VP-40 Fighting Marlins (Laging Handa) PVC Patch - With Hook and Loop, 4

• • 4″ patch
  • PVC
  • US Naval Aviator Owned Business
  • Hook and Loop

20 January 1951: VP-40 was established at NAS San Diego, California, under the operational control of FAW-14, as a seaplane squadron flying the PBM-5 Mariner.
15 May – 12 December 1951: The squadron conducted its first operational deployment to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. Part of VP-40’s complement of aircraft had been augmented prior to deployment with new PBM-5S aircraft. Upon arrival the squadron came under the operational control of FAW-6, relieving VP-892. The squadron’s first combat patrols during the Korean War were flown on 9 June 1951. Over the next six months VP-40 patrolled the Tsushima Strait, flew cover for replenishment groups in the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan and made weather reconnaissance flights for the fleet forces.
2 September 1952: VP-40 deployed to NS Sangley Point, Philippines, with operations conducted from Okinawa and the Pescadore Islands, relieving VP-892. During this period the squadron came under the operational control of FAW-2, patrolling the Formosa Strait. VP-40 returned to NAS San Diego in April and began refitting with the new P5M-1 Marlin seaplane.
1 July 1958: Six VP-40 P5M-2s landed at Bangkok, Thailand, the first occasion on which any U.S. seaplane squadron had visited the city.
1 August 1959: The squadron home port was changed from NAS San Diego to NS Sangley Point, to become the first permanently based seaplane patrol squadron in the Pacific. During the deployment the squadron adopted the motto “Laging Handa,” Tagalog for “always ready.”
2 August 1962: The VP-40 commanding officer, Commander N. P. Vegelan, and 11 of his crew were killed when aircraft QE-1 crashed into the side of a mountain.
22 March 1964: Six month deployments for WestPac patrol squadrons were resumed, necessitating a change in VP-40’s home port back to NAS North Island, California.
27 February 1965: VP-40 deployed to NS Sangley Point, relieving VP-47. During the deployment the squadron received tender support from USS Salisbury Sound and USS Currituck, while conducting operations from remote sites at Koh Samui, Thailand; Con Son Islands and Danang, South Vietnam.
15 March 1966: VP-40 deployed to NS Sangley Point, with detachments at various locations throughout WestPac tended by USS Salisbury Sound.
1 March 1967: Seaplane tender USS Currituck participated in the last official tender operation in a combat zone with the Navy while supporting VP-40 operations. During the Vietnam War VP-40 had rotated assignments with VP-50 out of NS Sangley Point and Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, supported by tenders USS Currituck, USS Salisbury Sound and USS Pine Island. This was the last deployment for VP-40 as a seaplane squadron.
17 May 1967: Commander Hugh E. Longino, VP-40 commanding officer, conducted the last patrol in a squadron SP-5B over the South China Sea during the squadron’s deployment to the Philippines. Later that month, the NS Sangley Point seadrome was closed and all remaining SP-5B aircraft were flown to Kōnan, Japan, where they were dismantled for scrap.
15 November 1967: The last flight of a SP-5B took place, marking the move of the squadron from NAS San Diego to NAS Moffett Field, California, and the transition to the land-based P-3B Orion. The ceremonial flight closed an era of Navy seaplane operations that had begun in 1911.
12 July 1968: The last SP-5B Marlin was flown from NAS San Diego to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, for addition to the historic aircraft preservation program of the National Air and Space Museum. This aircraft is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola, Florida.
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