{"id":23654067,"date":"2026-09-20T13:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/david-mccampbell-nine-kills-one-mission-leyte-gulf-1944\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:26:34","slug":"david-mccampbell-nine-kills-one-mission-leyte-gulf-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/david-mccampbell-nine-kills-one-mission-leyte-gulf-1944\/","title":{"rendered":"David McCampbell: Nine Kills in a Single Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Hellcat came aboard the wrong carrier, with two rounds left in six machine guns, and had to be hauled off the arrestor wire by hand because the engine had stopped and there was no fuel left to restart it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The pilot had just shot down nine aeroplanes. It remains the American single-mission record, and it has stood since 24 October 1944.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Commander David McCampbell was thirty-four years old, commanded the air group, and was not supposed to be flying that morning at all &mdash; his Hellcat was only partly fuelled when the radar plot filled up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.75\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> Captain David McCampbell, US Navy (16 January 1910 &ndash; 30 June 1996)<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Record:<\/strong> Nine enemy aircraft shot down in a single mission, 24 October 1944<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Where:<\/strong> The opening phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippines<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, Bureau Number 70143, named <em>Minsi III<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Total victories:<\/strong> 34 &mdash; the US Navy&rsquo;s all-time leading ace and top Hellcat ace<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Command:<\/strong> Air Group 15, the &ldquo;Fabled Fifteen&rdquo;, aboard USS <em>Essex<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Ace in a day:<\/strong> Twice &mdash; 19 June and 24 October 1944; the only American airman to do it<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Award:<\/strong> Medal of Honor, for both actions<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Man Who Nearly Never Flew<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama, and moved to West Palm Beach as a boy. He went to Staunton Military Academy, spent a year at Georgia Tech, and was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1929, graduating in 1933 with a degree in marine engineering.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>And then the Great Depression took his career away before it began. There were not enough commissions for Academy graduates that year, so he was placed in the Naval Reserve and sent home. The US Navy&rsquo;s future ace of aces spent the next year in Atlanta, working in construction and in an aircraft assembly plant. He was finally ordered to active duty on 1 June 1934 and commissioned as an ensign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wx-c0BpFbSU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The US Naval Institute's documentary on McCampbell, which is the authoritative telling and worth the time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>He found his way back, and by February 1944 he was Commander, Air Group 15, running the fighters, bombers and torpedo bombers of a carrier air group from the deck of USS <em>Essex<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Fabled Fifteen<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Air Group 15 flew for six months, from April to November 1944, through the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In that time it destroyed more enemy aircraft and sank more enemy shipping than any other air group in the Pacific war: 315 aircraft shot down and a further 348 destroyed on the ground.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/vf-15-hellcat-crash-landing-uss-essex-1944.jpg\" alt=\"Flight deck crew aboard USS Essex attending a damaged VF-15 Grumman F6F Hellcat after a crash landing\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Flight deck crew aboard USS <em>Essex<\/em> work on a damaged VF-15 Hellcat after a crash landing in 1944. VF-15 was the fighter squadron of McCampbell&rsquo;s Air Group 15. US Navy photo via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>McCampbell's own aircraft changed as the tour went on. He flew an F6F-3 called <em>Monsoon Maiden<\/em>, which anti-aircraft fire retired on 20 May 1944; then an F6F-3 named <em>The Minsi<\/em>, good for ten and a half kills; then an F6F-5, <em>Minsi II<\/em>; and finally <em>Minsi III<\/em>, Bureau Number 70143, in which he scored the last twenty-three and a half of his thirty-four.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Ace in a Day, Twice<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first time was 19 June 1944, during the action American aircrew named the Marianas Turkey Shoot. McCampbell shot down five Yokosuka D4Y dive-bombers in one engagement, then went back up that afternoon and added two Zeros over Guam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The second time is the one that made the record books. On 24 October, at the start of Leyte Gulf, a formation of around sixty Japanese aircraft appeared on radar heading for the fleet. McCampbell launched with a partly filled tank, and he and his wingman went at the formation alone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;During a major Fleet engagement with the enemy on October 24, Commander McCampbell, assisted by but one plane, intercepted and daringly attacked a formation of sixty hostile land-based craft approaching our forces. Fighting desperately but with superb skill against such overwhelming airpower, he shot down nine Japanese planes and, completely disorganizing the enemy group, forced the remainder to abandon the attack before a single aircraft could reach the Fleet.