F4u-1A Corsair ‘Jolly Rogers’ Early VF-17 US NAVY
The Jolly Rogers were initiated during World War II as US Navy Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17) on January 1, 1943 under the command of LCDR Tom Blackburn. The squadron was one of the first Navy squadrons to fly the Vought F4U Corsair fighter. Formally in charge of training new navy fighter pilots in Florida, Blackburn quickly got his new squadron up to speed and they soon deployed into combat aboard the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill (CV-17).
Prior to their deployment in the Pacific the Navy suddenly changed plans and decided to replace all Corsair squadrons on aircraft carriers with the Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter. The reason for this move was that many commanders had submitted negative reviews of the Corsair’s carrier suitability, as it was a difficult plane to master, especially compared to the easy-to-fly Hellcat. Time would correct this initial change and later during WW2 Corsair Squadrons would again be deployed as Carrier Aircraft and this continued in later years to the Korean Conflict.
So before VF17 had a chance to fire a shot, they were off-loaded from Bunker Hill and reassigned to land bases on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. Because their plane was called the “Corsair”, VF-17’s men wanted a squadron name that would correspond with that pirate theme which would reflect the proper ‘attitude’. Soon thereafter, a black flag with white skull-and-crossbones (the “Jolly Roger”) was painted on either side of the F4Us engine cowlings, and the squadron’s nickname was born.
“Whispering Death” was what the Japanese called the F4U Corsair during World War II. Appropriately so, as the last thing many Japanese pilots saw was a Corsair in their 6 o’clock position. More appropriate was the Skull and Crossbones, or Jolly Roger, painted on the noses of one particular group of Corsairs – those of Navy Squadron VF-17. This symbol flew from the masts of pirate ships who once sailed the seas looking for treasure to plunder. To cross paths with pirates meant death for those who chose to fight with them. From October 1943 to March 1944 many unfortunate Japanese pilots crossed paths with the Jolly Rogers and were dispatched in short order.
The Japanese stronghold on Rabaul, on the northeast corner of New Britain, remained a major thorn in the side of South Pacific Allied operations. In order to neutralise this threat, Task Group 50.3 (including the carriers Essex,Independence and Bunker Hill) launched a major strike on the morning of 1 November 1943.
While the carrier-based planes struck Rabaul, several land-based squadrons were assigned to CAP the task group. Fighting-17 joined VMF-212, VMF-221, the Hellcat-flying VF-33, and a squadron of New Zealand P-40s in this mission. The Jolly Rogers were to take off at 0400, CAP from dawn to 0900, refuel and (if needed) rearm on the carriers, and continue the CAP at 1030 until fuel/ammo/damage demanded they return to Ondongo.
After an hour of early-morning CAP, Blackburn destroyed a lone incoming Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 which was detected by shipboard radar. There was no further action by 0900, when VF-17 and -33 landed to refuel. Blackburn noted that these landings proved to any skeptics that the Corsair was indeed carrier-worthy.
Morning faded into early afternoon, and the weather conditions over the task force began to degenerate. Puffy clouds developed into massive cumulous clouds; visibility shrank. At 1300, radar detected a large inbound Japanese strike, and the CAP was scrambled to intercept. A few minutes out from the carriers, the pilots of VF-17 sighted 65 Zekes escorting 25 Val dive bombers and 15 Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers. They dove onto the Zekes with a considerable altitude advantage and all of the Jolly Rogers bagged at least one kill or more.
The remainder of the Nakajima B5N’s emerged from the protective clouds and initiated a torpedo run on the Bunker Hill. They were quickly bounced. As the planes closed on the carrier, 40mm and 20mm AA erupted around them and sent huge plumes of water before and between the planes. Fighting 17 engaged them again, this time destroying what was left of the Japanese attack.
For the day’s action in what came to be called The Battle of the Solomon Sea, VF-17 was credited with 18.5 confirmed kills and 7 damaged Japanese planes. Two pilots, Baker and Hill, were forced to ditch their planes on-route to Ondongo; both were successfully rescued. The battle was a major strategic victory for the Allies, as the Japanese gave up all attempts to repel the invasion of Bougainville afterwards. Instead, they attempted whatever holding action they could in the Solomons while withdrawling their forces to the strongholds of Truk and Rabaul.
Tom Blackburn wanted fearless, aggressive pilots in the squadron. He didn’t always discourage the raucous behavior of his pilots, as some in the Navy thought he should, but he ended up with the type of team he needed. Aggressiveness was an essential in all successful fighter units of the war.
Under his command, VF-17 became the highest scoring Navy Corsair squadron of WWII. They destroyed 154 Japanese planes in 76 days, beating the record of ‘Pappy’ Boyington’s notorious Black Sheep VMF 214, a US Marine Squadron.
