729 Naval Air Squadron (729 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 Air ...

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 active between 1945 and 1946 as an Instrument Flying Training squadron, for service in the far east.

History of 729 NAS

Instrument Flying Training (1945 - 1946)

729 Naval Air Squadron formed on 1 January 1945 at

RNAS Hinstock (HMS Godwit) RNAS Hinstock (HMS Godwit) is a former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm station located in Hinstock, Shropshire. The following units were here at some point: * No. 27 Maintenance Unit RAF * No. 29 Maintenance Unit RAF * No. 37 Maintenance Unit RAF * 702 ...

, Shropshire, as an Instrument Flying Training squadron and as an offshoot of 758 NAS, the Royal Naval Advanced Instrument Flying Training Unit, for service in the Far East. It made use of 758 NAS's

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

and

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

aircraft, enabling working up while based on the U.K. The squadron personnel took passage for India on 16 April 1945, without aircraft. On 15 May 1945, personnel from 729 NAS arrived at Royal Navy Aircraft Repair Yard Coimbatore (HMS Garuda) in Southern India. They spent three weeks working up, ready to continue Instrument Flying training, utilising four Airspeed Oxford and a single North American Harvard which was issued on arrival. On 7 June 1945, the squadron relocated approximately 275 miles northeast to Royal Navy Aircraft Maintenance Yard Tambaram (HMS Valluru), however, the squadron very shortly later, moved again and on 10 July 1945 it moved to RNAS Puttalam (HMS Rajaliya), Sri Lanka. Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 and due to the end of WWII, the need for pilots was reduced and the squadron's role was reassessed. On 30 August 1945 729 NAS relocated to RNAS Katukurunda (HMS Ukussa), remaining in Sri Lanka. In the new year of 1946 two

Supermarine Sea Otter The Supermarine Sea Otter was an amphibious aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was the final biplane flying boat to be designed by Supermarine; it was also the last biplane to enter service with bot ...

were added to the squadron. These were from

1700 Naval Air Squadron 1700 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy was formed in November 1944 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent as an amphibian bomber reconnaissance squadron. It was equipped with the Supermarine Sea Otter, and the squadron joined HMS ''Khediv ...

, ‘B’ Flight, which undertook

Air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

sorties. However, this was withdrawn in April 1946. On 24 July 1946, at RNAS Katukurunda, 729 Naval Air Squadron disbanded.

Aircraft flown

Between 1945 and 1946, 729 NAS flew a number of different aircraft types, including: *

(May 1945-Jul 1946) *

(Jan 1946-Apr 1946) *

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

(March 1946 - June 1946)

Naval Air Stations

729 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in England and overseas in India and Sri Lanka: * Royal Naval Air Station HINSTOCK (1 January 1945 - 16 April 1945) *-transit- (16 April 1945 - 15 May 1945) * Royal Naval Aircraft Repair Yard COIMBATORE (15 May 1945 - 7 July 1945) * Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard TAMBARAM (7 July 1945 - 20 July 1945) *Royal Naval Air Station PUTTALAM (20 July 1945 - 30 August 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station KATUKURUNDA (30 August 1945 - 24 July 1946)

Commanding Officers

List of

commanding officers The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...

of 729 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment and end: * Lt-Cdr ( A) H. R. Law,

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

(Jan 1945 - Nov 1945) * Lt (A) A. H. Bender, RNVR (Nov 1945 - Jul 1946)

References

Citations

Bibliography

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