VA-195 Dambusters

Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) "Dambusters" · USN · 1957-1985

Attack Squadron 195 flew Douglas AD Skyraiders from USS Princeton when, on 1 May 1951, eight of its aircraft made low, deliberate runs against the Hwachon Dam in North Korea and breached its floodgates with aerial torpedoes after Air Force and Navy bombers had failed. The squadron traded its old "Tigers" name for "Dambusters" and has carried it ever since. This helmet-and-shield insignia was adopted in the fourth quarter of 1957 from a squadron design contest won by an enlisted man and modified by the commanding officer, Cdr. R.J. Mead: the torpedo recalls Hwachon, the superimposed atom marks the squadron's nuclear-delivery mission, and the Trojan helmet at the crest is the badge of Carrier Air Group 19. Under this patch VA-195 traded Skyraiders for A-4 Skyhawks and then A-7E Corsair IIs, flying Vietnam combat cruises until the squadron became strike fighter squadron VFA-195 on 1 April 1985.