The first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the hottest outfit afloat due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second Fighting Two was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr Edward H Butch OHare, the Medal of Honor-winning first US Navy ace of World War 2, that he requested the squadron replace VF-6 in his CAG-6 aboard USS Enterprise. No unit US Navy unit created more aces than VF-2, whose pilots went into action over the Carolines, Marianas, Guam, Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Using exquisite photographs and first-hand accounts from the elite fliers themselves, this volume tells the story of the ace pilots who comprised the original VF-2 and the second.

Contents

- Prewar activity and Battle of the Coral Sea, which gives the original unit its first, and only, taste of combat.

- Overview of the formation and training in the United - States of the second Fighting Two, and its first experience of combat in the Gilberts Invasion.

- Development of nightfighters, VF-2 working with Butch OHare to create the US Navys first nightfighter capability, and the loss of OHare in combat.

- Operation Forager and the Battle of the Philippine Sea the Marianas Turkey Shoot and the Mission Beyond Darkness.

- The Bonins Campaign air battles over Iwo Jima in July 1944 and completion of the Marianas Campaign.

- Task Force 38 and the Philippines Campaign. Air battles throughout the Philippine Islands in September 1944 that brought about the later invasion of Leyte Gulf.