Fighter Squadron 71 or VF-71 was an aviation unit of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Originally established as VGS-18 on 15 October 1942, it was redesignated VC-18 on 1 March 1943, redesignated as VF-36 on 15 August 1943, redesignated as VF-18 on 5 March 1944, redesignated as VF-7A on 15 November 1946, redesignated as VF-71 on 28 July 1948 and disestablished on 31 March 1959.

Operational history

VGS-18

Escort-Scouting Squadron 18 was established on 15 October 1942. It first operated out of NAS Seattle before moving to

NAS Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. The main portion of the base, Ault Field, is about ...

in December 1942. There it was temporarily attached to Air Wing Six for instruction.

VC-18

Beginning 1 March 1943, the US Navy changed its squadron designations. Among these changes, Escort-Scouting (VGS) squadrons were redesignated Composite (VC) squadrons. The squadron also relocated in March, transferring from Whidbey Island to

NAS San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

. Instruction in carrier operations continued at this time including torpedo bombing practice with the

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

VF-36

By 20 November 1943, the relatively new VF-36 squadron completed carrier qualification aboard . Fighting 36 joined up with Air Group 18 in February 1944 and changed its designation to VF-18, the previous fighter squadron having been detached and its pilots transferred to other squadrons.

VF-18

The squadron embarked aboard after significant delays. Repairs to the ship's damaged rudder took longer than expected and additional mechanical problems developed as soon as it left Pearl Harbor on 28 July 1944. The squadron's combat cruise aboard ''Intrepid'' also ended prematurely. On 25 November 1944 two successive

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attacks caused extensive damage to the ship, requiring it to leave the combat zone for repairs. Because of these occurrences, VF-18 only conducted strikes aboard ''Intrepid'' from the period 6 September – 25 November 1944. They briefly served aboard afterward. In spite of their short tour of duty, "Two-a-Day 18" was credited with 172 enemy planes shot down and produced a number of ace pilots including the high-scoring Cecil E. Harris. The squadron participated in one of the last major air battles against Japanese aviators during strikes against Japanese-held

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

on 12 October 1944, and along with the rest of their air group were the first pilots to strike at Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force in the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

VF-7A

VF-71

VF-71 was assigned to Carrier Air Group Seven (CVG-7) aboard , which was deployed to Korea from 20 May 1952 to 8 January 1953. During this deployment VF-71 participated in the

Attack on the Sui-ho Dam The attack on the Sui-ho Dam was the collective name for a series of mass air attacks during the Korean War on thirteen hydroelectric generating facilities by United Nations Command air forces as part of the North Korean bombing campaign on Jun ...

from 23–7 June 1952. While embarked on as part of Carrier Air Group Six VF-71 participated in Operation Strikeback from 3–12 September 1957. VF-71 was embarked on the for a Mediterranean deployment from 2 September 1958 to 12 March 1959.

Home port assignments

NAS Quonset Point Quonset Point Air National Guard Station is the home base of the Rhode Island Air National Guard 143rd Airlift Wing. Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point was a United States Navy, United States Naval Base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island that was ...

NAS Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mi ...

Aircraft assignment

* F9F-2 Panther * F2H-4 Banshee

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:VF-71 Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy Military units and formations of the United States Navy in World War II