Although they were only there for a very short span of time, Navy Squadron VF-17 played an important role in shaping the course of WWII and the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific. The “Jolly Rogers” is continued to this day in the US Navy with VF-84 and VFA-103.
Colors camo :
- Insignia White ANA 601: All versions of Insignia White have had subtle changes after each new standard is introduced. IW 46 appears to have a slightly warm tint compared to the more ivory-like post-war FS 17875 which superseded it. Colourcoats is the only range to offer what appears to be a IW 46 match (ACUS10), labeled USN Non-Spectacular White, which is separate from its ANA successor. Mr. Paint has a specific ANA 601 match as well (MRP-135), which would be more appropriate than the post-war FS 17875.
- Intermediate Blue ANA 608: This is a widely available color that unfortunately is all too often believed to be identical to the post-war color that superseded it, FS 35164. Unfortunately the latter is noticeably darker and will result in a model having too little contrast with Sea Blue. Given that their respective hues are close enough, a solution is to lighten it up (2:1 ratio with white works). Tamiya’s XF-18 (labeled as Medium Blue) appears to be their equivalent but is more saturated than it should be and more resembles the more colorful version seen on many restored aircraft (which though beautiful is inaccurate). It is possible that Gunze’s newer C366 (from its USN paint set) might match the wartime shade but I have yet to test it; its basic one (H56/C72) appears far more like the post-war shade. All specific matches to FS 35164 are listed in parenthesis given the difference in color, while those that match both ANA 608/FS 35164 are listed with an asterisk.
- NS Sea Blue ANA 607: Given the controversy over the differences between ANA 607 and ANA 623, only matches to the former are given here without parenthesis. Gunze’s Navy Blue (H54/C14) appears to be their version of ANA 607 and is noticeably lighter than Midnight Blue (H55/C71) which presumably is intended to match ANA 623. AK Real Colors, Hataka, and Model Master have separate Sea Blue and Dark Sea Blue, the former which represent ANA 607. Mr Paint is the only other range to have a specific ANA 607, and AMMO by Mig has one match for ANA 606/FS 25052. Beware of Tamiya Sea Blue XF-17 which has a greenish tint. For purposes of this paint chart, ANA 607 equivalents should match FS 35042 while ANA 623 equivalents should match FS 15042. In practice, it is my belief that the differences are too minor to be of significance and that the most important thing for a model to look good is to get the right contrasts between the two blues.
- SG Sea Blue ANA 606: Nearly identical in hue to ANA 607, it is not listed in the paint table as any satin sheen on ANA 607 suffices. Colourcoats is the only range to offer a specific ANA 606 paint (ACUS07). Unless one insists on extreme color pedantry, all that is necessary is paint as ANA 607 and give it a satin coat
| ANA 601 | ANA 608 | ANA 607 | ANA 606 | |
| Insignia White | Intermediate Blue | NS Sea Blue | SG Sea Blue | |
| Schemes | ||||
| Basic | Lower | Sides | Upper | Wings |
| Color matches | ||||
| Gunze Aqueous | H316* | H56 | H54 | (H54) |
| Gunze Mr Color | C316* | C72 / C366* | C14 | (C14) |
| Humbrol | – | (144) | (181) | (181) |
| Model Master | 1745* | (1720) | 1718* | (1718) |
| Revell | – | – | – | – |
| Tamiya | – | XF-18 (!) | XF-17 (!) | (XF-17) (!) |
| Vallejo Model Air | 71.279* | 71.299* | 71.295* | (71.295) |
| Vallejo Model Color | (70.820) | (70.903) | 70.898* | (70.898) |
| AKAN | (73146) | (72050) | 72042* | (72.042) |
| AK Interactive | AK 2052* | (AK 2054) | AK 2233 | (AK 2233) |
| AK Real Colors | RC222* | (RC235) | RC257 | (RC257) |
| AMMO by Mig | – | (A.MIG-228) | (A.MIG-227) | (A.MIG-227) |
| Colourcoats | ACUS10 | ACUS08 | ACUS33 | ACUS07 |
| Hataka | HTK-_043* | HTK-_027* | HTK-_006 | (HTK-_006) |
| Lifecolor | – | UA 045* | UA 044* | (UA 044) |
| Mission Models | MMP-104* | (MMP-071) | MMP-062* | (MMP-062) |
| Mr Paint | MRP-135 | MRP-136 | MRP-237* | (MRP-237) |
| Xtracolor | X141* | (X125) | (X121) | (X121) |
| Xtracrylix | XA1141* | (XA1125) | (XA1121) | (XA1121) |
F4u-1 Birdcage Corsair VF-17 NAVY
