VP-44

<h2 id="operational-history">Operational history</h2>
<ul><li>15 October 1942: VP-204 was established at <a href="/facts/NAS_Norfolk/zLjCdg9n">NAS Norfolk</a>, Virginia, as a seaplane squadron flying the <a href="/facts/Martin_PBM-5_Mariner/KT86BGvw">PBM-3C Mariner</a>. During the squadron's training period at Norfolk it came under the operational control of PatWing-5.</li>
<li>27 December 1942: The squadron was relocated to <a href="/facts/Roosevelt_Roads_Naval_Station/AMkYNquN">NS San Juan</a>, Puerto Rico, for further training under the operational control of FAW-11, Caribbean Sea Frontier. Upon completion of the training syllabus in March, the squadron conducted operations from San Juan and <a href="/facts/Trinidad/gJQ350S6">Trinidad</a>, flying antisubmarine patrols and convoy escort patrols. Advance base detachments were maintained during various times at <a href="/facts/Antigua/4JdvT4Qt">Antigua</a>; <a href="/facts/Coco_Solo/FYtM2lpS">NAS Coco Solo</a>, Panama; <a href="/facts/Essequibo_(colony)/z7Pmf55D">Essequibo</a>, <a href="/facts/British_Guiana/jQ5D9ryA">British Guiana</a>; <a href="/facts/Cayenne/h7BAXNuk">Cayenne</a>, <a href="/facts/French_Guiana/aFSETEKm">French Guiana</a>; <a href="/facts/Paramaribo/LXFrwo5X">Paramaribo</a>, <a href="/facts/Surinam_(Dutch_colony)/LlakTUxL">Surinam</a>; and <a href="/facts/Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base/du66Sw6g">Guantanamo Bay Naval Base</a>, Cuba. Tender support for most of the operations was provided by <a href="/facts/USS_Pelican_(AM-27)/tEDBA85l">USS <i>Pelican</i></a>.</li>
<li>28 March–7 August 1943: VP-204 aircraft attacked German <a href="/facts/U-boat/GgjbMzMT">U-boats</a> on eight separate occasions. During three of the attacks, intense anti-aircraft (AA) fire from the submarines damaged the attacking aircraft. One submarine was sunk on 7 August 1943 after a running gun battle in the Caribbean southeast of <a href="/facts/Cura%C3%A7ao/upV1jGtJ">Curaçao</a>. Lieutenant (jg) John M. Erskine, pilot of a squadron PBM-3S, attacked <a href="/facts/German_submarine_U-615/JzJ2GeTk"><i>U-615</i></a> on the surface on 6 August, causing moderate damage. The squadron conducted a hold-down of the submarine over night. On the morning of 7 August, Lieutenant Anthony R. Matuski spotted the U-boat when it surfaced and made an attack run. His aircraft was damaged by return fire and crashed, losing all hands. Lieutenant Lewis D. Crockett, flying a squadron aircraft, located the U-boat and conducted a bomb run that further damaged the vessel, but resulted in severe damage to his aircraft from AA fire. He remained on the scene until Lieutenant Holmes, pilot of a VB-130 <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Ventura/uehwC8qn">PV-1 Ventura</a> arrived . The two aircraft conducted a coordinated bombing and strafing attack, however, the final blow to U-615 was administered by Lieutenant (jg) John W. Dresbach, in a VP-204 Mariner, when he arrived on the scene and made a bombing and strafing attack on the U-boat. This attack resulted in mortal wounds to Dresbach, but was the final blow for the submarine. A U.S. Navy destroyer from Trinidad reached the area the next morning and rescued 45 of <i>U-615</i>’s crew of 49.</li>
<li>5 June 1944: After numerous submarine contacts of mid-1943, few enemy U-boats were spotted in the Caribbean by the squadron. The last attack on an enemy submarine was conducted at night on 5 June 1944 off the coast of Puerto Rico using the wingmounted searchlight. A damaged claim was submitted by the crew, but postwar examination of records indicate that the U-boat returned safely to port.</li>
<li>27 Nov 1944: The squadron was relocated to <a href="/facts/Naval_Air_Station_Key_West/3K0ChHqQ">NAS Key West</a>, Florida, with a detachment maintained at Royal Island, <a href="/facts/Bahamas/x6VKsUhj">Bahamas</a>, supported by USS Christiania. During this period VPB-204 came under the operational control of FAW-12, Gulf Sea Frontier. Duties consisted of convoy coverage and antisubmarine patrols.</li>
