VF-51, Fighter Squadron 51 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 ...

known as the "Screaming Eagles". It was originally established as VF-1 on February 1, 1943, redesignated as VF-5 on July 15, 1943, redesignated as VF-5A on November 15, 1946, redesignated VF-51 on August 16, 1948, and disestablished in March 1995. Until its disestablishment, VF-51 was the oldest fighter squadron in continuous service with the Pacific Fleet.

History

1940s

VF-51's roots are traced back to 1927 when the Screaming Eagles insignia could be seen with the VF-3S Striking Eagles which flew the Curtis F6C-4. In October 1947, the Screaming Eagles became the first Navy squadron to enter the jet age with delivery of the

North American FJ-1 Fury The North American FJ-1 Fury was the first operational jet aircraft in United States Navy service, and was developed by North American Aviation as the NA-135.aircraft carrier landing at sea on 10 March 1948 aboard . VF-51 then transitioned to the Grumman F9F-3 Panther.

1950s

On 3 July 1950, VF-51 launched off the USS ''Valley Forge'' CV-45 and became one of the first squadrons to take Carrier-based jets into combat. On that day, LTJG. Leonard H. Plog scored the first Navy air-to-air kill in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

when he hit and blew off the wing of North Korean

Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (russian: Яковлев Як-9) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and succ ...

taking off. This had occurred after he and 11 other VF-51 had been strafing an airfield near

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

as part of strike with aircraft from the

HMS Triumph Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Triumph''. Another was planned, but renamed before being launched: * English ship ''Triumph'' (1562) was a 68-gun galleon built in 1561. She was rebuilt in 1596, and sold in 1618. * was a 44-gun ...

. Due to fears of a possible invasion of the

Republic of China on Taiwan Republic of China on Taiwan () is a political term as well as discourse regarding the present status of the Republic of China. It is proposed by former President of the Republic of China Lee Teng-hui, the first locally-born president (i.e., t ...

, VF-51 and the rest of the Valley Forge's

Air Group A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

and the Triumph moved south to keep watch before rejoining the war on 18 July. Future astronaut and first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, was also a Naval Aviator in VF-51 during this period.

1960s

During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, VF-51 was the first squadron to evaluate the air-to-ground capability of the

F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), and for the Fren ...

, and because of this, VF-51 was picked to fly secret interdiction missions into Laos in June 1964. In 1965 VF-51 flew F-8 Crusaders off the USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) flying missions into Vietnam and Laos. The squadron became MiG killers when they shot down two

North Vietnamese North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...

s in 1968.

1970s

In 1971 VF-51 transitioned to the

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bo ...

and shot down four

MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...

s. VF-51 flew from since November 1971 until July 1975. In 1976, VF-51 and the rest of Carrier Air Wing 15 was deployed on a peacetime Mediterranean cruise on , returning in April 1977. The purpose of this cruise on a soon-to-be scrapped carrier was to take the first squadron of

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

AV-8A Harriers to sea. F-4B Phantoms VF-51 Screaming Eagles in flight c1971

Following this Mediterranean cruise and return to

NAS Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the avi ...

, VF-51 phased out its F-4 Phantom IIs. On 16 June 1978, VF-51 transitioned to the Block 100 version of the

F-14A Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after t ...

and their first cruise with the F-14 was in May 1979 with Carrier Air Wing 15 aboard . As part of CVW-15, VF-51 remained partnered with its sister squadron,

VF-111 Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111), also known as the ''Sundowners'', was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) on 10 October 1942, it was redesignated as VF-11A on 15 November 1946, redesign ...

, also flying the F-14. This cruise, originally slated to end in early December 1979, was extended by Presidential direction during the ''Kitty Hawk'' Battle Group's final port call in the Philippines in late November 1979 as a result of the seizure of the American Embassy in Iran the same month and the subsequent

Iranian Hostage Crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...

. Both squadrons participated in the preparatory efforts to rescue American hostages in Iran, frequently intercepting both Iranian and Soviet aircraft in the region, but departing the Indian Ocean in February 1980 and turning responsibilities over to the Battle Group and its embarked

Carrier Air Wing 8 Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8), is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier Mission To conduct carrier air warfare operations and assist in the ...

with

VF-41 Fighter Squadron 41 or VF-41 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. Originally established as VF-75A on 1 June 1945, redesignated as VF-75 on 1 August 1945, redesignated as VF-3B on 15 November 1946, redesignated as VF-41 on 1 September 19 ...

and

VF-84 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 ...

prior to execution of

Operation Eagle Claw Operation Eagle Claw, known as Operation Tabas ( fa, عملیات طبس) in Iran, was a failed operation by the United States Armed Forces ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt the rescue of 52 embassy staff held captive at th ...

. For this 1979–1980 deployment, VF-51 was awarded the

Battle E The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness c ...

as the top fighter squadron in the Pacific Fleet.

