Fighter Squadron 23 (VF-23) WW2

Fighter Squadron 23 (VF-23) was assigned to USS Princeton (CVL-23) during World War II, flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat as part of the most powerful naval aviation force ever assembled. By 1944, the US Navy had over 100 aircraft carriers in the Pacific, thousands of combat aircraft, and the trained pilots to fly them,and VF-23 was part of that force.

USS Princeton: The Ship

USS Princeton (CVL-23) was the only fast carrier lost during the Philippines Campaign. On October 24, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, a single Japanese land-based bomber scored a direct hit that detonated Princeton's torpedo storage. The resulting explosion was so powerful it killed 233 men aboard the cruiser USS Birmingham, which was alongside attempting to fight the fires. Princeton sank that afternoon.

Combat Service

VF-23 served as part of Carrier Air Group 23 from 1943-1944, participating in the Central Pacific campaign of 1943-1944, striking Japanese-held islands from the Gilberts and Marshalls through the Marianas as the Navy drove westward toward Japan. The squadron flew combat missions during Central Pacific and Battle of Leyte Gulf, providing fleet air defense and striking Japanese military targets across the Western Pacific.

The Grumman F6F Hellcat

Grumman built 12,275 F6F Hellcats between 1942 and 1945, and the aircraft equipped every fast carrier fighter squadron in the Pacific from late 1943 onward. Powered by the 2,000-hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp,the same engine family that powered the F4U Corsair and P-47 Thunderbolt,the Hellcat could reach 380 mph at 23,400 feet and had a combat range of 945 miles. Its combination of speed, firepower, and survivability made it the weapon that won air superiority over the Pacific.

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