Two U.S. Navy McDonnell F2H-2 <i>Banshee</i>s (BuNo 124954, 124969) of Fighter Squadron 172 (VF-172) "Blue Bolts" returning to the aircraft carrier USS <i>Essex</i> (CV-9). VF-172 was assigned to Carrier Air Group 5 (CVG-5) aboard the <i>Essex</i> for a deployment to the Western Pacific and Korea from from 26 June 1951 to 25 March 1952.<br>Note: All other aircraft of <i>CVG-5</i> had the tail code "S" during that deployment, but VF-172's tail code was "R".
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Unknown author<span style="display: none;">Unknown author</span></div>
from 1951 until 1952 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1951-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P580,+1951-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P582,+1952-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
U.S. Navy photo <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-97000/NH-97270.html">NH 97270</a>