VT-8 was assigned initially to the air group of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, joining the ship shortly after her commissioning in October 1941.

Flying obsolete Douglas TBD Devastators, all of Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron's fifteen planes were shot down during their unescorted torpedo attack on Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers.

Just prior to the Battle of Midway, the reconstituted VT-8 was the first squadron equipped with the new Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, a bigger, faster, longer-ranged replacement for the TBD.

When Hornet sailed to the Pacific, a detachment of the squadron under the command of Lieutenant Harold "Swede" Larsen remained in Norfolk, Virginia to receive the first shipment of the new aircraft.

They attacked without fighter cover, and five of the Avengers were shot down, with only Ensign Albert K. Earnest and Radioman 2nd Class Harry Ferrier surviving, on a badly shot-up plane with damaged controls and landing gear, and a dead rear-gunner.

[1] The Wildcats' deployment was ultimately of no consequence, however, as Ring led the group on an incorrect heading, so the dive bombers never made contact with the Japanese fleet.

[1] Waldron's initiative coupled with Ring's faulty tactics led to VT-8 attacking the Japanese force without fighter or dive bomber support.

[citation needed] Larsen's detachment of VT-8 that remained at Pearl Harbor was loaded aboard USS Saratoga when she was sent to reinforce the forces at Midway.

When Saratoga was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, the squadron was assigned to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, where it served as part of the Cactus Air Force.

VT-8 pilots and air crew also participated in the ground defense of Henderson Field, assisting to fend off Japanese infantry attacks on 24–26 October 1942.