{"title":"Fighter-Bomber Squadron 14 (VBF-14) WW2","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"collection-content\"\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003eFighter-Bomber Squadron 14 (VBF-14) WW2\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFighter-Bomber Squadron 14 (VBF-14) was born from the kamikaze crisis that reshaped \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/u-s-naval-aviation-merchandise\"\u003ecarrier aviation\u003c\/a\u003e. The \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/u-s-navy\"\u003eNavy\u003c\/a\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eVBF-14 \u0026amp; USS Wasp\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/uss-wasp-cv-18-merchandise\"\u003eUSS Wasp (CV-18)\u003c\/a\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVBF-14 deployed aboard \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/uss-wasp-cv-18-merchandise\"\u003eUSS Wasp (CV-18)\u003c\/a\u003e as part of Carrier Air Group 14 in 1945, flying combat missions during Pacific operations. The squadron operated alongside \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/fighter-squadron-14-vf-14-ww2\"\u003eVF-14\u003c\/a\u003e and other air group units, providing the flexible combat power that carrier task forces needed in the final campaigns of \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/world-war-ii-merch\"\u003eWorld War II\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Corsair\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExplore our VBF-14 collection,shirts, hoodies, and gear honoring the crews who flew from \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/uss-wasp-cv-18-merchandise\"\u003eUSS Wasp\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/tacticallyacquired.com\/collections\/fighter-bomber-squadron-14-vbf-14-ww2.oembed","provider":"Tactically Acquired","version":"1.0","type":"link"}