<li>3 Mar 1945: Seven officers and 23 enlisted personnel were detached for training in PBM-5 aircraft at NAAS Harvey Point, North Carolina. These aircraft were flown back in April to Key West to replace the older PBM-3S aircraft that the squadron had been flying.</li>
<li>24 May 1945: VPB-204 was transferred to NAS Coco Solo, under FAW-3, Commander Pacific Sea Frontier. The squadron became fully operational in early June, receiving several new PBM-5E aircraft to supplement its complement. Duties consisted primarily of scouting patrols off Central America.</li>
<li>4 July 1945: NAS Coco Solo, was officially designated the new home port for the squadron. As the war wound down over the ensuing months, long-range patrols gave way to an increasing number of passenger and cargo transport runs across the Caribbean.</li>
<li>1946–1949: The squadron maintained search and rescue detachments during various period at NAS Guantanamo Bay and with various seaplanetenders in different parts of the Caribbean.</li>
<li>1–20 January 1950: VP-44 moved to NAS Norfolk to prepare for disestablishment and on 20 January 1950, VP-44 was disestablished.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul>
<h2 id="home-port-assignments">Home port assignments</h2>
<p>The squadron was assigned to these home ports, effective on the dates shown:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/NAS_Norfolk/zLjCdg9n">NAS Norfolk</a>, Virginia – 15 October 1942</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Roosevelt_Roads_Naval_Station/AMkYNquN">NS San Juan</a>, Puerto Rico - 27 December 1942</li>
<li><a href="/facts/NAS_Key_West/3K0ChHqQ">NAS Key West</a>, Florida - 27 November 1944</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Coco_Solo/FYtM2lpS">NAS Coco Solo</a>, Panama - 24 May 1945</li>
<li>NAS Norfolk - 1 January 1950</li></ul>
<h2 id="aircraft-assignment">Aircraft assignment</h2>
<p>The squadron first received the following aircraft on the dates shown:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Martin_PBM_Mariner/KT86BGvw">PBM-3C <i>Mariner</i></a> – October 1942</li>
<li>PBM-3S - October 1944</li>
<li>PBM-5E - March 1945</li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Maritime_patrol_aircraft/BNXaRGVj">Maritime patrol aircraft</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_inactive_United_States_Navy_aircraft_squadrons/LdjvfWX8">List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_Navy_aircraft_squadrons/G8l7ryex">List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_squadrons_in_the_Dictionary_of_American_Naval_Aviation_Squadrons/8CXHfjd9">List of squadrons in the Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/History_of_the_United_States_Navy/anV51Rls">History of the United States Navy</a></li></ul>

<p><i>This article incorporates text from the <a href="/facts/Public_domain/YWKMDKw4">public domain</a> </i><a href="/facts/Dictionary_of_American_Naval_Aviation_Squadrons/mhPHmToA">Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons</a><i>.</i>
</p>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patrol Squadron 44 (United States Navy).

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Roberts, Michael D. (2000). "Chapter 3 Patrol Squadron (VP) Histories (2nd VP-40 to 3rd VP-45)" (PDF). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy. pp. 243–5. <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Roberts, Michael D. (2000). "Chapter 3 Patrol Squadron (VP) Histories (2nd VP-40 to 3rd VP-45)" (PDF). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy. pp. 243–5. <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Roberts, Michael D. (2000). "Chapter 3 Patrol Squadron (VP) Histories (2nd VP-40 to 3rd VP-45)" (PDF). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy. pp. 243–5. <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Roberts, Michael D. (2000). "Chapter 3 Patrol Squadron (VP) Histories (2nd VP-40 to 3rd VP-45)" (PDF). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy. pp. 243–5. <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/chap3-8.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

VP-44 open-in-new

VP-44