Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack squadron, currently consisting of F-35B Lightning II stealth STOVL strike fighter jets. Known as the "Wake Island Avengers" and the "Bastion Defenders", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma , Arizona and falls under the command of ...

During the course of this defense, the Marine ground forces and VMF-211 caused the loss of at least four enemy warships, including the first major Japanese naval vessels sunk during the Pacific...

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Marine Fighting Squadron 211 (VMF-211) operated the F4U Corsair in the South Pacific during World War II.

Dec 23, 2024 · Defense artillery sank a Japanese destroyer, Hayate, while VMF-211’s four remaining Wildcats sank another destroyer, Kisaragi. The invasion force flagship, light cruiser Yubari , was bracketed by the Marine’s shore-based guns, and the Japanese force withdrew.

It was VMF-211’s first wartime combat air patrol. Any attack was expected to come from the Imperial Japanese Navy’s 24th Air Flotilla based at Roi, 720 miles south of Wake in the Marshall Islands.

In November 1941, VMF-211 embarked 12 of its 24 Wildcats and 13 of its 29 pilots aboard the USS Enterprise for movement to Wake Island, the scene of the squadron's heroic battle. On December 8, 1941 the Japanese attacked Wake, destroying seven of the aircraft on the ground.

Oct 11, 2019 · VMF-211 lost seven of its twelve aircraft on the first day of fighting, before they ever got off the ground. Only five aircraft remained. They were sturdy, barrel-shaped Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats,...

Aug 11, 2017 · VMF-211 achieved a rare success by sinking a Japanese destroyer, and it also claimed nine enemy planes shot down before the last Wildcat was destroyed. After the island was seized on December 23 the surviving squadron members spent the rest of the war in captivity.

VMFA-211 is one of two F-35B Lightning II squadrons assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Its mission is to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft under all weather conditions and attack and destroy surface targets in support of Marine expeditionary forces.

During the Royal Navy carrier’s initial operating deployment, VMFA-211 and the United Kingdom’s 617 squadron completed more than 1,278 sorties, flew more than 2200 hours, and conducted 44 combat...