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Medal of Honor citation<\/strong> &mdash; Awarded to Commander David McCampbell, signed Franklin D. Roosevelt<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Seven Zeros and two Nakajima Ki-43 Oscars. Nine aircraft, one pilot, one sortie.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The landing is the detail that sticks. <em>Essex<\/em>'s flight deck was not clear, so he put down aboard USS <em>Langley<\/em> instead. His six guns had two rounds left between them. The Hellcat had to be released from the arrestor wire by hand, because the fuel was entirely gone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What He Thought of the Aeroplane<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>A wingman once described McCampbell as having &ldquo;hands of magic&rdquo;. McCampbell himself, asked about the Hellcat that made it all possible, offered the least romantic assessment imaginable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a satisfying performer, and a stable gun platform.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Captain David McCampbell<\/strong> &mdash; US Navy, on the Grumman F6F Hellcat<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Other Hellcat pilots were less restrained. Lieutenant Commander Hamilton McWhorter, the first man to become a double ace in the type, put the case for the aeroplane more plainly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;We whumped them. Compared to the earlier Wildcat it was more stable and was a beautiful gun platform. My practice gunnery scores went up when we got the Hellcats. It was very maneuverable. It probably had the biggest wing area of any American fighter. It would darn near land itself on the carrier without any help from the pilot.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lieutenant Commander Hamilton McWhorter<\/strong> &mdash; US Navy Hellcat ace, quoted by Defense Media Network<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/grumman-f6f-5-hellcat-minsi-iii-warbird.jpg\" alt=\"A flying Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat painted in the dark blue markings of Minsi III\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A preserved Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat flying in the markings of <em>Minsi III<\/em>. Photo: kitmasterbloke \/ CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the Hellcat Could Do This<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The F6F was not the most elegant fighter of the war, and it was not the fastest. It was the right aeroplane, available in quantity, at the moment it was needed. Grumman built 12,275 of them between June 1942 and November 1945 &mdash; the largest number of fighters ever produced at a single factory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tv7cfuJ3-uI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>A widely watched account of why the Hellcat had the measure of the Zero, pegged to the Philippine Sea action in which McCampbell first became an ace in a day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Hal Andrews, an engineer with the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, gave the type the highest compliment an engineer has available.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It may have been the only fighter that was completely right from the start. They almost didn&rsquo;t need any prototype or testing. They rolled out the first one and it was near perfect.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Hal Andrews<\/strong> &mdash; Engineer, US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Afterwards<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>McCampbell went home in March 1945 and stayed in the Navy for another nineteen years, retiring in 1964 after thirty-one years of service. He commanded the oiler USS <em>Severn<\/em> and then the carrier USS <em>Bon Homme Richard<\/em>, and served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CesZelpa_js\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Public-domain film of American carriers, principally USS <em>Essex<\/em>, shot on 27 December 1944 &mdash; two months after the nine-kill mission.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>He was the third-highest-scoring American ace of the war, and the highest-scoring one to survive it. The passenger terminal at Palm Beach International Airport carries his name. So does a destroyer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The record still stands. Eighty-two years on, no American pilot has shot down nine aircraft in one sortie since &mdash; and given how air combat is now fought, it is difficult to imagine anyone ever will.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#666;font-style:italic;margin-top:28px\">Sources: Wikipedia entry on David McCampbell, including the full Medal of Honor citation; Defense Media Network, &ldquo;F6F Hellcat: Remembered Firsthand&rdquo; by Robert F. Dorr, for the McCampbell, McWhorter and Andrews quotes; US Naval Institute.