VB-86 "The Galloping Ghost" & VBF-86 "Vapor Trails" | CVG-86 | USS Wasp (CV-18)

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VB-86 "The Galloping Ghost" & VBF-86 "Vapor Trails" | CVG-86 | USS Wasp (CV-18)


VB-86 | "The Galloping Ghost"

Bombing 86

 

Established: 15 Jun, 1944 at Wildwood, NJ

Disestablished: 1945 Boston, MA

Aircraft: Helldiver SB2C-3, SB2C-4, SB2C-4E, SB2C-5

Embroidered on twill.

VB-86 was commissioned on June 15, 1944 at Wildwood, New Jersey and then moved to Otis Field, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts where together with VF, VBF and VT, Carrier Air Group 86 was formed. On December 1, 1944 VB-86 traveled by train to San Diego to board the USS Munda Bay for transportation to Hawaii. After more training at Naska, Maui, they boarded the USS Independence bound for Ulithi. There they became a part of Fast Carrier Task Force 58 aboard the carrier WASP and made strikes against the Japanese homeland. The WASP was hit by a Kamikaze on March 19, 1945 and was so extensively damaged that she was sent back to Seattle to be repaired. The squadron got new planes at this time, and on July 11, 1945 was on its way back to the forward area and again joined the Fast Carrier Task Force for further operations against the Japanese. Bombing 86 made a strike against Kure and during the dive bombing pull out were within sight of Hiroshima the day before the atomic bomb was dropped. Because of damage to the bow during a hurricane as the war ended, the WASP was relieved of duty and sent home with Air Group 86 aboard through the Panama Canal to Boston, Massachusetts where Bombing 86 was decommissioned. It is almost impossible to believe that this many men could travel that many miles and fly that many planes in combat in a short year and a half.

 

The Bomber Fighter Squadrons were created to reduce the Fighter Squadrons in an Air Group to an acceptable size. Fighter Squadrons had up to 60 planes and 100 pilots. Normally a Fighter Squadron was split in two to create a Bomber Fighter Squadron.

 

VBF-86| "Vapor Trails"
Fighting 86

 

Established: January 1945 NAS Kahului, Maui, HI.

 

Disstablished: 21 November 1945

Aircraft: FG-1, F4U-1A, F4U-1D, F4U-4

 

Silkscreened on canvas.

 

 

 

Hand-painted on canvas.

 

Lt.Cdr. Horace Tennes was an expert aviator who had learned to fly before joining the Navy. Previously skipper of VF-86, his Wasp BombFitRon was further distinguished as one of only five squadrons to fly carrier-based F4U-4s in combat during WW II.

VBF-86 got off to a good start aboard Wasp. Ens. Dick Wear downed a Nakajima Myrt 40 miles southwest of the task group on 18 March 1945, then added a Mitsubishi Betty the next day. Three other pilots also scored on the 19th, the day Wasp sustained serious bomb damage with more than 370 casualties.

Sensing a kill, the Japanese pressed their advantage, seeking to finish off Wasp before she steamed out of range. But Ens. Mitchell Flint splashed a Myrt snooper on the 20th, the Pippers' sixth kill.

Upon returning to combat in June, VBF-86 had only one more chance at airborne hostiles. During the noon hour of 8 August, Lt. Liburn Edmonston caught a Nick twin-engine recon plane 75 miles from the task force and shot it down. He became the sixth pilot contributing to the squadron's record of seven aerial victories.

Source: Tillman, Barrett. U. S. Navy Fighter Squadrons in World War II. pp 103-104.

 

 

CV-18 USS Wasp | "The Mighty Stinger"

CVG-86
Shakedown: March 1945 - 13. April 1945
West Pacific: 1. July 1945 - 27. October 1945

 

 

 

 

 

 

F4U Corsairs of Fighting Squadron VBF-86 flying from USS Wasp (Essex-class), Aug 1945.

 

 

 

 

F4U-1D Corsairs of Fighting Squadron VBF-86 flying from USS Wasp (Essex-class), 1945.

 

 

 

 

SB2C-4s of Bombing Squadron 86 (VB-86) off USS Wasp (CV-18) participate in mass fly by of Task Force 38 1945

 

 

 

SB2C Helldiver of Bombing Squadron VB-86 approaching the carrier Wasp (Essex-class) near Japan, 1945. Note the white radar pod under the wing, and arresting hook deployed for landing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VB-86 | Bombing 86

VBF-86 | Fighting 86