The Wildcat had been the key shipboard fighter when the US joined WWII. The F4F had been barrel-shaped, with angular wingtips and rudder and a narrow-track undercarriage. The F4F had been well-armed and reliable, and was a natural shipboard aircraft, most likely easier to land on a carrier deck than on land. The F4F never had a operational rate limitation.
The F4F had hydraulic wing folding,the usa Navy instructions totaled 1169 F4F-4s. It had replaced the F4F-3 by August 1942.