Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Four
VP-24 was officially named what between May 1946 and May 1946?
VP-24 Patrol Squadron 24 ( VP-24 ) was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S . Navy . The squadron was established as Bombing Squadron One Hundred Four ( VB-104 ) on 10 April 1943 , redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Four ( VPB-104 ) on 1 October 1944 , redesignated as Patrol Squadron One Hundred Four ( VP-104 ) on 15 May 1946 , redesignated Heavy Patrol Squadron ( Landplane ) Four ( VP-HL-4 ) on 15 November 1946 , redesignated Patrol Squadron Twenty Four ( VP-24 ) on 1 September 1948 , the third squadron to be assigned the VP-24 designation , redesignated Attack Mining Squadron Thirteen ( VA-HM-13 ) on 1 July 1956 , redesignated Patrol Squadron Twenty Four ( VP-24 ) on 1 July 1959 and disestablished 30 April 1995 . Operational history . World War II . - 10 April 1943 : VB-104 was established at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii . The squadron was formed with a cadre of personnel from VP-71 and equipped with the PB4Y-1 Liberator . The squadron came under the operational control of Fleet Air Wing TWO ( FAW-2 ) . Daily patrols were commenced immediately after formation , covering the approaches to Midway , Johnston Island and Canton Island . It was mid-July before the squadron attained its full complement of aircraft and personnel . - 15 August 1943 : Training at Kaneohe was completed and orders were received to proceed to Carney Field , Guadalcanal , under the operational control of Fleet Air Wing ONE ( FAW-1 ) , replacing VB-101 . When the squadron arrived the aircrews commenced daily search missions , formation missions against enemy land targets , and photoreconnaissance and Dumbo ( air-sea rescue ) missions . - 26 August 1943 : Commander Harry E . Sears , squadron commanding officer , led an eight-aircraft strike on a Japanese destroyer task force attempting to evacuate personnel from Rekata Bay , Santa Isabel Island . The attack , made at sunset 90 miles off Buka Passage , disrupted the evacuation and left one of the destroyers heavily damaged . - 2 September 1943 : A squadron attack against enemy facilities at Kahili Airfield was led by Commander Sears on this date , joined by elements from several Army bomber squadrons . The airfield and parked enemy aircraft were heavily damaged with the squadron suffering only minor damage from heavy antiaircraft fire . - 27 January 1944 : Commander Harry E . Sears was awarded the Navy Cross for heroic actions while leading his squadron in combat during the period 26 August to 4 November 1943 . In addition to leading several squadron attacks , he and his crew were credited , during separate actions , with the destruction of one enemy twin-engine bomber , damage to two enemy fighters , sinking one Japanese combination oiler and ammunition ship , damaging another oiler and damaging one enemy submarine . - 6 Feb 1944 : VB-104 was relocated from Guadalcanal to Munda Field , New Georgia . Operational tasking was essentially the same as that assigned while at Carney Field . The squadron was relieved by VB-115 on 29 March 1944 , for return to the U.S . for rest and rehabilitation . The squadron record at this time was 30 enemy aircraft destroyed or damaged , 51 ships sunk or damaged , with 1,252 sorties in a seven-month tour . - 15 May 1944 : The squadron was reformed at NAAS Kearney Field , California , under the operational control of FAW-14 . A small cadre was present on this date , while the majority of personnel were at Naval Air Station Hutchinson , Kansas , undergoing operational flight training on the PB4Y-1 . The latter completed this phase of training and reported to NAAS Kearney Field on 21 June 1944 . - 28 July 1944 : VB-104 began the trans-Pacific flight to NAS Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii . Upon arrival the squadron came under the operational control of FAW-2 , and continued its combat patrol training over the waters encircling the Hawaiian Island chain . Anti-submarine warfare ( ASW ) training was introduced into the curriculum during this phase . - 30 October 1944 : VPB-104 departed Kaneohe for Morotai . The last squadron aircraft arrived on 3 November 1944 , with operational control over the squadron exercised by Fleet Air Wing SEVENTEEN ( FAW-17 ) . Upon commencement of operations the squadron was assigned search and offensive reconnaissance patrols , strike missions on enemy shipping , night patrols and special tracking missions . - 11 November 1944 : Lieutenant Maurice Hill and his crew were attacked by enemy fighters while on patrol between Leyte and Cebu . Hills crew was flying a PB4Y-1 equipped with a radar set in place of the customary belly turret . This lack of defensive armament was quickly noted by the Japanese fighter pilots , and the bomber was shot down near Pacijan Island . Filipino natives rescued the four survivors of the crash