De Land Naval Air Station - History - Official Opening

Official Opening

In 1942, the City of DeLand donated the facility that was located on the grounds to the U.S. Navy and it was renamed Naval Air Station DeLand on 17 November. The airfield officially opened after several months of land acquisition and building construction. CAPT Tom Turner, the air station's first commanding officer, officiated. A Navy band had not been formed, so the DeLand High School band played for the opening of the base. Following extensive military construction, NAS DeLand's primary focus was advanced training for Navy flight crews in land-based PBO Ventura and PB4Y-2 Privateer patrol bombers, and carrier-based SBD Dauntless dive bombers.

The first planes to arrive were the Venturas. They were not there for training, but were patrolling the coast of Florida looking for German submarines. When the SBD Dauntless dive bombers began to arrive, along with pilots and crew members, the "Venturas" were reassigned to Brazil for patrol duty. The SBDs were aircraft that were being replaced by newer dive bombers in the Pacific Fleet; it was the SBDs that sank the four Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway. Many of DeLand's citizens were employed at the base and were paid wages that were significant coming out of the depression.

Several of the U.S. Navy's former and present day maritime patrol and reconnaissance (VP) squadrons operating the P-3 Orion trace their squadron lineage to being initially established at NAS Deland during World War II.