Patrol Squadron 102 (VP-102) originally was established on 1 September 1937 at NAS Seattle, Washington, as VP-18, which received its first P2Y-3 and PBY-1 flying boats in January 1938. VP-18 moved to NAS San Diego, California, in September 1938 and traded its aircraft for new PBY-4 Catalinas, as well as one UZU Corsair observation aircraft. The squadron was redesignated VP-13 on I July 1939.
VP-13 transferred to NAS Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in September 1939, and was redesignated VP-26 on 11 December 1939. VP-26 was redesignated VP-102 on 16 December 1940 and transferred to Patrol Wing 10 at Cavite.
In the months prior to the 8 December 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. forces in the Philippines, VP-102 and its sister squadron, VP-101, rotated operations out of Olongapo, on Subic Bay. When hostilities began, the two squadrons dispersed their aircraft in the Philippines. On 12 December, seven of VP-102's 14 PBY-4s were destroyed by a Japanese air raid on Olongapo. The remaining VP-102 Catalinas joined with VP-101's surviving aircraft and moved to Ambon in the Netherlands East Indies.
On 26 December, six VP-102 and VP-101 aircraft conducted a bombing strike on a Japanese naval force near Jolo in the Philippines. Four PBYs were shot down, though some crewmen later were rescued.
Patrol Wing 10 strengthened itself by acquiring five PBY-Ss from the Dutch Navy, and in January 1942 was augmented by VP-22 and its 12 PBY-5s. By 17 January, however, only eight of the original 28 PBYs remained. After flying combat missions from bases scattered across 1,300 miles in the East Indies, the wing moved on 14 February 1942—with only four remaining PBYs—to Darwin, Australia, where Japanese aircraft destroyed one more PBY. The wing moved its three remaining PBYs to Perth, Australia, in April, by which time more than 60% percent of the wing's personnel had been killed in action or taken captive—including more than 140 in the surrender of Bataan. Of the wing's 45 PBYs, 14 were shot down, 24 were destroyed by air raids, and 3 were lost in mishaps.