USS YORKTOWN

USS YORKTOWN (CV-10) 14 July 1945

VF-88 fought the last dogfight of WW2. Four pilots were lost in that fight.

Tragedy struck 'The Fighting Lady' today. Captain Walter F. Boone's carrier was launching aircraft of Commander Seth S. Searcy, Junior's Carrier AirGroup 88 for a strike against the Japanese home islands.

During the launch, a midair collision killed the skipper of VF-88, LCDR Richard Crommelin. One of five Navy brothers, four of whom were aviators, Dick Crommelin was the second to die in a midair collision. His older brother Charlie had been lost in similar circumstances just three months previously.
From: Aircraft Carrier Study Group

John Willis is the pilot at the lower right in VF-88's ready room with his CO Malcolm Cagle, who later became an Admiral