Early years The squadron was formed as the
1st Air Squadron in
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic in March 1919. They were redesignated
VO-4M on 29 May 1922 and returned to
Marine Corps Base Quantico in 1924. The squadron was again redesignated as
VO-7M on 1 July 1927. Ten years later on 1 July 1937 the squadron again changed names, this time to Marine Scouting Squadron 1 (
VMS-1). Exactly four years later saw a fifth name change to Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 131 (
VMSB-131).
World War II Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor the squadron was ordered to
San Diego,
California. After months of training, the squadron left
San Francisco on September 6, 1942, on board the
USS Mount Vernon heading for
Marine Corps Air Station Ewa,
Hawaii. On September 24, the squadron began transferring its
SBD Dauntless Divebombers in exchange for
Grumman TBF Avengers. In November 1942, the squadron was reorganized as the first Marine torpedo bombing squadron and sent to
Henderson Field and
Espiritu Santo to become part of the
Cactus Air Force during the
Battle of Guadalcanal. During the fighting crews and pilots rotated between these two bases. The squadron was relieved on 18 February 1943 but rejoined the fighting in April 1943. During its time on Guadalcanal, VMSB-131 scored 14 sure hits and 6 probables with its torpedoes against Japanese shipping. They also scored 6 direct hits against ships with bombs. All this came at a cost of 8 pilots and 17 radiomen and gunners killed in action. For their efforts six pilots were awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism. The squadron finally left the combat zone and returned to
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in June 1943 and were redesignated Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 131
VMTB-131. After a year of rest, refitting, and training, VMTB-131 again deployed to the
Pacific Theater on 29 March 1944 this time on board the
USS Petrof Bay. They finally arrived in
Guam in August 1944 and flew anti-submarine patrols for the next eight months. On 27 April 1945 the squadron was attached to
Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22) and departed for
Okinawa. During the
Battle of Okinawa they were based out of
Ie Shima, an island just to the northwest of Okinawa, and continued to fly anti-submarine patrols and also provided
close air support for American ground forces. On 25 July 1945 they were transferred under the command of
Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) and went ashore to be based out of Okinawa where they remained until the end of the war. The squadron returned to the west coast and were deactivated on 16 November 1945. ==Reserve years==