Fighter-Bomber Squadron 14 (VBF-14) WW2

Fighter-Bomber Squadron 14 (VBF-14) was born from the kamikaze crisis that reshaped carrier aviation. The Navy needed more fighters on every carrier to defend the fleet, but still needed the ability to strike ground targets. The answer was the VBF squadron,fighter-bomber units flying the Vought F4U Corsair, capable of shooting down enemy aircraft and delivering 4,000 pounds of ordnance in the same mission.

VBF-14 & USS Wasp

USS Wasp (CV-18) was named to honor the original Wasp (CV-7), torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-19 in the Solomon Islands on September 15, 1942. The new Wasp earned eight battle stars, fighting from the Marshalls and Carolines through the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Her air groups struck targets across the Western Pacific during the final 18 months of the war.

VBF-14 deployed aboard USS Wasp (CV-18) as part of Carrier Air Group 14 in 1945, flying combat missions during Pacific operations. The squadron operated alongside VF-14 and other air group units, providing the flexible combat power that carrier task forces needed in the final campaigns of World War II.

The Corsair

With 12,571 airframes produced between 1942 and 1953, the Corsair had the longest production run of any American piston-engine fighter. Its 2,250-hp engine gave it a top speed of 417 mph,faster than any carrier fighter in the war. The Navy's VBF (fighter-bomber) squadrons introduced in January 1945 chose the Corsair specifically for its ability to combine air superiority with heavy ground attack, carrying four times the bomb load of an F6F Hellcat.

Explore our VBF-14 collection,shirts, hoodies, and gear honoring the crews who flew from USS Wasp.