Fighter Squadron 48 (VF-48) WW2

VF-48 flew from a ship with an extraordinary record. USS Monterey (CVL-26) earned 11 battle stars and is notable for having future President Gerald R. Ford serve among her crew as an athletic officer and anti-aircraft battery commander. During Typhoon Cobra in December 1944, fires broke out aboard Monterey after aircraft broke loose on the hangar deck. Ford narrowly escaped being swept overboard while fighting the fires, an incident he later described as his closest brush with death.

Fighter Squadron 48 (VF-48) served aboard USS Monterey (CVL-26) as part of Carrier Air Group 48 during World War II. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat in the Pacific Theater from 1945, VF-48 participated in carrier operations across the Pacific Theater, striking Japanese-held islands, providing fleet air defense, and supporting the island-hopping campaign that drove American forces from the Gilberts to Japan's doorstep.

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.

VF-48 was part of the massive expansion of Navy fighter strength during the final year of the Pacific War. The squadron flew combat sorties during Pacific operations, providing fleet air defense and conducting strike missions against Japanese forces from USS Monterey's flight deck.

Explore our VF-48 collection,shirts, hoodies, and gear honoring the crews who flew from USS Monterey.