WW2 Navy Squadron patch ID: VC-14

[MAW]

This patch is on an aviator's kit bag, and belonged to a vet who served as a backseat gunner on a Grumman that flew off of the USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) during WW2. The carrier earned 5 battle stars, and saw a good bit of action.

 

I haven't been able to identify this patch so far....although it seems like it should be for VC-14, VC-88, or VC-99...all of which are Navy Composite squadrons that flew off the carrier.

 

It is painted canvas...and originated from the family.

 

 

Can anyone positively ID this patch?

 

[pararaftanr2]

Per Fold3.com, their squadron history shows that as the insignia of VC-14.

[MAW]

Wow...thanks for that. It's amazing how little information is available on them online.

[Johnny Signor]

Correct ID ......

[Johnny Signor]

One more ........

[pararaftanr2]

Here is a squadron roster of the enlisted men from the end of their cruise. Hopefully you can find your man on it. Interestingly, the squadron history complains that on their seven month long cruise, they only flew combat air patrols (the fighters) and anti-submarine patrols (the torpedo bombers) and had no contact with the enemy. One pilot was killed when his Wildcat crashed on takeoff.

[Salvage Sailor]

Perhaps she never experienced any air to air combat with Japanese fighters in 1944 while hunting submarines, but she was a carrier combat veteran.

 

USS HOGGATT BAY had a typical Pacific war record for an escort carrier and she was in combat for over a year and a half and then repatriated POW's and was a Magic Carpet vessel too. She spent 1944 controlling a hunter-killer Carrier-Destroyer force which sank at least 3 submarines, including one sunk by aerial bombs and rockets from her air squadron. Her planes also sank two destroyers. She earned five battle stars including Peleilu, Lingayen Gulf, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. In 1944 her hunter killer squadron was VC-14. In 1945-46 she had VC-88 and then VC-99 aboard. They did engage in aerial combat with suicide planes and provided direct air support in these campaigns. She had 10 submarines and at least 6 Japanese planes painted on her bridge wing kill board.

 

From her Philippine campaign statistics and record

 

Off Lingayen and: Leyte, together: we made 2,153 combat flights; 463 were acting sorties, dropping 185 tons of bombs and firing 1,181 rockets

While the battleships blasted the beaches, carrier planes bombed, rocketed and strafed supply buildings, ground installations, fuel storage tanks, barges, ammunition dump, railroad yard, communications lines, shipping, destroyed aircraft in the air and on the ground, and scored a direct hit on an enemy submarine in the Gulf.

Lieutenant (jg) C. L. Newburn, USNR, was shot down during the heat of battle by friendly forces in the Gulf after he had shot down an enemy "Nick" making a suicide dive on one of our cruisers. He was rescued· by a friendly destroyer.

In the Okinawa Campaign,

During this period of forty-seven days, Composite Squadron 99 flew 1327 sorties of all types, of which 676 were combat missions. About 50 tons of bombs were dropped on enemy airfields and installations and another 90 tons on other enemy installations. More than a thousand five-inch rockets were expended plus hundreds of thousands of rounds of .50 calibre ammunition.

The results of these expenditures included two enemy aircraft destroyed in the air, two aircraft on the ground, eleven mortar and heavy gun positions, seventeen anti-aircraft batteries, twenty-three buildings, thirty-nine caves housing enemy troops, and two trucks. Other items destroyed were small boats, oil and fuel dumps, supply dumps, troop shelters and one bridge.

 

 

This link is to her 1945-1946 WWII Cruise Book (downloadable) which has her combat history, photos and records including a complete crew roster and a photo and roster of the first VC-14 aboard in 1944

 

The story of the U.S.S. Hoggatt Bay (1946) - Click on the download link to see the book at https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/201/

 

Photo USS HOGGATT BAY Hunting Submarines in 1944

A 2,000 pound bomb on the flight deck of USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75). Photograph dated 8 January 1944.

Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo #80-G-304440.

 

 

[pararaftanr2]

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't disparaging the squadron, or the ship and certainly not the members of that squadron. I just found it interesting that in their official U.S. Navy squadron history, they were lamenting their lack of "action". In addition to the one pilot lost in an accident, the history also notes 43 casualties injured in deck landing accidents. Thanks for that link to the ship's cruise book.

[walika]

I included a patch from my collection for VC-14 in a post, here.

[Brian Keith]

Air operations are dangerous, even more so on an aircraft carrier. Nice item! Thanks for posting it.

BKW

[jerry_k]

Looks like this bag showed twice at liveauctioneers.com:

 

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/en-gb/item/100531348_wwii-uss-hoggatt-bay-cve-75-vc-14-squadron-patch

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/106486873_wwii-uss-hoggatt-bay-cve-75-vc-14-squadron-patch

 

Be careful about purchase it - someone repaint a patch.

 

Orgin patch:

Auctions patch:

 

Can't believe in that... ahhhh

 

 

Take care,

Jerry