and tended their wounds until they could be rescued by a PT boat one week later . The villagers were later executed by the Japanese for giving assistance to the Americans . - 1 December 1944 : VPB-104 was relocated to the Army Air Forces Tacloban Airfield , in the southern Philippines . - 12 December 1944 : Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class William E . Abbot was serving as first mechanic on a VPB-104 Liberator on patrol over northwest Borneo when the aircraft came under intense ground fire that penetrated the main bomb bay tank . AMM3C Abbot was able to transfer fuel from the leaking tank to the empty wing tanks , saving enough for the return flight to base . During the process , AMM3C Abbot was overcome by the high-octane fumes and fell to his death through the open bomb bay . He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross . - 26 December 1944 : Lieutenant Paul F . Stevens earned a Navy Cross for his actions on the night of 26 December . While on patrol , Lieutenant Stevens spotted a Japanese task force en route to attack recently established U.S . bases on Mindoro , Philippines . His contact report gave the garrisons time to prepare for the attack and incoming shipping was diverted . After sending the report he attacked the largest ship in the group , believed to be a large cruiser or battleship , scoring two direct hits on the vessel . He remained in the vicinity tracking the progress of the task force , despite the heavy antiaircraft fire from the escorts . - 2 March 1945 : The squadron was relocated to Clark Field , Luzon , Philippines . When the squadron arrived the crews began operational night missions , daily search and reconnaissance patrols , and strikes on targets of opportunity—covering the China Coast to within 30 miles of Shanghai , the coastline of Amami Ōshima , Okinawa and Kitadaitōjima . - 14 March 1945 : Lieutenant Paul Stevens , squadron executive officer , intercepted and damaged Vice Admiral Yamagatas Kawanishi H8K2 flying boat ) off the China Coast . The aircraft flew on for several miles and made a forced landing in an inlet on the coast where it immediately came under fire from Chinese partisans ashore . The admiral and his staff committed suicide and the crew set fire to the aircraft . Admiral Yamagata was en route to Tokyo for an interview with Emperor Hirohito prior to assuming the position of Undersecretary of the Imperial Japanese Navy . Intercepts of enemy radio messages had revealed the admirals intended route , and Lieutenant Stevens was dispatched to intercept him . - 18 October 1945 : Operational patrols ceased in order to prepare the squadron for transfer back to the west coast of the continental U.S . The squadrons record for its second tour was 49 enemy aircraft destroyed , 254 vessels sunk and 12,500 flight hours completed . The squadron departed by sections on 26 October 1945 , for NAS San Diego , California , then on to NAS Floyd Bennett Field , New York . VPB-104 was the only patrol squadron in World War II to receive two Presidential Unit Citations . 1940s - 1960s . - 26 December 1945 : The last squadron aircraft arrived at NAS Floyd Bennett Field , with the squadron coming under the operational control of Fleet Air Wing FIVE ( FAW-5 ) effective 26 November 1945 . - 8 April 1946 : VPB-104 was relocated to Naval Auxiliary Air Station Edenton , North Carolina , for training in ASW . - 22 May 1946 : The training syllabus was completed at Naval Auxillery Air Station Edenton and the squadron was transferred to Naval Air Station Atlantic City , New Jersey . Three crews were given SWOD training at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Chincoteague , Virginia , in September 1946 and April 1947 . The ASM-N-2A Bat air-to-surface guided missile gave the squadron its nickname , the Batmen . The Bat was developed during World War II as a derivative from an earlier glide-bomb project , the Pelican . The Bat skipped several normal stages of development and went directly into combat . During the war it was carried by three squadrons , VPBs 109 , 123 and 124 . Only VPB-109 had any success with the missile , sinking three ships and destroying a large oil tank . The project languished briefly after the war until two squadrons were selected to be designated Bat squadrons : VP-24 in the Atlantic Fleet , and VP-25 in the Pacific . - November 1947 : VP-HL-4 received additional SWOD training during advanced base operations at Naval Station Argentia , Newfoundland . - 29 December 1949 : The squadrons mission was revised to make aerial mining its primary role and reduced Bat operations to a secondary role along with ASW , reconnaissance and anti-shipping . - 22 October 1951 : VP-24 deployed to RAF Luqa , Malta , as the first U.S . Navy squadron to ever operate from the base . - 1 May 1954 : VP-24 flew its last mission at NAS Argentia in the P4Y-2 . It was the last squadron in Fleet Air Wing THREE ( FAW-3 } to fly the Privateer