VF-17 Jolly Rogers
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VF-17 Jolly Rogers
Fighter Squadron 61 (VF-61), the ''Jolly Rogers'', was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as VF-17 on 1 January 1943, it was redesignated as VF-5B on 15 November 1946, redesignated as VF-61 on 28 July 1948 it was disestablished on 15 April 1959. It was the first navy squadron to be designated VF-17. Operational history World War II VF-17 was established on 1 January 1943, at NAS Norfolk, with Lieutenant Commander John T. "Tommy" Blackburn as its commander. It was the second Navy fighter squadron to receive the F4U-1 Corsair and the most successful of them all. Blackburn wanted a squadron insignia that had a piratical theme to it to match the F4U's Corsair designation; hence the skull and crossbones were chosen. The original design was developed by Harry Hollmeyer who became an ace pilot. The squadron helped during the development of the F4U Corsair resulting in some design changes, resulting in the F4U-1A. Unfortunately, the Navy still deemed t ...
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United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 allies or partner nations of the United States as of 2015. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage (4,635,628 tonnes as of 2019) and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the United States Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 2,623 operational aircraft . The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revo ...
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F8F Bearcat
The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other nations. It was Grumman Aircraft's last piston engined fighter aircraft. Modified versions of the Bearcat have broken speed records for piston-engined aircraft. Today, the Bearcat is popular among warbird owners and air racers. Design and development Concept The Bearcat concept began during a meeting between Battle of Midway veteran F4F Wildcat pilots and Grumman Vice President Jake Swirbul at Pearl Harbor on 23 June 1942. At the meeting, Lieutenant Commander Jimmie Thach emphasized one of the most important requirements in a good fighter plane was "climb rate". Climb performance is strongly related to the power-to-weight ratio, and is maximized by wrapping the smallest and lightest possible airframe around the most powerful available e ...
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List Of Inactive United States Navy Aircraft Squadrons
There are hundreds of US Navy aircraft squadrons which are not currently active dating back to before World War II (the U.S. Navy operated aircraft prior to World War I, but it did not organize them in squadrons until after that war). To be more accurate: there are hundreds of former U.S. Navy aircraft squadrons which have been disestablished and no longer exist and there are approximately 40 or so U.S. Navy aircraft squadrons which have been deactivated and which currently exist only "on paper" in an inactive status. These disestablished and/or deactivated squadrons are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "decommissioned" squadrons, but proper usage prior to 1998, was that squadrons were "established" and "disestablished" and after 1998, squadrons are "established", "deactivated" and sometimes "reactivated". It has never been correct to refer to U.S. Navy aircraft squadrons as being "commissioned" and "decommissioned", ships are commissioned and decommissioned, U.S. Navy aircr ...
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History Of The United States Navy
The history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that was notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy" the result of a modernization effort that began in the 1880s and made it the largest in the world by 1943. The United States Navy claims October 13, 1775 as the date of its official establishment, when the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Navy. With the end of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy was disbanded. Under the Presidency of John Adams, merchant shipping came under threat while in the Mediterranean by Barbary pirates from four North African States. This led to the Naval Act of 1794, which created a permanent standing U.S. Navy. The original six frigates were authorized as part of the Act. Over the next 20 years, the Navy fought the French Republic Navy in the Quasi-War (1798â ...
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NAS Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 million in plant replacement value. The total Navy community (which includes spouses) count for around 20.000 people. The base is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic and is the headquarters of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic and Carrier Air Wing 1, Carrier Air Wings 1, Carrier Air Wing Three, 3, Carrier Air Wing Seven, 7 and Carrier Air Wing Eight, 8. As home to all East Coast strike fighter jet squadrons, the Naval Air Station is classified as a master jet base. The airfield is known as Apollo Soucek Field, named after Lieutenant (later Admiral) Apollo Soucek, a Navy test pilot who set the global altitude record in 1930 by flying a Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Curtiss ''"Hawk"'' biplane to an altitude of 43,166 feet. ...
