DeLand Naval Air Station
| Naval Air Station DeLand | |
|---|---|
| Summary | |
| Airport type | Military: Naval Air Station |
| Operator | United States Navy |
| Location | DeLand, Florida |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942–1946 |
| Occupants | United States Navy |
| Elevation AMSL | 70 ft / 21 m |
| Coordinates | 29°03′59″N 81°17′02″W / 29.06639°N 81.28389°W |
Naval Air Station DeLand was a United States Naval Air Station located in DeLand, Florida from 1942 to 1946. After the war, the airfield and associated infrastructure was redeveloped into DeLand Municipal Airport
The City of DeLand first began developing a civilian airport in the 1920s, with the first asphalt runway laid on or about 1936. With the outbreak of World War II and the entry of the United States into the war in 1941, the City of DeLand donated the airport facility to the U.S. Navy in 1942 for development as a naval air station.
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 additional land acquisition and extensive military building construction. CAPT Tom Turner, the air station's first commanding officer, officiated. A Navy band had not yet been formed for the air station, so the DeLand High School band played for the opening of the base. Following still more extensive military construction, NAS DeLand's primary focus became advanced training for Navy flight crews in land-based Lockheed PBO-1 Hudson (later Lockheed PV-1 Ventura) and Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer patrol bombers, as well as carrier-based Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers.
The first planes to arrive at NAS DeLand were the Hudsons, which had been transferred from Patrol Squadron 82 (VP-82) at NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island. In addition to Quonset Point, VP-82 had previously employed these aircraft in training operations at NAS Norfolk, Virginia and detachment operations at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland and NAS Trinidad, BWI. This included the sinking by VP-82 of the German submarine U-656, the first U-boat sinking attributed to U.S. forces in World War II. These aircraft subsequently served as the training nucleus for PV-1 Ventura operational training units at both NAS DeLand and nearby NAS Sanford until greater numbers of newer PV-1s became available.
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