The squadron was established on 1 November 1970 and deactivated 29 years later, on 31 March 1999.

It flew the Lockheed P-3 Orion, and was based at NAS Moffett Field during its entire life.

The squadron's nicknames were the Pink Panthers from 1970 to 1984, the Stingers from 1984 to 1991, and the Black Cats from 1991 to 1999.

Units of the squadron made 25 major overseas deployments.

[1] The squadron first received the following aircraft on the dates shown:[1] This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons.