Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. The first VF-33 was originally commissioned in 6 August 1942 and disestablished on 19 November 1945. A second VF-33 was then reactivated on 11 October 1948. With the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War, this squadron was disestablished on 1 October 1993.
The first fighter squadron ("FitRon" in USN parlance[1]) to be designated as Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) was originally established as VGS-16 on 6 August 1942 and then redesignated as VC-16 on 1 March 1943. VC-16 was redesignated VF-33 on 15 August 1943 and equipped with the GrummanF6F Hellcat making their combat debut in the Solomon Islands. VF-33 was the first US Navy unit to use the F6F in the Solomon Islands campaign, being joined soon after by VF-38 and VF-40.
The VF-33 Tarsiers patch featuring "Minky", a Tarsier monkey.
VF-33 was land based at this time, supporting the island-hopping Pacific War campaign. By the end of 1943 VF-33 was credited with 60 Japanese aircraft shot down, and had produced three aces (five or more kills); Lt.(jg)Frank E. Schnieder with seven kills, Lt. C. K. Hildebrandt with five kills, and Lt.(jg) James J. Kinsella also with five kills, three on VF-33, two flying F4F-4s with VF-72.[2][3] During the Second World War VF-33's patch was a black "Hellcat" leaping out of red flames on a white circle outlined in red; the motto "The Hellcats" was written in black script.[4] After the war, VF-33 was disestablished on 19 November 1945.
A second Fighter Squadron 33 was established on 11 October 1948 and equipped with the Chance-VoughtF4U-4 Corsair. It was assigned to Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3) and made two deployments on the aircraft carrierUSS Leyte (CV-32). The first was to theMediterranean Sea in mid-1950 quickly followed by a combat deployment to Korea from September 1950 to February 1951. For its action in the Korean warVF-33 earned the Navy Unit Citation. The squadron called themselves the "Tarsiers", which was a fierce monkey. The squadron affectionately called their Tarsier "Minky".
Following its deployment to Korea VF-33 returned to the U.S. East Coast and transitioned to the Grumman F9F-6 Cougar. The squadron was assigned toCarrier Air Group Six (CVG-6) and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS Midway (CVA-41) in 1954. After this tour the Tarsiers again transitioned to the North American FJ-3 Fury and made three deployments in 1956 and 1957 to the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, this time aboard the carriersUSS Lake Champlain (CV-39), USS Leyte (CVS-32), and USS Intrepid (CVA-11). Aboard Intrepid VF-33 took part in the NATO exercise Operation Strikeback. As part of a series of exercises to simulate an all-out Soviet attack on NATO, Operation Strikeback was tasked with two objectives. Its initial objective was the deployment of NATO's naval forces (designated the "Blue Fleet") against other NATO forces attempting to simulate an "enemy" navy that featured a large number of submarines (designated the "Orange Fleet"). Its other objective was to have the Blue Fleet execute carrier-based air strikesagainst "enemy" formations and emplacements along NATO's northern flank inNorway. Operation Strikeback involved over 200 warships, 650 aircraft, and 75,000 personnel.
In 1958 VF-33 transitioned to the supersonic Grumman F11F-1 Tiger and was renamed Astronauts. As part of CVG-6 VF-33 made two tours to the Mediterranean Sea aboard the Intrepid.
In early 1961 the squadron changed already to its fourth jet fighter in seven years, the Vought F8U-1E Crusader, and changed its name back to Tarsiers. VF-33 took its F8U-1E (F-8B) again aboard Intrepid to the Med in 1961-62 and was then equipped with the F8U-2NE (F-8E) version. The squadron was then deployed aboard the first nuclear poweredaircraft carrierUSS Enterprise (CVAN-65), to the Mediterranean Sea in August 1962. However,Enterprise was recalled in October to reinforce the naval blockade of Cubaduring the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1963 Enterprise and CVW-6 were again deployed to the United States Sixth Fleet, before taking part in Operation Sea Orbit in 1964. This was the around-the-world cruise of the United States Navy's Task Force One, consisting of USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), USS Long Beach (CGN-9), and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25). This all-nuclear-powered unit steamed 56,606 km (30,565 nm) unrefuelled around the world for sixty-five days.
In 1964 the unit transitioned to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II and would fly the Phantom for the next seventeen years alongside its sister squadron VF-102. The first VF-33 Phantom was the F-4B, which they flew until 1967 at which time they moved up to the F-4J which featured better radar, higher thrust engines, slatted tailplanes, extra fuel cells and a larger main wheels to handle the increased weight. Between 1965 and 1968 Carrier Air Wing Six made the shakedown cruise and three deployments aboard the USS America (CVA-66).
VF-33 won several awards including the CNO Safety Award in 1969 and 1970 and during the 1975–1976 cruise they won the Golden Tailhook Award as the Navy recognised their skill at carrier landing. In February 1979 VF-33 had flown three years without accident. In early 1979 VF-33 also operated from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) during that carrier's shakedown cruise.
VF-33 F-14A Tomcats during training prior to a deployment.
In 1981 VF-33 transitioned to the Grumman F-14A Tomcat along with VF-102 and joined Carrier Air Wing One assigned to USS America (CV-66). Until 1992 VF-33 made twelve deployments with CVW-1 aboard the America to the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Their first deployment was a grueling North Atlantic NATO deployment (Northern Wedding) between August and October 1982. VF-33 has used stars as part of their tail markings since the Crusader days and settled on a large star for their latter F-4 tenure and as the main symbol on the Tomcat. In 1987, they abandoned "Minky" and changed their name from Tarsiers to Starfighters, which was their radio callsign. The new patch featured a large star with a head-on view of a Tomcat. On 20 August 1985 VF-33 was the first squadron to complete 50 missile firings without a single failure.
In March 1986 VF-33 would bring their F-14s into a combat environment for the first time on board USS America with Carrier Air Wing 1 as they took part in Operation Attain Document in the Mediterranean Sea alongside the Saratoga andUSS Coral Sea (CV-43). VF-33 engaged two Libyan MiG-25s with intent on shooting down the F-14s, but the Tomcats outmaneuvered the Libyans and ended behind the Libyan fighters, but the pilots did not have permission to open fire. Along with VF-102 they provided air cover during the operation as the carrier group moved into the Gulf of Sidra, which was claimed by Libya to be the Line of Death. Libya claimed its territorial waters extended across the entire Gulf of Sidra as opposed to the internationally recognised limit of 12 miles, and because of this claim, any airplane or ship within these waters was in Libyan territory and liable to attack. US carriers occasionally challenged this assertion resulting in the first VF-41 Tomcat engagements with Libyan fighters in August 1981.
