Fighter Squadron 13 or VF-13 was an aviation unit of the
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 ...
. Established on 2 November 1943, it was disestablished on 20 October 1945. It was the first US Navy squadron to be designated as VF-13.
Operational history
VF-13 equipped with the
F6F-5 Hellcat formed part of Carrier Air Group 13 (CVG-13) which was assigned to . In June 1944 the ''Franklin'' deployed to Pearl Harbor. On 24 October during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) 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. It was fou ...
, CVG-13 participated in the sinking of the
Japanese battleship Musashi
, named after the former Japanese province, was one of four planned s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), beginning in the late 1930s. The ''Yamato''-class ships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed ...
. In early November 1944 following damage to ''Franklin'' in a
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 ...
attack, CVG-13 was temporarily landbased on
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
before re-embarking on ''Franklin'' as it proceeded to
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
for repairs. In December 1944 CVG-13 was reforming at
Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.
NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...
, and then subsequently underwent training at
Naval Air Station Fallon and
Naval Air Station Livermore. In early August 1945 CVG-13 was assigned to , but the war in the Pacific ended before they could deploy.
See also
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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 ...
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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 mo ...
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List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons
References
Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy
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