Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17),The Jolly Rogers

The Vought F4U Corsair gave Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17) something no Navy squadron had carried into sustained combat before: a fighter faster than anything the Japanese could put in the air. VF-17, the Jolly Rogers, was the first Navy squadron to take the powerful gull-wing Corsair into extended combat operations, and they made the most of it,compiling 154 aerial victories in just 76 days of combat over the Solomon Islands in late 1943 and early 1944.

Tommy Blackburn's Pirates

VF-17 was established in January 1943 under Lieutenant Commander John T. "Tommy" Blackburn. The squadron adopted the skull-and-crossbones insignia that earned them the Jolly Rogers nickname. Originally assigned to USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), VF-17 was pulled from the carrier before deployment because Navy leadership was concerned about the Corsair's carrier landing characteristics,the aircraft had poor forward visibility on approach and a tendency to bounce on landing. Instead, VF-17 was sent to operate from land bases in the Solomon Islands, using the crushed-coral strips on Ondonga and Bougainville.

76 Days Over the Solomons

From November 1943 through March 1944, VF-17 flew 76 days of combat over the Solomon Islands, primarily escorting bombers on raids against the massive Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. Rabaul was the most heavily defended target in the South Pacific, protected by hundreds of Japanese fighters and one of the densest anti-aircraft concentrations in the war. VF-17's Corsairs fought running battles with Japanese Zeros over Rabaul and the surrounding waters, shooting down 154 enemy aircraft while losing only 20 Corsairs in combat. The squadron produced several aces, and their success helped prove the Corsair's viability as a combat aircraft, leading to its widespread adoption across both Navy and Marine squadrons.

Ira "Ike" Kepford: Leading Ace

Lieutenant Ira C. "Ike" Kepford was VF-17's leading ace with 16 confirmed aerial victories. A former Northwestern University football player, Kepford became one of the most skilled deflection shooters in the Pacific. On January 29, 1944, Kepford shot down four Japanese aircraft over Rabaul in a single mission. His personal Corsair, marked with 16 victory flags on the fuselage, became one of the most photographed aircraft of the World War II Pacific Theater.

The F4U Corsair

The Vought F4U Corsair was the fastest carrier-based fighter of the war. Its distinctive inverted gull wing accommodated the massive 13-foot, 4-inch propeller driven by a 2,250-hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine. At 417 mph, the Corsair was faster than any Japanese fighter it faced. Armed with six .50-caliber machine guns and capable of carrying 4,000 pounds of bombs, the Corsair compiled an 11:1 kill ratio and 2,140 aerial victories during the war. VF-17 proved what the Corsair could do in the hands of aggressive pilots.

154 victories in 76 days,the Jolly Rogers wrote their own chapter in naval aviation history. Shop VF-17 Jolly Rogers gear and veteran gifts.