Fighter Squadron 27 (VF-27) WW2

VF-27 served aboard a carrier with a remarkable story. 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.

VF-27 & the Grumman F6F Hellcat

VF-27 served aboard USS Princeton (CVL-23) as part of Carrier Air Group 27 during World War II. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the squadron deployed to the Pacific Theater 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 Grumman F6F Hellcat

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was the fighter that broke Japanese air power in the Pacific. Designed as a direct response to the A6M Zero,using intelligence from a captured specimen,the Hellcat combined a 2,000-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine with rugged construction, self-sealing fuel tanks, and 212 pounds of cockpit armor. The result was a fighter that could outclimb, outdive, and outgun the Zero while absorbing punishment that would have destroyed lighter aircraft.

Combat Operations

VF-27 flew combat missions during Central Pacific and Battle of Leyte Gulf, providing fleet air defense, escorting strike packages, and conducting fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and installations. The squadron was part of the massive expansion of Navy fighter strength that gave the Fast Carrier Task Force overwhelming air superiority during the final campaigns of the Pacific War. Alongside squadrons like VF-23, VF-27 was part of the carrier air power that won the Pacific War.

Carry the history. VF-27 t-shirts, hoodies, and heritage gifts,built for those who remember what these squadrons gave.