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NAS Whidbey Island VP-46 P-3

NAS Whidbey Island VP-46 P-3 poster art.

NAS Whidbey Island P-3 “The oldest and the Bestvintage poster art featuring Patrol Squadron 46 (VP-46), also known as the “Grey Knights”, is a maritime patrol squadron of the U.S. Navy based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. Part of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Ten, VP-46 is the oldest maritime patrol squadron and the second oldest aircraft squadron in the entire U.S. Navy, second only behind VFA-14. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is a naval air station located in two sections near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. It was commissioned as an active U.S. Navy installation on 21 September 1942. The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the U.S. Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable from the Electra by its distinctive tail stinger or “MAD Boom”, used for the magnetic detection of submarines.