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VFA-103
Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (VFA-103), nicknamed the Jolly Rogers, is an aviation unit of the United States Navy established in 1952. VFA-103 flies the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, F/A-18F Super Hornet and is based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, Virginia (US). The squadron's radio callsign is ''Victory'' and it is assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seven. Insignia and nicknames The original VF-103 squadron insignia was a cloverleaf, and the aircraft tailfins had a horizontal yellow arrow outlined in black. Later a stylized aircraft darting through the leaf was added, along with a baseball bat. The baseball bat stemmed from an early skipper who often carried one with him. In 1991, VF-103's aircraft used the squadron insignia for tail-art, in place of the bold arrow. When the ''Sluggers'' became the ''Jolly Rogers'' following the disestablishment of VF-84 (1955-95), they adopted the famous white skull-and-crossbones. The ''Jolly Rogers'' have always displayed some of the most ...
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VF-84 (1955-95)
Fighter Squadron 84 or VF-84 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. Originally established on 1 May 1944, it was disestablished on 8 October 1945. It was the first US Navy squadron to be designated as VF-84. Operational history VF-84 flew F4U Corsairs and was formed around a nucleus of veterans of VF-17, the ''Jolly Rogers''. The new squadron's commanding officer was Lt. Cdr. Roger R.Hedrick, former executive officer of VF-17. VF-84 was assigned to the , which was the former home of VF-17. As part of Task Force 58, the carrier and Carrier Air Group 84 (CVG-84) participated in the final drive across the central Pacific. Roger Hedrick was promoted to head CVG-84 on the combat loss of the air group's commanding officer, and Lt. Cdr. Raymond "Ted" Hill took over the fighter squadron. VF-84 took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima; raids on Tokyo and other targets in Japan; the discovery and sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato and support of the invasion of Okinawa, inclu ...
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Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today — the skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag — was used during the 1710s by a number of pirate captains including Black Sam Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor. It went on to become the most commonly used pirate flag during the 1720s, although other designs were also in use. Name Use of the term ''Jolly Roger'' in reference to pirate flags goes back to at least Charles Johnson's ''A General History of the Pyrates,'' published in Britain in 1724. Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June 1721 and Francis Spriggs in December 1723. While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were very different, suggesting t ...
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F9F Cougar
The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Based on Grumman's earlier F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. Thrust was also increased with the installation of a newer, more powerful engine. The Navy considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F-6. Design and development Early development Rumors that the Soviet Union had produced a swept-wing fighter had circulated a year before the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 first appeared at air shows in 1949. Despite the level of activity taking place with swept-wing aircraft, the Navy was not initially focused on the development of such aircraft. This was largely because the Navy's focus at the time was defending the battle group against high speed, high altitude bombers with interceptors, as well as escorting medium-ran ...
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F9F Panther
The Grumman F9F Panther is one of the United States Navy's first successful carrier-based jet fighters, as well as Grumman’s first jet fighter. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was armed with four cannons and could carry a wide assortment of air-to-ground munitions. The Panther was used extensively by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Korean War. It was also the first jet aircraft used by the Blue Angels aerobatics demonstration team, from 1949 through late 1954. The aircraft was exported to Argentina and was the first jet used by the Argentine Naval Aviation. Total F9F production was 1,382. The design evolved into the swept wing Grumman F-9 Cougar. Design and development Development studies at Grumman for jet-powered fighter aircraft began near the end of World War II as the first jet engines emerged. In a competition for a jet-powered night fighter for the United States Navy, on 3 April 1946 the Douglas F3D Skyknight was selected over Grumman's G- ...
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Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area is . The population of the whole province, including nearby islets such as the Carterets, is approximately 300,000 (2019 census). The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at . The much smaller Buka Island, , lies to the north, across the wide Buka Strait. Even though the strait is narrow, there is no bridge across it, but there is a regular ferry service between the key settlements on either side. The main airport (or airstrip) in the north is in the town of Buka. Bougainville is the largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago. Most of the islands in this archipelago (which are primarily concentrated in the southern and eastern portions of it) are part of the politically independent Solomon Islands. Two of these islands ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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