squadrilla

plural squadrillas

1. datedA squadron, whether of boats or of airplanes.

   Commander Bragadin was, at the outset of the war, a reserve officer in command of a “squadrilla” of motor torpedo boats.

   1957, Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, page 897

   2 more examples

   One must lay down as a rule, and we here repeat the opinion expressed by famous aviators, that every attack, whether by a single machine or by a squadrilla, must always be carried out with the utmost vigour.

   1918, René Louis Jules Radiguet, The Making of a Modern Army and Its Operations in the Field, page 36

   […] with a squadrilla to meet the aviators, and as soon as the plane was visible from the shore, ship sirens and whistles blew and flags flew from every mast.

   1958, Curtis Daniel MacDougall, Hoaxes, page 116