VF-121
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VF-121 (Fighter Squadron 121) of the
US 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 ...
was a former Pacific Fleet Replacement Air Group (RAG) unit. Originally established on 1 July 1946, as VF-781, it was redesignated as VF-121 on 4 February 1953 and disestablished on 30 September 1980. On 11 April 1958 it changed duty from Fleet Squadron to Fleet Replacement Squadron and was later charged with the training of Navy
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 Bow ...
flight and maintenance crews.


Operational history


Fighting Squadron

On July 1, 1946, VF-781, ''The Pacemakers'' were stationed at
Naval Air Station Los Alamitos A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
. On 20 July 1950, VF-781 was based at
NAS North Island 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 (NB ...
. In January 1951 the squadron moved 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-781 served on board with Air Group 102 (CVG-102) flying F9F-2B Panthers from 10 May to 17 December 1951. VF-781's next cruise was on board flying with Air Group 102 (CVG-102) flying F9F-5's over Korea from 15 September 1952 to 18 May 1953. On 18 November 1952, VF-781 scored its first
MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...
kills by
Royce Williams Elmer Royce Williams (born 4 April 1925) is a retired United States Navy pilot. He is known for his solo dogfight with seven Soviet pilots during the Korean War, which, according to ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', has been called "one of the gr ...
, John Middleton and Rowlans by 20mm guns in the F9F-5's. VF-781 was re-designated VF-121 on 4 February 1953. After re-designation to VF-121, the squadron transitioned to F9F-6 Cougars with commanding officer Jimmie E Savage for their 1954 western Pacific deployment with Carrier Air Group 12 (CVG-12) on the from 3 March to 11 October. They made another cruise with CVG-12 to the western Pacific and Korea on the from 10 August 1955 to 15 March 1956 flying F9F-8, with the tail code of 'D' then converted to FJ-3 Fury's. The last cruise was on board from 19 April to 17 October 1957. Commander R. E. 'Dusty' Rhodes was CO of VF-121 during 1955, he was a former Commanding Officer of the Blue Angels flight team from 1947 to 1950. Rhodes worked with VC-6 and their AJ Savage tankers on air-to-air refueling. The exercise was successfully tested off the coast of San Diego.


Training Squadron

The first West Coast F4H Phantom Squadron was assigned to VF-121 at NAS Miramar. VF-121 received the first examples of F-4B Phantoms in 1961.Eden 2004, p. 278. On 24 May 1961, Project LANA - the 50th Anniversary of Naval Aviation Transcontinental Race for the Bendix Trophy, was won by a VF-121 crew. Aircrews came from other aircraft types and became qualified in the flight, navigation, and operation of the F4H Phantom. Maintainers came from other squadrons and 'A' schools to learn the Phantom as well. Gunnery and weapons training was obtained while deployed to
MCAS Yuma Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Mari ...
. Carrier Field Landing Practice (FCLP). Their skills were graded by a Landing Signals Office (LSO) the same way as on a carrier. Once qualified they could advance to actual carrier day/ night launch/ recovery qualifications. After this training, the aircrews were assigned to a fleet squadron and sea duty.


Top Gun

The original
United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI program), more popularly known as Top Gun (stylized as TOPGUN), teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, wh ...
, more popularly known worldwide as Top Gun, started in March 1969 under VF-121 control.


Home port assignments

The squadron was assigned to these home ports: *
NAS North Island 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 (NB ...
*
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 ...


Aircraft assignment

*
Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...
*
Chance-Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...
* Grumman F9F-2/-5 Panther, tail code ''D'' * Grumman F9F-6/-8 Cougar, tail code ''D'' *
North American FJ-3 Fury The North American FJ-2 and FJ-3 Fury are a series of swept-wing carrier-capable fighters for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The FJ-2 resulted from an effort to navalize the North American F-86 Sabre operated by the United States Ai ...
, tail code ''D'' *
McDonnell F3H Demon The McDonnell F3H Demon is a subsonic swept-wing United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, the Demon was originally designed to use the Westinghouse J40 engine, but had to be redesigned to accept ...
, tail code ''NJ'' *
Grumman F11F Tiger The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger is a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally designated the F11F Tiger in April 1955 under the pre-1962 Navy designation system, i ...
, tail code ''NJ'' * McDonnell F-4B/J Phantom II, tail code ''NJ''


Commanding officers

* VF-781 ** LCDR Collin I. Overland – 1 Jul 1946 to 1952 ** LCDR Stan R. Holm – 1952 to 1954 * VF-121 ** CDR J. E. Savage – 1954 ** CDR Jereme H. 'Dusty' Rhodes – 1954 to 1956 ** CDR T. S. Sedaker – 1956 to 1957
Has 2 kills to credit HAS or Has may refer to: Organizations * Hawaii Audubon Society, bird conservation organization in Hawaii * Hellenic Actuarial Society, association of actuaries in Greece * Hubbard Association of Scientologists International, corporation founded ...
** CDR Gerald O'Rourke - 1964 to Apr 1965 ** CDR Timothy R. O'Neil - Apr 65 to 14 Mar 1966 ** CDR Scott S. Lamoreaux - 14 Mar 66 to 23 Jun 1967 ** CDR Marland W. Townsend, Jr. - 23 Jun 67 to 14 Jun 1968 ** CDR Henry L. Halleland – 14 Jun 68 to 30 Sep 1969 ** CDR Richard Schulte – 30 Sep 19 to 15 Jul 1970 elped start Top Gun** CDR Billy D. Franklin - 15 July 70 to 28 May 1971 ** CDR Donald B. Pringle - 15 May 71 to 20 Dec 1971 ** CDR James F. Dorsey, Jr. - 20 Dec 71 to 22 Feb 1972 ** CDR Russell E. Davis - 22 Feb 72 to 31 Aug 1973 ** CDR Alvin S. Newman - 31 Aug 73 to 16 Dec 1974 ** CDR James F. Dorsey - 16 Dec 74 to 1975 ** CDR Dennis Brooks - 75 to 1 Jun 1976 ** CDR Chuck McGill - Jun 76 to 1977 ** CDR Frank Mezzadri – Jun 1978 to 1979 ** CDR Phillip Anselmo – 1979 to Sept 1980


See also

*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons This is a list of active United States Navy aircraft squadrons. ''Deactivated'' or ''disestablished'' squadrons are listed in the List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons. Navy aircraft squadron (aviation), squadrons are composed of ...


References


Bibliography

* Eden, Paul ed. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft''. London: Amber Books Ltd, 2004. * Journey to Command. The Naval Career of Captain J.C. Smith: by Carol Smith. Booksurge.com * Scream of Eagles. by Robert K. Wilcox. Pocket Star Books * Top Gun an American Story, by New York, Boston 2019 * TopGun Days by Dave "Bio" Baranek, Skyhorse Publishing 2010 * TopGun the Legacy The complete History of TopGun and its Impact on Tactical Aviation, by Brad Elward Schiffer Military Atglen, Pa. 2021


External links


F-4J

FJ-3M Fury




{{DEFAULTSORT:VF-121 Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy