Marine Fighting Squadron 514 (VMF-514) was a short-lived fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Flying the Vought F4U Corsair, the squadron was originally commissioned to be part of the ill-fated

Project Danny Project Danny was a World War II plan for United States Marine Corps F4U Corsair fighter aircraft to attack German V-1 flying bomb launch sites in northern France. Although the squadrons had been trained at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point ...

, a plan for carrier based Marine Corps aircraft to interdict German V-1 flying bomb launch sites. The squadron did not participate in combat action during the war and was decommissioned on December 9, 1945. No other Marine Corps squadron has carried VMF-514's lineage and honors since that time.

History

Marine Fighting Squadron 471 (VMF-514) was commissioned on February 20, 1944, at

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

, North Carolina by authority of Bureau of Aeronautics Directive 30-KV-43. The squadron originally fell under the command of

Marine Aircraft Group 51 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

. In June 1944, Navy planners devised a plan for Marine F4U Corsair squadrons of MAG-51 (including

VMF-511 Marine Fighting Squadron 511 (VMF-511) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Corps and Marine Forces Reserve during World War II and the Cold War which flew aircraft types such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and the F-8 Crusader. They were orig ...

VMF-512 Marine Fighting Squadron 512 (VMF-512) was a fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps during World War II. The squadron was aircraft carrier based during the last year of the war and supported combat operations during the Battle of Oki ...

, and VMF-513) to attack V-1 flying bomb launch sites from

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

s in the North Sea with Tiny Tim rockets. Project Danny was ultimately disapproved, a victim of the intense interservice rivalry that existed in the US armed forces during World War II; Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall stood up and walked out of the briefing: "That's the end of this briefing. As long as I'm in charge there'll never be a Marine in Europe." In June 1945, VMF-514 embarked on the USS Salerno Bay along with VMSB-144 as part of Marine Carrier Air Group 5 (MCVG-5) to train off southern California. Two days after Japan's mid-August capitulation, the group sailed west conducting further training operations, including night qualification of her Marine air group, in Hawaiian waters. The squadron returned to Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar, California and was decommissioned on December 9, 1945.

Accidents

*April 8, 1944 – An F4U-1A from VMF-514 crashed near Morehead City, North Carolina. The pilot, 2ndLt Olin Dilworth Cooksey, was killed in the crash.

Commanding Officers

The following

naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

s served as commanding officers of VMF-514 during its existence: *Maj James W. Merritt – February 20, 1944 – April 1, 1945 *Maj Darrell D. Irwin – April 2, 1945 – July 27, 1945 *Maj William V. Brooks – July 28, 1945 –

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. VMF-514 was presented with the following awards:

Citations

References