Vought F4U-1D Corsair
VF-84, No. 167, Carrier Bunker Hill, 1945, Februar
- Subject:
Vought F4U-1D Corsair
US Marine Corps Aviation (1912-now)
VMF-312 530
április 1945 - Okinawa- Méretarány:
- 1:72
- Állapot:
- Befejezve
- Elkezdve:
- May 14, 2020
- Befejezve:
- October 1, 2020
Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84) was formed around a nucleus of veterans of VF-17, the Jolly Rogers, flying F4U-1D Corsairs, under the command of Lt. Cdr. Roger R.Hedrick, the former executive officer of VF-17.
Assigned to the Carrier Air Group 84 aboard the USS Bunker Hill. as part of Task Force 58, they participated in the final drive across the central Pacific. Taking part in the invasion of Iwo Jima, raids on Tokyo and other targets in Japan, the sinking of the battleship Yamato and support of the invasion of Okinawa, including combat air patrol over the invasion fleet to defend against Kamikaze attack, and ground support for the embattled Marines.
On 11 May 1945, while off Okinawa, two Japanese kamikazes struck the Bunker Hill in quick succession, with a bomb penetrating to the pilots' ready room, killing 22 members of VF-84. Both the Bunker Hill (then the TF-58 flagship) and CAG-84 were knocked out of the war. VF-84 was reformed in July 1945 as an F6F Hellcat squadron, but the war ended while it was still in training and was subsequently disbanded on October 8th, 1945.
VF-84 was credited with 92 kills with the loss of just 4, aircraft, nine of the squadron's pilots became aces.