Second VA-54 (U.S. Navy)

Operational history

• 29 June 1950: VF-54 was deployed aboard in the Western Pacific when the Korean War broke out on 25 June. The carrier was ordered north from the Philippines and the squadron’s aircraft conducted a sweep along the western coast of Taiwan due to the concern that the North Korean invasion of South Korea might be a prelude to an invasion of that island by the Chinese Communists.
• 3 July 1950: The squadron participated in its first combat strikes since its establishment in 1945. These strikes were the first made by carrier aircraft in the Korean War. VF-54’s F4Us struck targets in Pyongyang, North Korea.
• 15 September 1950: VF-54 provided air support for the Battle of Inchon.
• 26 July 1954: VF-54’s AD-4 Skyraiders were on a search and rescue mission looking for survivors, rafts or debris from the 1954 Cathay Pacific Douglas DC-4 shootdown, when they were attacked by two Chinese LA-7 fighter aircraft. Two of the squadron’s AD-4s, along with an F4U, shot down the two LA-7s 13 miles southeast of Hainan Island.
• September 1957:, with VA-54 embarked, operated in the vicinity of Taiwan in response to a buildup of Chinese Communist forces on the mainland opposite Taiwan.
• Dec 1957: The squadron began the transition from propeller aircraft to jets.

  Home port assignments

• NAS Wildwood – 26 Mar 1945
• NAAS Oceana – 01 Jun 1945
• NAS Norfolk – 02 Jul 1946
• NAS Alameda – 11 Aug 1946
• NAS Sand Point – 4 May 1948
• NAS Alameda – 28 Jun 1948
• NAS San Diego – 01 Dec 1949
• NAS Miramar – 19 May 1952

  Aircraft Assignment

• F4U-1 Corsair – 26 Mar 1945
• F4U-4 Corsair – 04 Jun 1945
• F6F-5 Hellcat – 10 Sep 1945
• F8F-1 Bearcat – 21 Oct 1947
• F8F-2 Bearcat – May 1949
• AD-4 Skyraider – 01 Dec 1949
• F4U-4B Corsair – 14 Dec 1949
• AD-1/4 Skyraider – Mar 1951
• AD-6 Skyraider – Dec 1954
• AD-5 Skyraider – Dec 1954
• AD-7 Skyraider – Jan 1957
• F9F-8B Cougar – Dec 1957