Official VP-40 Marlins Iceland Patch — Cold War Sub Hunting From the Top of the World When the Navy needed eyes on the North Atlantic, the Fighting Marlins answered the call from Keflavik. Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40) — the 'Fighting Marlins' — is one of the U.S. Navy's most storied maritime patrol squadrons, commissioned on January 20, 1951, at NAS North Island, San Diego, just months after the Korean War began. Named for the P5M Marlin seaplane that became its signature aircraft in the 1950s, VP-40 earned the motto 'Laging Handa' — Tagalog for 'Always Ready' — during years of forward-deployed operations from the Philippines. The squadron flew combat patrols during the Korean War, conducted anti-infiltration surveillance during Vietnam from Cam Ranh Bay and the South China Sea, assisted in the search for a Navy EC-121 shot down by North Korea in 1969, and transitioned through the P-3B and P-3C Orion before upgrading to the P-8A Poseidon. This Iceland patch commemorates VP-40's landmark 1984 deployment to Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland, when the squadron was selected to represent the entire Pacific Fleet in an Atlantic/Pacific VP crossdeck program. Operating from Iceland's frozen runways, the Fighting Marlins conducted anti-submarine warfare patrols across the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea — the heart of the Cold War's undersea chess match — tracking Soviet submarines through the GIUK Gap in some of the harshest flying conditions on earth. It was a deployment that proved VP-40 could operate anywhere, in any conditions, against any threat. Today, VP-40 continues to fly the P-8A Poseidon from NAS Whidbey Island, deploying worldwide in support of maritime surveillance and anti-submarine operations. Perfect For: VP-40 Fighting Marlins veterans and active-duty aircrew, Keflavik Iceland deployment veterans, P-3 Orion and P-8A Poseidon crews, maritime patrol aviators, and Cold War-era submarine hunters.
