Fighter Squadron 61 (VF-61), the Jolly Rogers, was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as VF-17 on 1 January 1943, it was redesignated as VF-5B on 15 November 1946, and then later as VF-61 on 28 July 1948.

Nov 30, 2017 · Fighting Squadron 17 was selected to fly the new Vought F4U-1 Corsair, a gull-winged fighter built around a powerful Pratt-Witney 18 cylinder radial engine on the new Essex-class carrier Bunker Hill. It was the second Navy fighter squadron to receive the F4U-1 Corsair and the most successful of them all.

Fighting-17 was reformed at Alameda in April 1944, under Lt Comm M. U. Beebe. Aboard the carrier Hornet, VF-17 took part in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In fighter sweeps from 18 March to 17 April 1945, the pilots of VF-17 downed 146.5 Japanese planes.

U.S. Navy fighter squadron that served in World War II in the South Pacific (SoPAC) flying the F4U Corsair. Nicknamed "The Jolly Rogers" with the motif of the Jolly Rogers pirate flag with a black rectangle with a skull and crossbones.

In the Battle of the Solomon Sea on November 11, 1943 Fighting 17 took off from a land base and landed on the carriers U.S.S Bunker Hill and U.S.S. Essex. They refueled and then flew cover over the task force and shot down 18.5 Japanese aircraft.

Apr 1, 2015 · VF-17 had an unusual unit symbol painted on the noses of their Corsairs. The skull and crossbones, or Jolly Roger. This symbol was once associated with the pirates and pirate ships that once sailed the ocean looking for treasure, fighting …

The Jolly Rogers began during World War II as Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17) on January 1, 1943 under the command of LCDR Tom Blackburn. The squadron was one of the first navy squadrons to fly the Vought F4U Corsair fighter.

VF-17 Squadron History and Base Locations. The First Home base for VF-17 was the USS Bunker Hill. Here is a short history of the USS Bunker Hill and the beginning of the end of the usage of the F4U from a carrier by VF-17 until later in the war.

Amongst Fighting 17′s heroic exploits were shooting down 152 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat in only seventy-six days. Tom Blackburn led the squadron to a Navy Unit Commendation and made the “Skull and Crossbones Squadron” one of the most successful squadron’s in …