Night Fighter Squadrons in Pacific in WWII

[D Beaumont]

I am trying to get some information about losses rates among night fighter squadrons in the Pacific in 1944-45. My dad flew an F6F in VF(N) 53 on the USS Saratoga and after Iwo Jima he ended up on the USS Bon Homme Richard VF(N) 91. I'm writing a largely autobiographical novel and trying to reconstruct a conversation I had with him in Tripoli, Libya in 1981. I asked him how many people in his squadron were shot down. I've forgotten his answer, but I remember what he said next: "Most of our losses weren't shot down. They got lost and ran out of fuel." I must've looked perplexed because he added: "You took off and while you were aloft, the carrier went on alert. They turned off all the lights and observed radio silence. The ship is moving and you are moving. If the alert lasted too long you ran out of fuel."

If anyone on this forum can help me with advice or answer, I will be most appreciative – Thanks, D Beaumont