A Photographic History of VF17 in World War II. This is the true story in photographs, of the famous U.S. Navy Fighting 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 17s heroic exploits were shooting down 152 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat in only seventy-six days. Tom Blackburn led the squadron to a Navy Unit Commendation and made the Skull and Crossbones Squadron one of the most successful squadrons in the annals of air warfare.