728 Naval Air Squadron (728 NAS) was a

Naval Air Squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet Ai ...

of the Royal Navy's

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

. It was formed in 1943 as a Fleet Requirement Unit, operating from airfields around the Mediterranean before settling for most of its existence in Malta.

History of 728 NAS

Fleet Requirements Unit (1943 - 1967)

728 Naval Air Squadron was formed on 1 May 1943 at RN Air Section North Front,

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, as a Fleet Requirements Unit. The squadron was equipped with Defiant TT.1 and Swordfish I. Whilst at Gibraltar it operated detachments at RN Air Section Tafaraoui, Algeria, from 11 May 1943 to 15 June 1943, with Swordfish aircraft and also at RAF Oujda, Morroco, before moving to RNAS Dekheila (HMS Grebe), Alexandria in Egypt, on 15 June 1943. The squadron was absorbed into 775 NAS on 4 July 1943. However, just over one month later, on the 14 August, 728 NAS reformed at Dekheila. The squadron soon moved to Malta and settled at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), from 5 May 1946, after brief stints at RN Air Section Takali (HMS Goldfinch) and

RAF Luqa Royal Air Force Luqa was a Royal Air Force station located on the island of Malta, now developed into the Malta International Airport. It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the Second World War. Particularly during ...

and just after taking up radar calibration duties from

No. 255 Squadron RAF No. 255 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as an anti-submarine unit in First World War and a night-fighter unit in Second World War. The First World War squadron was formed from former Royal Naval Air Service coastal flights an ...

. Helicopters were added to supplement the squadron's inventory when it started operating the Westland Dragonfly HR.3 at the end of 1952. 728B Flight was the identity given to the new RNAS Hal Far SAR (Search and Rescue) flight, this operated utilising the Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 which arrived in 1957. In March 1963, Westland Whirlwind HAS.22 became available for the SAR flight, which was then amalgamated into 728 NAS. On 31 May 1967 728 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS Hal Far.

Aircraft flown

The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions: * Avro Anson I * Martin Baltimore IV * Martin Baltimore V * Bristol Beaufighter II * Bristol Beaufighter X * Bristol Beaufighter TT Mark 10 * Bristol Beaufort I * Boulton Paul Defiant TT.1 * Hawker Hurricane IIc * Miles Martinet TT.1 * de Havilland Mosquito B.25 * de Havilland Mosquito T.3 * de Havilland Mosquito PR.16 * de Havilland Mosquito TT.39 * Airspeed Oxford I * Supermarine Seafire L.IIC * Supermarine Seafire III * Supermarine Seafire XV * Supermarine Seafire F.17 * Supermarine Sea Otter 2 * Fairey Swordfish I * Fairey Swordfish II *

Supermarine Walrus The Supermarine Walrus (originally designated the Supermarine Seagull V) was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and manufactured by Supermarine at Woolston, Southampton. The Walrus f ...

* Vickers Wellington XIV * Westland Dragonfly HR.3 * Beech Expediter C.2 * Fairey Gannet T.2 * North American Harvard T.3 * de Havilland Heron C.2 *

Gloster Meteor T.7 The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

* Gloster Meteor TT.20 * de Havilland Sea Devon C.20 * de Havilland Sea Hornet FR.20 * de Havilland Sea Vampire F.20 * Short Sturgeon TT.3 * Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 * Westland Whirlwind HAS.22

References

Citations

Bibliography

* 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1945 Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II {{UK-navy-stub