An elated fighter pilot, Alexander Vraciu, showing how many enemy planes he just shot down, his share in the Marianas Turkey Shoot. Fighting Squadron VF-16 aboard USS Lexington (Essex-class), 19 Jun 1944 [Colorized by WW2DB]

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Caption     An elated fighter pilot, Alexander Vraciu, showing how many enemy planes he just shot down, his share in the Marianas Turkey Shoot. Fighting Squadron VF-16 aboard USS Lexington (Essex-class), 19 Jun 1944 [Colorized by WW2DB] ww2dbase
Colorization Note   This photograph was originally a black and white photograph; the colorized version presented here was a derivative work by WW2DB. The colors used in this version were speculative, and could be significantly different from the real colors.

Processed using Adobe Photoshop Image Processor, with default neural filter, selecting "None" as the profile.

View the original black and white photograph at its own permanent page.
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States Navy
Identification Code   BuAer 236841
More on...   
F6F Hellcat   Main article  Photos  
Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Lexington (Essex-class)   Main article  Photos  
Photo Size 1,899 x 1,536 pixels
Photos on Same Day 19 Jun 1944
Photos at Same Place Pacific Ocean
Added By David Stubblebine
Colorized Date 24 Feb 2023
Licensing  Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
31 Aug 2015 09:59:06 PM

Alexander Vraciu was already an Ace before this date with nine aerial kills. His six kills during the Marianas Turkey Shoot is remarkable enough but it rises to the level of amazing when considering his Hellcat fighter had a malfunctioning supercharger but he still shot down those six airplanes within an eight minute period and only fired 360 rounds of ammunition, which means he averaged machine gun bursts of less than five seconds for each plane he downed. All six planes were Yokosuka D4Y ‘Judy’ dive bombers. Vraciu was the US Navy’s leading Ace for about a four month period and finished the war with 19 kills, tied for fourth among Navy pilots.

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Lat/Long 14.8500, 143.2083
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