Strana 41
#7074
BOXART STORY
Most readers will probably associate the
US Navy squadron designated VF-8 with
the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and combat
operations in the Pacific during the first half of
1942. During the Doolittle Raid on Japan by B-25
Mitchell bombers, VF-8’s pilots could only watch
from the deck of Hornet, since their Wildcats - for
understandable “twin-engined” reasons - were
unable to operate from their own carrier. During
the Battle of Midway, VF-8 fighters claimed five
victories while defending the aircraft carrier USS
Yorktown. The squadron was disbanded in August
1942 and its personnel reassigned to other units.
VF-8, the “Fighting Eight,” was formed for
a second time at NAS Norfolk in the summer of
1943. Its commanding officer was 31-year-old
Lt. Cdr. W. M. Collins, who had qualified as a naval
aviator in 1937 and would eventually become
VF-8’s leading ace, with nine victories.
In early July 1943, VF-8 was preparing for
deployment aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Intrepid. This Essex-class carrier,fresh from the
Newport News Shipbuilding, was still undergoing
acceptance trials prior to commissioning in
mid-August 1943. The VF-8 was equipped with
24 F6F-3 Hellcats. Carrier Air Group 8 (CAG 8), of
which VF-8 formed part, also included VB-28 with
37 SBD-3 and SBD-5 Dauntless dive-bombers,
and VT-8 with 15 TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bombers.
During training aboard USS Intrepid in the
Caribbean, VF-8 lost two Hellcats in the Bermuda
area between October and December 1943. The
scene depicted on the kit’s box art dates from
this period. At the beginning of 1944, VF-8 was
based at NAS Puunene, Hawaii, and on 10 March
1944 the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill became
its new floating home. Immediately before CAG 8
embarked, VF-8 had 35 F6F-3s, while the torpedo-
bomber squadron operated 22 TBF-1C Avengers.
The dive-bombers, now assigned to VB-8, were no
longer the Dauntlesses, but 30 Helldivers, most of
them SB2C-1Cs, to which the squadron had been
converting since December 1943. CAG skipper Cdr.
R. L. Shifley was assigned a personal Hellcat. Four
night-fighter Hellcats were also carried aboard.
Combat operations involving VF-8 included
attacks on the Palau region (30 March - 1 April);
Hollandia, New Guinea (21 - 28 April); strikes on the
Caroline Islands (29 April - 1 May); and operations
in the Marianas in support of the landings on
Saipan and Guam (12 June - 10 August).
During September, USS Bunker Hill conducted
strikes against targets in the western Caroline
Islands. The carrier and its Task Force then
headed north, from where they launched air
strikes against targets on Luzon, Formosa and
Okinawa until early November.
VF-8’s fighter pilots enjoyed their most
successful day on 12 October 1944, when, during
attacks on Formosa and southern Japan, they
were credited with 53 aerial victories in various
categories.
F6F-5 Hellcats first entered service with VF-8
in September 1944, although the unit continued to
operate the older F6F-3 until the end of its combat
deployment aboard USS Bunker Hill.
A total of thirteen pilots attained ace status
while serving within the second tour of the
Fighting Eight, while two others added several
victories with VF-8 toward their eventual ace
totals. In addition to the previously mentioned
Lt. Cdr. Collins, particular note must be made
of the legendary pilot who served as VF-8’s
executive officer, Lt. Cdr. Elbert Scott McCuskey.
During the first half of 1942, while serving with
VF-42 aboard USS Yorktown, he was credited
with 6.5 confirmed victories and three Japanese
aircraft damaged, most of these successes being
achieved during the Battle of Midway. Flying
VF-8 Hellcats between March and October 1944,
he added another seven confirmed victories and
three aircraft damaged.
Between March and November 1944, VF-8
flew a total of 192 operations comprising 2,107
combat sorties, together with a further 986 patrol,
antisubmarine, reconnaissance-interception
and rescue sorties. VF-8’s pilots claimed 151
confirmed and 19 probable victories, with another
36 enemy aircraft reported damaged. In attacks
on Japanese shipping, the Hellcat pilots claimed
vessels totalling 43,450 tons sunk, a further
31,700 tons probably sunk, and ships amounting to
60,200 tons damaged.
Seven VF-8 pilots and 34 Hellcats were lost
in combat - effectively representing almost
100 percent attrition of the squadron’s aircraft
strength. During the same period, CAG 8’s combat
operations from USS Bunker Hill also cost it
23 Avengers and no fewer than 72 Helldivers.
VF-8 was re-formed at NAS Alameda on
1 January 1945. After serving at several bases, it
returned to the Pacific aboard USS Bennington in
September 1945, but was disbanded in November
of that year.
Illustration: Adam Tooby
The Fighting Eight
Text: Jan Bobek
INFO Eduard
41
September 2026