Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2),The Bounty Hunters

Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) holds a distinction no other US Navy squadron can claim: its pilots flew three different frontline fighters during World War II,the Brewster F2A Buffalo, the Grumman F4F Wildcat, and the Grumman F6F Hellcat. That progression from the obsolete Buffalo to the dominant Hellcat mirrors the transformation of American carrier aviation from a peacetime experiment into the most powerful naval air force in history.

Coral Sea: The First Carrier Battle

VF-2 was aboard USS Lexington (CV-2), the legendary "Lady Lex," during the opening months of the Pacific War. On May 7-8, 1942, Lexington's air group fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea,the first naval engagement in history where opposing ships never sighted each other. All combat was conducted by aircraft. VF-2's Wildcats flew combat air patrol over the carrier and engaged Japanese strike packages during the battle. When Lexington was fatally hit by torpedoes and bombs on May 8, gasoline vapor explosions deep in the ship sealed her fate. "Lady Lex" was abandoned and scuttled,VF-2's surviving pilots and aircraft were reassigned to shore stations and other units.

From Buffalo to Hellcat

VF-2's pre-war experience with the Brewster F2A Buffalo,widely regarded as the worst American fighter of the war,gave the squadron firsthand knowledge of what happened when technology lagged behind the enemy. The Buffalo was slow, poorly armed, and structurally weak. At the Battle of Midway in June 1942, Marine squadron VMF-221's Buffalos were massacred,13 of 20 pilots killed. VF-2 had already transitioned away from the Buffalo, but the lesson was seared into naval aviation: only the best aircraft would do.

The transition to the F4F Wildcat gave VF-2 a survivable fighter, and the subsequent move to the F6F Hellcat gave them a dominant one. The Hellcat's 2,000-hp engine, six .50-caliber guns, and 212 pounds of cockpit armor represented a quantum leap over the Buffalo's 1,100-hp engine and four guns.

Reformation & Late-War Service

After reforming, VF-2 operated from USS Hornet (CV-12) as part of CVG-2, flying F6F Hellcats across the Central and Western Pacific during the campaigns of 1944-1945. From Hornet's flight deck,an Essex-class carrier named to honor the original Hornet lost at Santa Cruz,VF-2 struck Japanese targets across the Pacific as part of the Fast Carrier Task Force that systematically destroyed Japanese air power and secured American control of the seas.

Wear the legacy. Shop VF-2 Bounty Hunters apparel and veteran gifts,from Coral Sea to victory.