{"title":"Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) Bounty Hunters WW2","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"collection-content\"\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003eFighter Squadron 2 (VF-2),The Bounty Hunters\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) holds a distinction no other \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/u-s-navy\"\u003eUS Navy\u003c\/a\u003e squadron can claim: its pilots flew three different frontline fighters during \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/world-war-ii-merch\"\u003eWorld War II\u003c\/a\u003e,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 \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/u-s-naval-aviation-merchandise\"\u003ecarrier aviation\u003c\/a\u003e from a peacetime experiment into the most powerful naval air force in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCoral Sea: The First Carrier Battle\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVF-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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFrom Buffalo to Hellcat\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVF-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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eReformation \u0026amp; Late-War Service\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter reforming, VF-2 operated from \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/uss-hornet-cv-12-merchandise\"\u003eUSS Hornet (CV-12)\u003c\/a\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWear the legacy. Shop \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/world-war-ii-merch\"\u003eVF-2 Bounty Hunters\u003c\/a\u003e apparel and veteran gifts,from Coral Sea to victory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/tacticallyacquired.com\/collections\/fighter-squadron-2-vf-2-bounty-hunters-ww2.oembed","provider":"Tactically Acquired","version":"1.0","type":"link"}