Martlet Mk I

The French order for a modified export version of the early F4F-3 production run, the G-36A, had not been delivered by the time that country capitulated to the German Blitzkrieg.

Delivery was instead diverted to the Royal Navy where it would be named the Martlet Mk I.

The French had sought some refinements to the G-36 design: A reflector gunsight was fitted and, according to FAA Observer David Brown, some armour and fuel tank protection was installed in this variant. The USN would not get the reflector site on its Wildcats until 1941, nor armour until 1942.

Seven out of France's 91 production run had already been completed. These were retrofitted to RN standards, including switching out the French radio and throttle. The armament was also changed. The engine cowled guns were dropped and four .50cal (12.7mm) MG fitted in each wing.

The remainder would be completed to the RN's modified specification.

The first Martlet I was delivered to the FAA on July 27,1940, one month before the first F4F-3 was delivered to the US Navy.

Only 81 of the aircraft would reach the United Kingdom by the end of 1940. Ten would be lost when the cargo ship carrying them was sunk.

FAA pilot Henry 'Hank' Adlam wrote of his first encounter with the Martlet:

The reader may be surprised that the wheels had to be wound up and down manually by a handle at the lower right of the cockpit. This may sound difficult but the trick was to keep the flying speed down by climbing reasonably steeply away on take-off from the deck, thus with less wind resistance enabling the pilot to get the wheels up easily and quickly.

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown also noted some quirks with the fresh deliveries:

The Martlets we were equipped with had only a lap strap and no shoulder straps as safety harness, so each pilot was instructed to fly his aircraft to Croydon for the modification to full safety harness to be fitted.

Once they arrived, the FAA put the heavily hyped little fighter to the test.

FAA Observer David Brown stated in his book "Carrier Fighters":

The Royal Navy again found that the performance was lower than that claimed ... but the ability to reach 305mph at 15,000ft and about 285mph at sea level meant that its Martlet was the fastes fighter available until mid-1941.

Commander 'Mike' Crosley, who flew Hurricanes and Seafires, nevertheless encountered the Martlet and took a professional interest in its behaviour. As he states in "They Gave me a Seafire":