1980s

During their 1981 cruise, on 7 September; ''NL-106'' (One of VF-51's aircraft) was struck by an ''NL-306'', an

A-7E Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

from VA-22. While both aircraft's crew survived, a deckhand from VF-51 was killed in the accident. After that cruise with the ''Kitty Hawk'', the air wing moved to the East coast for a short period of time, flying from the newly introduced from March to October 1983 as the ship transited to its new homeport of

NAS 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 ...

, California and assignment to the Pacific Fleet. VF-51 is credited to be the first F-14 squadron to intercept

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Tu-22M (Tu-26) Backfire bombers, armed

MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...

Floggers and

Su-15 The Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name: Flagon) is a twinjet supersonic interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It entered service in 1965 and remained one of the front-line designs into the 1990s. The Su-15 was designed to replace t ...

Flagons using the Tomcat's TCS (Television Camera Sight). The TCS allowed the crew to passively identify a target to determine if it was hostile or not. During the 1986–1987 cruise with USS ''Carl Vinson'', VF-51 conducted operations in the Bering Sea during the winter. In February 1990, USS ''Carl Vinson'' conducted operations in the Western Pacific and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. VF-51 and VF-111 took part in several exercises with regional air forces, including

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. The air wing returned home on 29 July.

1990s

Original Navy plans saw VF-51 and VF-111 becoming the first deployable squadrons to transition to the F-14D Super Tomcat, however these plans were cancelled in December 1991. After moving back to the ''Kitty Hawk'' with CVW-15, VF-51 participated in RIMPAC 1992 between June and July 1992. The squadron along with the rest of CVW-15 left on their 1992 WESTPAC cruise on 3 November 1992. F-14A Tomcat of VF-51 at Andrews AFB in 1993

F-14A Tomcat of VF-51 at Andrews AFB in 1993

After relieving the USS ''Ranger'' CV-61 and

CVW-2 Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . Subordinate units CVW-2 consists of 9 Squadrons History 1940s-50s Origi ...

on 18 December, VF-51 and the rest of the air wing took up station off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

as part of

Operation Restore Hope The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...

. After an Iraqi

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by th ...

was shot down by a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

F-16D, on 27 December 1992, the VF-51 and CVW-15 were ordered to the Persian Gulf. By 1 January, the squadron as well as other CVW-15 assets had flown a total of 51 CAP missions. On 13 January 1993, VF-51 along with VF-111 together contributed four of their F-14As as escort for an air strike targeting SAM sites in Southern Iraq. After turning over to

CVW-9 Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The Air Wing is currently assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The Tail Code of aircraft assigned to C ...

and the USS ''Nimitz'' CVN-68 on 18 March, VF-51 returned back on 3 May 1993. VF-51 and CVW-15 began their final deployment on 24 June 1994. Originally slated to be another Southern Watch deployment, the Air Wing was diverted to the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in light of the Nuclear crisis and the recent death of North Korean leader

Kim Il-Sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

. On 11 July 1994, ''NL-102'' (An F-14A assigned to VF-51) struck the back deck of the ''Kitty Hawk'' while landing in stormy seas and split into two pieces. Both the Pilot and

RIO Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

ejected from the fireball but the Pilot landed into the flames. Despite this, he survived although he received serve burns. Secretary of the Navy

John H. Dalton John Howard Dalton (born December 13, 1941) is an American politician and investor. Dalton was Secretary of the Navy from July 22, 1993 to November 16, 1998. Education and Navy service Dalton attended Louisiana State University for a year befor ...

visited the ship on 15 October to award those who saved the pilot's life. VF-51 arrived back from their last cruise on 22 December 1994. On 31 March 1995, the squadron was decommissioned.

Popular media

F-14 Tomcat VF-51 intercepting TU-95 Bear

In 1985, VF-51 was one of several

based squadrons to participate in the filming of '' Top Gun''. Some VF-51 and VF-111 aircraft were repainted in fictitious squadron markings for the film. To be able to film the sequences, the F-14s were fitted with cameras mounted in pods attached to the underbelly Phoenix pallets and the under wing pylons, as well as using ground mounted cameras. Late in the film,

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', '' Top Gun'', '' A ...

's character mentions that he flew with VF-51 off with the main character's father, and several VF-51 pilots appear in the film credits. VF-51 never flew F-4s off ''Oriskany,'' as the Phantom was too large for that carrier; VF-51 begin to fly F-4 Phantom since 1971 on CV-43 Coral Sea. Although there may be some plausibility in the claim as VF-51 were flying F-8s off the Oriskany during the 1965 cruise, the year mentioned in the photo shown by Maverick earlier in the film. In '' Top Gun: Maverick,'' Robert "Bob" Floyd is shown with a "VFA-51" helmet bag. This is fictitious due to VF-51 being disestablished rather than transitioned to the F/A-18.

References

External links

VF-51 History

(Dead link) {{US Navy navbox

VF-51 VF-51, Fighter Squadron 51 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy known as the "Screaming Eagles". It was originally established as VF-1 on February 1, 1943, redesignated as VF-5 on July 15, 1943, redesignated as VF-5A on November 15, 1946, ...

Military units and formations disestablished in 1995