#1206 P-3C Orion
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1206 - P-3C Orion, 161766, Patrol Squadron FOUR SIX \'VP-46\', NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. \"The Oldest and the Best\"
VP-46 is the oldest continuously operating patrol squadron in the United States Navy. Since its commissioning in 1931 in Coco Solo, Panama as VP-5S, the squadron has undergone 8 name changes and flown 12 different models of aircraft. In July 1943, as VP-32 and flying the PBM-3 Mariner, the squadron sank 3 German U-boats in 2 weeks. After World War II, the squadron operated in the South Pacific as VP-MS-6, supporting atomic bomb testing during Operations Crossroads and Sandstone. During the Korean War, now designated VP-46 and flying the PBM-5 Mariner, the squadron was the first seaplane outfit to conduct combat aerial patrols off the China coast and Formosa Strait. The first West Coast squadron to transition to the P-3 Orion, VP-46 saw action in the Vietnam War, and later in the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm). Most recently, VP-46 flew extensive overland reconnaissance sorties in the skies above Iraq and Afghanistan in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Today, the P-3C Orion is the most versatile multi-mission aircraft in the world and the US Navy’s foremost aerial Anti-Submarine Warfare platform.