Barrett Tillman. Wildcat Aces of World War 2 . , Osprey Publishing , 1995.

The Wildcat was a leading-edge aircraft in its day. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-76 radial engine, the F4F-3 was only the third monoplane to enter fleet service in the US Navy. The -3A model, produced in smaller numbers, had the R-1830-90 engine with a single-stage, two-speed, supercharger. Both engines were rated at 1200 horsepower and both aircraft models had 'stiff (non-folding) wings bearing four Browning 50 cal machine guns. At the time of Pearl Harbor the Navy had seven carriers in commission, three of which were assigned to the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. In fact, on 7 December USS Lexington (CV-2) was ferrying Marine Corps scout-bombers to Midway while Enterprise (CV-6) had just delivered a Marine fighter squadron to Wake Island. Saratoga (CV-3), meanwhile, was embarking her air group in San Diego, California, while also loading another Marine fighter unit.