![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]](/images/ai/20230224/55e53069f3d61.jpg)
Show Original Black and White Photograph | Show WW2DB Colorized Version
| Historical Information | ||||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||
| WW2-Era Location Name | Pacific Ocean | |||||||||||
| Date | 19 Jun 1944 | |||||||||||
| Photographer | Unknown | |||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||
| Colorized Date | 24 Feb 2023 | |||||||||||
| Source Information | ||||||||||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States Navy | |||||||||||
| Identification Code | BuAer 236841 | |||||||||||
| Related Content | ||||||||||||
| More on... |
| |||||||||||
| Photos on Same Day | 19 Jun 1944 | |||||||||||
| Licensing Information | ||||||||||||
| 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". Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
|||||||||||
| Metadata | ||||||||||||
| Added By | David Stubblebine | |||||||||||
| Photo Size | 1,899 x 1,536 pixels | |||||||||||
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Please help us spread the word: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Visitor Submitted Comments
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
Search WW2DB
Map
Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap
Pacific Ocean
Latitude-Longitude:
14.8500, 143.2083
Random Photograph
Current Site Statistics
- » 1,171 biographies
- » 337 events
- » 44,911 timeline entries
- » 1,244 ships
- » 350 aircraft models
- » 207 vehicle models
- » 376 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 261 facilities
- » 470 book reviews
- » 28,520 photos
- » 365 maps
Famous WW2 Quote
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"George Patton, 31 May 1944
Support Us
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!
Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!
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.