 With the prospect of flying the AD @-@ 1 Skyraider and AM @-@ 1 in carrier operations , the US Navy assigned the Maulers to Atlantic Fleet squadrons . Attack Squadron 17A ( VA @-@ 17A ) was the first unit to get the AM @-@ 1 and received its 18 aircraft in March and April 1948 . It was redesignated as VA @-@ 174 on 11 August and began carrier qualification trials aboard the USS Kearsarge on 27 – 28 December and completed them aboard the USS Leyte in January 1949 with all assigned pilots completing their day qualifications . During this latter deployment the squadron participated in the unsuccessful search for a British South American Airways Avro Tudor airliner missing in the Caribbean . The squadron made a brief deployment aboard the USS Midway , one of the largest carriers in the US Navy , in early 1949 . The longer flight deck of the Midway @-@ class carriers made landings easier for the AM @-@ 1 pilots and the squadron did not have a single landing accident during its deployment . Upon its return the unit transferred its aircraft to VA @-@ 44 and VA @-@ 45 , both newly assigned to the Midway , and converted to the Skyraider before being disbanded in January 1950 . 
