Fighting Seventeen: A Photographic History of VF-17 in World War II

This is the true story in photographs, of the famous U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron Seventeen.
Flying the new Chance Vought F4U Corsair they broke combat records in the Pacific and
were instrumental in proving this powerful new fighter to the Navy in World War II.
Amongst Fighting 17's heroic exploits were shooting down 152 Japanese aircraft in aerial
combat in only 76 days, no bomber escorted by them was lost to enemy air action, no ship for
which they provided cover was hit by enemy bombs or aerial torpedoes, and they never failed
to complete an assignment.
Tom Blackburn always stressed teamwork and led the squadron to a Navy Unit
Commendation and made the "Skull and Crossbones Squadron" one of the most successful
squadron's in the annals of air warfare.
Fighting 17 flew more combat hours and sorties than any other fighter squadron in the Pacific
up to that time. The squadron had thirteen aces with "Ike" Kepford the leading Navy ace at
that time. One of the outstanding contributions made by Fighting 17 was providing proof,
under battle conditions, of the suitability of the F4U for carrier operations and were first into
combat flying off a carrier with the Corsair.
Lee Cook, author of "The Skull and Crossbones Squadron - VF-17 in World War II"
(Schiffer), and leading authority on Tom Blackburn's Fighting 17; after years of original
research, has brought to life in this book considerable new information and also more than
850 photographs covering the squadron's history many of which have not previously
appeared in published works.