Elsewhere

    In 1937 the first of 544 Grumman J2F "Ducks" was delivered to the Navy. The J2Fs were utilized in the fleet for anti-submarine operations as well as utility aircraft aboard carriers in a ship-to-shore link. Several were ordered for the Coast Guard as well as a Marine Scouting Squadron to be equipped with machine guns and bomb racks. During World War II, the "Duck" served in a number of operational roles in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. A Coast Guard J2F aircraft played an instrumental part in the capture of a secret German radio station in Greenland while J2Fs fitted with depth charges were credited with damaging at least two German submarines in the Atlantic. In the Pacific, a J2F on a photo reconnaissance mission was credited with damaging two Japanese "Zero" fighters and rescued many downed pilots at sea.
The Grumman JF/J2F Duck is a small utility amphibian with a center float, wing floats and retractable landing gear. It was derived from the XJF-1, a Grumman amphibian that flew for the first time in May 1933.  Later, Grumman built a variety of JF- and J2F- series aircraft.  They were used primarily by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, before and during World War II for photography, target-towing, scouting and rescue work.  A total of over 600 aircraft of all versions were produced.
     In 1948, the USAF acquired eight surplus Navy J2F-6s for air-sea rescue work. Five were designated OA-12s and sent to Alaska for duty with the 10th Air Rescue Squadron (the other three disappeared from the records and apparently went to an allied country under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program).