Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was an airfield of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

just outside

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In 1942, the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

selected Merle Fogg Airport in Fort Lauderdale to expand into a naval air station for both pilot and enlisted aircrew training (i.e., gunners, radiomen) in

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

torpedo bombers flown by carrier-based

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

flight crews and by land-based

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

flight crews ashore.Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association
website discussing history of the facility: During 1942 the Merle Fogg Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was selected by the United States Navy to be improved into a naval aviation facility. Additional facilities were used to train aircraft maintenance and other ground crew support for the TBF and TBM series aircraft. Among the Avenger pilots who graduated NAS Fort Lauderdale was former President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

, from a class in 1943.Florida military bases, fro
FSU
Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was one of the bases where former President George Bush received his training. Several airfields in the immediate vicinity of NAS Fort Lauderdale were commissioned as Navy satellite airfields, also known as

Naval outlying landing field An outlying landing field (OLF) is an auxiliary airfield, associated with a seaborne component of the United States military. When associated with the United States Navy (who operate the majority), they are known as naval outlying landing fields ...

s (NOLF). Several of these fields continue in operation today as civilian airports, such as

Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport is a general aviation airport located within the city limits of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, in Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. ...

and

North Perry Airport North Perry Airport is a public airport in the City of Pembroke Pines, west of the central business district of Hollywood, in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is also known as Hollywood North Perry Airport, hence the HWO codes. The a ...

. TBF /TBM training was difficult and dangerous. From 1942 through 1946, 94 trainees lost their lives while serving at NAS Fort Lauderdale. Fourteen of those men made up a five-aircraft flight, now known as

Flight 19 Flight 19 was the designation of a group of five General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945, after losing contact during a United States Navy overwater navigation training flight fr ...

, that disappeared while on a routine training mission on December 5, 1945. The need to train Avenger crews having passed, the station was decommissioned after 1946 and the facility was conveyed to the government of

Broward County, Florida Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

for use as a civilian airport. Today the facility is known as

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

References

External links

Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum
Bermuda Triangle Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport United States Naval Air Stations 1942 establishments in Florida 1946 disestablishments in Florida {{Florida-airport-stub Closed installations of the United States Navy