before receiving the P-2V Neptune and the last Atlantic Fleet Bat missile squadron . VP-24 ended its five-month deployment with more than 2,500 flight hours . Several of the squadrons remaining Bat missiles were expended in practice runs on icebergs . - 31 March 1956 : Two patrol squadrons were designated Petrel guided missile squadrons , operating P2V-6M aircraft . The Petrel was an air-to-surface guided missile designed for use by patrol aircraft against shipping . VP-24 was selected as the East Coast squadron , and VP-17 as the West Coast unit . VP-24 was the first to be fully equipped ; VP-17 became operational in early 1957 . - November 1959 : VP-24 received its first four P2V-7S aircraft . Final delivery of the last of 12 aircraft took place in March 1960 . - 5 November 1962 : VP-24 was deployed to Leeward Point Field , Guantanamo Bay , Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis . The squadron flew continuous surveillance missions , reporting all Communist Bloc shipping transiting Cuban waters until relieved on 17 December 1962 . VP-24 returned on 17 February 1963 , conducting surveillance until relieved on 21 March 1963 . During the second tour , the squadron photographed the removal from Cuba of intermediate range missiles and IL-28 Beagle bombers . - 29 June 1965 : VP-24 deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella , Sicily , relieving VP-5 . A detachment was maintained at NAF Souda Bay , Crete . While deployed to Souda Bay , the detachment was supported by . - 5 July 1967 : VP-24 was relocated from it home base at NAS Norfolk to Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland . The squadron assumed duties at the new station with its new aircraft , the P-3B Orion . Transition training from the SP-2H Neptune to the P-3B began in April 1967 and was completed on 7 December 1967 . - 6 March 1968 : VP-24 deployed to Naval Air Station Keflavik , Iceland , with a three-aircraft detachment at Lajes Field , Azores . The detachment was called to assist in the search for the missing submarine from 28 May to 25 June 1968 . - 10 November 1969 : After its return from deployment VP-24 commenced transition to the P-3C , becoming the third operational P-3C squadron . Transition training was completed on 9 March 1970 . 1970s through the 1990s . - 30 October 1972 : The squadron changed home stations to Naval Air Station Jacksonville , Florida , where it fell under the operational control of Commander , Patrol Wing ELEVEN ( COMPATWING 11 ) . - 1974 : The squadron maintained 2-crew/2-aircraft “mini” detachments at Naval Air Station Bermuda from 1 to 12 April , 15 to 24 May , 3 to 14 June , 26 to 31 August and 1 to 5 September 1974 ; and to NAF Lajes , Azores , 10 to 15 October 1974 . This type of deployment was being tested as an alternative to the full squadron and split deployments . - 12 September 1977 : During the squadrons deployment to NAS Keflavik , Iceland , the squadron successfully tracked and located the hot-air balloon Double Eagle that had gone down at sea several hundred miles west of Iceland while attempting a crossing of the Atlantic . The squadrons efforts led to the rescue of the balloons crew . - May 1980 : VP-24 was tasked with the first of many Cuban refugee surveillance flights , which continued periodically through late September 1980 . - 30 April 1995 : VP-24 was disestablished at NAS Jacksonville as part of post-Cold War force reductions that reduced the number of active duty U.S . Navy patrol squadrons by 50% . The squadrons P-3C Update II.5 aircraft were redistributed to other patrol squadrons . Home port assignments . The squadron was assigned to these home ports , effective on the dates shown : - Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii 10 April 1943 - Naval Auxiliary Air Station Camp Kearney , California 15 May 1944 - Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii 28 July 1944 - Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field , New York 26 December 1946 - Naval Air Station Atlantic City , New Jersey 22 May 1946 - Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland 21 April 1948 - Naval Auxiliary Air Station Chincoteague , Maryland 1954 - Naval Air Station Norfolk , Virginia 15 February 1959 - Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland 5 July 1967 - Naval Air Station Jacksonville , Florida 30 October 1972 Aircraft Assignment . The squadron first received the following aircraft on the dates shown : - PB4Y-1 Liberator - April 1943 - PB4Y-2/P4Y-2 Privateer – February 1946 - P4Y-2B Privateer - November 1947 - P2V-5 Neptune – June 1954 - P2V-6M Neptune - March 1956 - P2V-5F Neptune - March 1957 - P2V-7S/SP-2H* Neptune - November 1959 - P-3B Orion – April 1967 - P-3C Orion – November 1969 - P-3C UIIIR Orion – 1991 - P-3C UII.5 Orion – 1993 - * Former USN/USMC aircraft designation system was changed to a joint DoD designation system in 1962 , resulting in the P2V-7S being redesignated as the SP-2H .