VF-191

VF-191 "Satan's Kittens" was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. It was established in 1943 and disestablished in 1978. It was reactivated for a short time again between 1986 and 1988.

History

VF-191 was established as fighter squadron VF-19 "Bulldogs" on 15 August 1943. On 15 November 1946 it was redesignated VF-19A. On 24 August 1948 it was finally redesignated VF-191 and adopted the new nickname "Satan's Kittens". It was disestablished on 01 March 1978.

VF-191 and sister squadron VF-194 were the two shortest lived F-14 squadrons in history. The original VF-191 took part in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During the latter conflict the squadron took part in several combat cruises, flying variants of the F-8 Crusader. After Vietnam VF-191 continued operations with the F-8 until 1976, when they transitioned to the F-4 Phantom II. A single cruise in the F-4 followed, as VF-191 was disestablished in 1978.The VF-191 established on the December 4, 1986 can claim the unit's name and markings but it did not have the heritage of the original VF-191. After training with VF-124, and being due to deploy onboard the USS Independence (CV-62) as part of CVW-10 with the F-14A Tomcat, VF-191 was disestablished April 30, 1988, before the cruise could take place.

Deployments

References

* [http://gonavy.jp/SqnDeployment02f.html Deployments of USN fighter squadrons]
* [http://www.tomcatalley.com/squadron/vf191his.htm VF-191 History]