 USN Fighting Squadron Seventeen VF-17 Skull & Crossbones
VF-17 Skull & Crossbones Tour of Duty:
From 1942/12 to 1943/03 NAS Norfolk F4U1
From 1943/03 CVE- Charger F4U-1
From 1943/07 CV-17 Bunker Hill F4U-1
From 1943/10/27 to 1943/11/30 Ondonga (N. Georgia) 36xF4U-1
From 1943/11/30 to 1944/01/25 Esp. Santo - F4U-1
From 1944/01/25 to 1944/04 Piva Yoke Field (Bougnaiville)F4U-1
From 1944/04 USA
From 1945/02 to 1945/04/17 CV-12 Hornet II CVG-17 F6F-5
USN Top Fighter Pilot by Squadron and Leading Commanding Officer including Unit Total Kills |
Squadron # Nickname |
Start |
End |
A/C |
Carrier/Base |
Top Ace (kills w/ sqn) |
CO (kills w/ sqn) |
Kills |
# Aces |
VF-17 Jolly Rogers |
Oct-43 |
Mar-44 |
F4U |
Solomons |
Ike Kepford (16) |
Tom Blackburn (11) |
152 |
11 |
VF-17 "Jolly Rogers" Established: 1st Jan, 1943 Deployed from:
USS Hornet (CV-12) Feb - June '45 (2nd tour)
Claims against aircraft in Air:
Tour |
Destroyed |
Probable/div> |
Damaged |
(1st tour) |
152 |
31 |
23 |
(2nd tour) |
161 |
17 |
25 |
Totals |
313 |
48 |
48 |
Aces were: (scores in this squadron only- some scored victories while flying in other groups or squadrons)
(tour 1) |
(tour 2) |
Kepford, I. (16) |
Beebe, M (10.5) |
Blackburn, J (11) |
Harris, T (8) |
Hedrick, R (9) |
Hardy, W (6.5) |
Gile, C (8) |
Watts, C (6.5) |
May, E (8) |
Coats, R (6.333) |
Burriss, H (7.5) |
Cowger, R (6) |
Chenoweth, O (7.5) |
Pool, T (6) |
Cunningham, D (7) |
Winfield, M (6) |
Davenport, M (6.25) |
Humphrey, R (5.333) |
Cordray, P (6) |
Crosby, J (5) |
Mims, R (6) |
Pearce, J (5) |
Streig, F (5) |
Sistrunk, F (5) |
Smith, J (3) |
Wooley, M (3) |
Freeman, D (2) |
Langdon, N (2) |
March, H (2) |
|
(tour 1) |
(tour 2) |
F4U-1 |
F6F-5 |
F6F-5N |
|
F6F-5P |
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 A summary of US Naval History during World War II
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USN Fighting Squadron Seventeen VF-17 Skull & Crossbones