Nimitz (CVN 68) - Naval Cruise Book

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These pages are dedicated to the courage and leader- ship of LCDR RannyDixon, LTJG Pete Moller and AW2 tFticha.rd Lanzenfdorf. ' Air Antisubmarine Squadron TWENTY-FOUR exists solely to ensure the accomplishment of the Navy's primary mission. I 4 ' Potential enemies of the United States have built and are maintaining enormous undersea forces which necessarily make antisubmarine warfare one of the most urgent tasks. This squadron, along withroth-er antisubmarine forces, constitutes a strong deterrent to the enemy's use of his submarines. Air Antisubmarine Operations have advanced from the original methods involving visual sighting and depth bombing to present day techniques which employ a complexity of electronic equipment and advanced under- water ordnance devices. Air Antisubmarine Operations have risen from a position of relative insignificance to one ofthe most important func- tions of Naval Aviation. Working as a team with other ASW forces, the Scouts, utilizing the carrier-based Lockheed-built S-3A Viking air- craft, continues to train to successfully carry out its mis- sion of destroying the submarine or countering its useful- ness through hold-down procedures. The S-3A, the-newest addition to the Navy's air ASW arm, is capable of detecting and destroying submarines day or night, under all weather conditions, by employment of conventional or nuclear weapons. The Squadron was initially commissioned on 1 'January 1943 at United States Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia, as VB-17. The Squadron embarked aboard USS Bunker Hill and saw action during World War ll - participating- in strikes against Flabaul, Gilbert Islands, and Truk: finishing its first combat tour in 1944 to train and prepare for a second combat tour aboard USS Hornet. This tour includ- ed strikes against Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and participation in the Battle of the East China Sea. I Upon return ofthe Squadron to the United States, VB-- 17 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The post- war period was one of the great changes for VB-17. ' During thisperiod the Squadron was embarked aboard the USS Wrightand USS Midway with TBM-2 and TBM-3 aircraft. A Aboard the USS Wright the evolution of the. Duty Cat- began. ' 4 A

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