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who was David McCampbell?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">David McCampbell was a United States Navy captain and naval aviator who became the Navy\u2019s all-time leading flying ace with 34 aerial victories. He commanded Air Group 15 aboard USS Essex in 1944 and received the Medal of Honor. He was born in 1910 and died in 1996.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many aircraft did David McCampbell shoot down in one mission?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Nine. On 24 October 1944, at the opening of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, McCampbell shot down seven Mitsubishi Zeros and two Nakajima Ki-43 Oscars in a single mission. It set the American single-mission aerial combat record, which still stands.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What aircraft did David McCampbell fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">He flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat. During his tour he used at least four: an F6F-3 named Monsoon Maiden, an F6F-3 named The Minsi, an F6F-5 named Minsi II and an F6F-5 named Minsi III, Bureau Number 70143, in which he scored his last 23 and a half victories.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did McCampbell really land with two rounds left?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. After the nine-kill mission he landed aboard USS Langley because the flight deck of USS Essex was not clear. His six machine guns had two rounds remaining, and the Hellcat had to be released manually from the arrestor wire because the fuel was completely exhausted.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did McCampbell receive the Medal of Honor?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">He received it for two actions. On 19 June 1944 he led his fighters against around eighty Japanese aircraft and personally destroyed seven. On 24 October 1944, assisted by a single wingman, he attacked a formation of sixty aircraft and shot down nine, breaking up the attack before any reached the fleet.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was Air Group 15?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Air Group 15, known as the Fabled Fifteen, was the carrier air group McCampbell commanded aboard USS Essex from February to September 1944. In six months of combat it destroyed 315 enemy aircraft in the air and 348 on the ground, more than any other air group in the Pacific war.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was anyone else an ace in a day twice?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No American airman other than McCampbell achieved ace-in-a-day status twice. He did it on 19 June 1944 during the Marianas Turkey Shoot, shooting down five dive-bombers, and again on 24 October 1944 with his record nine victories.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can I fly in a warbird or fighter jet today?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Flying Hellcats are rare and generally museum or collection aircraft. MiGFlug does fly paying passengers in fighter and jet trainer types including the MiG-29, the L-39 Albatros and the Hawker Hunter. Details are on the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">MiGFlug flights and prices page<\/a>.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was David McCampbell?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"David McCampbell was a United States Navy captain and naval aviator who became the Navy\u2019s all-time leading flying ace with 34 aerial victories. He commanded Air Group 15 aboard USS Essex in 1944 and received the Medal of Honor. He was born in 1910 and died in 1996.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many aircraft did David McCampbell shoot down in one mission?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Nine. On 24 October 1944, at the opening of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, McCampbell shot down seven Mitsubishi Zeros and two Nakajima Ki-43 Oscars in a single mission. 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Details are on the MiGFlug flights and prices page.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/thomas-mcguire-38-victories-negros-1945\/\">Thomas McGuire: 38 Kills, and the Turn That Killed Him<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/richard-bong-americas-ace-of-aces-with-40-aerial-victories-in-the-pacific\/\">Richard Bong: America\u2019s Ace of Aces with 40 Aerial Victories<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/saburo-sakai-zero-ace-guadalcanal-wounded-flight\/\">Shot Through the Skull, He Flew On<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hellcat came aboard the wrong carrier, with two rounds left in six machine guns, and had to be hauled off the arrestor wire by hand because the engine had stopped and there was no fuel left to restart it. The pilot had just shot down nine aeroplanes. It remains the American single-mission record, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23653123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23654067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>David McCampbell: Nine Kills in One Mission | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 24 October 1944 David McCampbell shot down nine Japanese aircraft in one mission, landing with two rounds left and an empty tank. 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