The F4F-3 Wildcat was Grumman’s first monoplane fighter totally outclassed by the Mitsubishi Zero. It was inferior to the Zero in speed, rate of climb and maneuverability, its performance was mediocre at best.
The F4F-4 was the first version produced in substantial numbers and made its inaugural flight on April 14, 1941.
As to Pearl harbor, you explain it:
By Jacqui Goddard in Miami
8:00AM GMT 04 Dec 2011
It was described by President Franklin D.Roosevelt as “a date that will live in infamy”, a day on which the slaughter of 2,400 US troops drew America into Second World War and changed the course of history.
Now, on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s devastating bombardment of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, evidence has emerged showing that President Franklin D.Roosevelt was warned three days before the attack that the Japanese empire was eyeing up Hawaii with a view to “open conflict.”
The information, contained in a declassified memorandum from the Office of Naval Intelligence, adds to proof that Washington dismissed red flags signalling that mass bloodshed was looming and war was imminent.
“In anticipation of possible open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii,” stated the 26-page memo.
Dated December 4, 1941, marked as confidential, and entitled “Japanese intelligence and propaganda in the United States,” it flagged up Japan’s surveillance of Hawaii under a section headlined “Methods of Operation and Points of Attack.”
The memo, now held at the Franklin D.Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in upstate New York, has sat unpublicised since its declassification 26 years ago. Its contents are revealed by historian Craig Shirley in his new book “December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World.”