VP-33 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 12-F (VP-12F) on 1 November 1935, redesignated Patrol Squadron 12 (VP-12) on 1 October 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 51 (VP-51) on 1 July 1939, redesignated Patrol Squadron 71 (VP-71) on 1 July 1941, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 71 (VPB-71) on 1 October 1944, redesignated Patrol Squadron 71 (VP-71) on 15 May 1946, redesignated Amphibian Patrol Squadron 3 (VP-AM-3) on 15 November 1946, redesignated Patrol Squadron 33 (VP-33) on 1 September 1948 and disestablished on 15 December 1949. It was the third squadron to be designated VP-33; the first had been redesignated from VP-5 on 1 July 1939 and was in turn redesignated as VP-32 on 1 October 1941. The second VP-33 was redesignated VPB-33 on 1 October 1944.

The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina, is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In US Army service it was designated the OA-10, in Canadian service as the Canso and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. The last military PBYs served until the 1980s. As of 2021, 86 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as a waterbomber in aerial firefighting operations in some parts of the world.