759 Naval Air Squadron
759 NAS badge
Active1 May 1939 - 5 February 1946
16 August 1951 - 12 October 1954
1 August 1963 - 24 December 1969[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role
  • Fighter School and Pool Squadron
  • Naval Air Fighter School
  • Naval Advanced Flying Training School
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Insignia
Squadron BadgeBlue, in front of a torch inflamed two swords in saltire winged at the hilts all gold (1942)[2]
Identification Markingssingle letters
Y1A+ to Y7A+ later[3]
161-179 Seafire
180-183 Firebrand
210-215 Sea Fury
410-417 Meteor
451-456 Sea Hornet
180-182 Sea Vampire (1951)
220-240 Sea Vampire (1953)
655-664 to 800-811 Hunter[2]
Hawker Hunter T.8C, WT702, used by 759 NAS from August 1965[4]

759 Naval Air Squadron (759 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was created on November 1, 1939, and was disbanded on December 24, 1969. It was initially intended as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron but became a Fighter School and Pool Squadron in 1939, at RNAS Eastleigh (HMS Raven). It operated out of RNAS Yeovilton from 1940 to 1946, as part of the Naval Air Fighter School. In 1943 a detachment operated out of RNAS Angle (HMS Goldcrest), working with 794 NAS and known as the Naval Air Firing Unit.[2] It was again the Naval Air Fighter School upon reformation in 1951 and disbandment in 1954, firstly at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) and then moving to RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar), in 1953. The squadron reformed again, this time at RNAS Brawdy (HMS Goldcrest) in 1963, as the Naval Advanced Flying Training School, before finally disbanding in 1969.

History of 759 NAS

Fighter School and Pool Squadron (1939 - 1946)

759 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Eastleigh (HMS Raven), in Hampshire, on 1 May 1939, intended as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron, but renumbered as 758 Naval Air Squadron on the 1 July 1939. 759 NAS reformed as a Fighter School and Pool Squadron on the 1 November 1939, at Eastleigh. It was initially equipped with nine Skua, a carrier-based dive bomber / fighter aircraft, five Roc, another carrier-based fighter aircraft and four Sea Gladiator, a biplane fighter aircraft.[5] On the 1 December 1939, the squadron absorbed 769 Naval Air Squadron and became the Fleet Fighter School.[3]

Ten months later, on the 16 September 1940, the squadron relocated to RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) near Yeovil, Somerset,[5] here it received Martlet, Fulmar and Master aircraft and in 1941 Sea Hurricane arrived. The squadron was the Advanced Flying School training, as part of the No.1 Naval Air Fighter School, from April 1943.[6] It had over sixty Sea Hurricane, over twenty Fulmar, fifteen Master and eight Spitfire aircraft at this point.[3] From the 1 July to the 22 November 1943, a detachment from 759 NAS operated out of RNAS Angle (HMS Goldcrest), in Pembrokeshire, utilsiing its Sea Hurricane and Fulmar aircraft.[7]

An instrument training flight, known as 'E' Flight, was formed the following year, in 1944.[3] The flight used Oxford aircraft and was operated as a sub-unit of 759 NAS.[2] Corsair, an American carrier-based fighter-bomber aircraft, were received later in 1944,[6] and this led to the creation of a conversion flight, designated 'A' flight, a camera air-to-air combat instruction flight, known as 'C' flight, and 'D' flight, for dummy deck landing training, however, these flights became 760 Naval Air Squadron in April 1945.[3] In September 1945, the squadron moved to RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird), while Yeovilton's runways were repaired, returning to Yeovilton in January 1946.[2] 759 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at Yeovilton on the 5 February 1946.[8]

Naval Air Fighter School (1951 - 1954)

Supermarine Seafire F Mk XVII, in the markings of 767 NAS, of the type used by 759 NAS

759 Naval Air Squadron reformed at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall, on the 16 August 1951, out of a part of 738 NAS.[8] It was equipped with Firebrand, a British single-engine strike fighter and Seafire, a navalised carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire aircraft.

The following year a Jet Conversion Course was added to the training courses[6] and this pre-empted the squadron acquiring Sea Vampire and Meteor T.7 British jet fighter aircraft.

In November 1953, the squadron moved to RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar),[9] located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland and remained there for just under twelve months, before disbanding there on the 12 October 1954,[8] into 736 Naval Air Squadron.[2]

Naval Advanced Flying Training School (1963 - 1969)

FAA Hawker Hunter T8C, an example of the type used by 759 NAS

759 Naval Air Squadron reformed at RNAS Brawdy (HMS Goldcrest), located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire, on the 1 August 1963,[8] as the Naval Advanced Flying Training School.[6] Here it was equipped with Hunter T.8 aircraft.[8] The squadron provided Part 1 of the Fleet Air Arm’s Advance Flying Training course.

In 1965, 759 NAS received the annual Boyd Trophy, which is awarded annually to the naval pilot(s) or aircrew who, in the opinion of the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command, has achieved the finest feat of aviation during the previous year, for its outstanding work in converting Jet Provost-trained pilots to the Hunter aircraft.[10]

On the 24 December 1969, 759 NAS disbanded at Brawdy.[8]

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:[5][11]

759 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in Wales, Scotland and England:

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 759 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment:

1939 - 1946[3]

  • Lieutenant Commander B.H.M. Kendall, RN, from November 1939
  • Lieutenant Commander H.P. Bramwell, DSO, DSC, RN, from November 1940
  • Captain F.D.G. Bird, RM, from August 1941
  • Lieutenant Commander J.N. Garnett, RN, from October 1941
  • Lieutenant Commander E.W.T. Taylour, DSC, RN, from December 1941
  • -unknown- April 1942 - November 1942
  • Lieutenant E.D.G. Lewin, DSO, DSC, RN, from November 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander J.M. Bruen, DSO, DSC, RN, from December 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander N.G. Hallett, DSC, RN, from May 1943
  • Major F.D.G. Bird, RM, from December 1943
  • Lieutenant Commander O.N. Bailey, RN, from July 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander J.W. Sleigh, DSO, DSC, RN, from December 1944[11]

1951 - 1954

  • Lieutenant Commander R. D. Lygo, RN (Aug 1951-May 1953)
  • Lieutenant Commander D. R. O. Price, DFC, RN (May 1953-Jul 1954)
  • Lieutenant Commander W. D. D. MacDonald, RN (Jul 1954-Oct 1954)

1963 - 1969

  • Lieutenant Commander C.D.W. Pugh, MBE, RN, from August 1963
  • Lieutenant Commander A.H. Milnes, RN, from January 1964
  • Lieutenant Commander C.S. Casperd, RN, from March 1965
  • Lieutenant Commander M.I. Darlington, RN, from October 1966
  • Lieutenant Commander C.C.N. Davis, RN, from June 1968

759E Flight[11]

  • Lieutenant Commander(A) T. McVey, RNR, from December 1943
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) E.A.R. Forwood, OBE, RNVR, from July 1944

Notes

  1. ↑ Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 77.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ballance 2016, p. 60.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wragg 2019, p. 126.
  4. ↑ "WT702 FRADU". www.fradu.info. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "RNAS Eastleigh". www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "759 NAS - FRADU". www.fradu.info. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "RNAS Angle". www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "759 Naval Air Squadron". www.wings-aviation.ch. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "The_Fulmar_Story1st_ed" (PDF). www.faaba.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  10. ↑ Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 383.
  11. 1 2 3 Ballance 2016, p. 61.

References

  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
  • Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.
  • Ballance, Theo (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air-Britain. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.