing fighter/ground attack monoplane. The Vought F4U-1 was powered with the very latest of engines, the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, a 2,000hp beast driving a large 4.06m three blade propeller. It was designed specifically as a carrier borne fighter. Its unique appearance, performance and speed made it stand out not only as a USN fighter but as a superb Royal Navy aircraft for the FAA.
Purchase of the Corsair by Britain came as an interim measure to fill the gap between the already active Sea Hurricane and the developing Seafire. The FAA needed a powerful monoplane fighter to supersede the outclassed two seat biplane and monoplanes, like the Fairey Fulmar, Albacore, Skua and obsolete Sea Gladiator. Range was an issue as the British aircraft could only operate a short distance from the mother ship. The Corsair certainly had the advantage of range.
The first batch of 95 ‘Birdcage’ F4U-1’s arrived in 1943 and renamed Corsair I by the FAA. The aircraft were delivered to bases on the East Coast of America where squadron training commenced. The new squadrons were then shipped across the Atlantic on escort carriers to begin operations. One modification was the clipping of eight inches off each wing for stowage of the aircraft in the low ceiling hangar decks of the classes of British carriers. None of these initial aircraft was used for combat.
Vought also supplied 510 of the blown canopy F4U-1D designated the Corsair II. A further 430 were supplied by Brewster, delivered to Britain as the Corsair III. 857 Goodyear FG-1A and FG-1D were the last to be delivered, a total of 2,012 Corsairs.
FAA units were trained and equipped in the US at Quonset Point or Brunswick then shipped to the UK. The first of the 19 FAA squadrons to use the Corsair was 1830 NAS in June 1943 and posted to HMS Illustrious early 1944. Corsairs were to serve in both Europe and the Pacific. They were in operational service with the FAA long before the USN and USMC used the type.
It was a powerful aircraft and difficult to land which amounted in many fatal accidents. This issue was never really resolved.
The first engagement came with the attacks on the Tirpitz in April, July and August 1944. Corsairs flying off HMS Victorious and HMS Formidable provided fighter cover for the bombing raids by Barracuda and Tarpon Dive Bombers. The Corsairs did not encounter any opposition so performed strafing runs on the Battleship and its support vessels. From April 1944 onwards to the end of the war eight Corsair squadrons were sent to the Far East with the British Pacific Fleet and flew many support missions, bombing missions and ground attack sorties on Japanese Installations and shipping. The type was superior to all Japanese fighters in the right hands. The SEAC roundels were applied with the removal of the central red disc and later Americanised with the blue/white flashes either side. In early 1945 all the Corsairs were painted an overall Midnight Blue colour.
At the end of the war the remaining Corsairs under Lend Lease Act were to be paid for by the UK. Britain was unable to fund the transaction, so the Corsairs were pushed overboard from their respective carriers just off Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia. Unfortunately, it is too deep for recreational diving.
There are a multitude of surviving aircraft in the US but very few British Corsairs made it back to the UK.
One airworthy FG-1 Corsair IV 88297 is with the fighter collection, Duxford. There is also a static FG-1 Corsair IV on display at the FAA Museum, Yeovilton.
