735 Naval Air Squadron (735 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 1943 and 1946 as an ASV (Air-to-Surface Vessel) radar Training Unit. Forming at RNAS Inskip in 1943, roughly one year later the squadron moved to RNAS Burscough. Various flights from the squadron moved on to form other Naval Air Squadrons, with 735 NAS eventually disbanding in 1946.

History of 735 NAS

ASV Training Unit (1943 - 1946)

735 Naval Air Squadron was formed at

RNAS Inskip (HMS Nightjar) RNAS Inskip, or as it was otherwise known HMS Nightjar, is a former Fleet Air Arm airfield near the village of Inskip, Lancashire, England at . In the 60's and 70's it was a Royal Navy transmitting station known as HMS INSKIP. It is now used a ...

, located near the village of

Inskip, Lancashire Inskip is a small village in the Fylde area of Lancashire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Inskip-with-Sowerby. The village is close to the former RNAS Inskip airfield, which still serves the armed forces as a tri-service communicatio ...

, England, on the 1 August 1943, as an A.S.V. training unit and staying there until the 18 March 1944. The squadron flew the

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also used ...

I & II and the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

I aircraft. The Avro Ansons were used for both A.S.H. ( Airborne to Surface Homing) and A.S.V. radar training. 735 NAS originally comprised two flights, ‘A’ flight being concerned with radar training and ‘B’ flight engaged in radar trials. The squadron moved to

RNAS Burscough (HMS Ringtail) RNAS Burscough, also known as HMS ''Ringtail'', was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air station which was southwest of Burscough, Lancashire. The Admiralty acquired of land in December 1942 and the airfield was built with four narrow runways an ...

, located southwest of

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, losing the Swordfish but gaining

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

II & III aircraft. 735 NAS also operated out of RNAS Arbroath (HMS Condor), located near

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

in East

Angus, Scotland Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agr ...

, between the 28 August 1944 and the 15 April 1945, when it also flew Hellcat Mk I aircraft in the last year of World War Two, before returning to RNAS Burscough. ‘C’ flight was added, which acted as a mobile unit giving Rebecca (radar system) training to fighter pilots. This was equipped with three Grumman Hellcat Mk I and a single Avro Anson Mk I aircraft. In February 1945 ‘B’ flight broke away and became 707 NAS. The following month ‘C’ flight became 787X flight at

RAF Odiham RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook, and of the King’s Helicopter Flight (TKHF) . I ...

. 735 NAS remained at RNAS Burscough after World War Two, continuing to operate Anson and Barracuda aircraft. In November 1945, 737 NAS was absorbed, however, on the 30 April 1946, the squadron disbanded.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: * Fairey Swordfish I (Aug 1943-Mar 1944) * Fairey Swordfish II (Aug 1943-Mar 1944) * Avro Anson I (Aug 1943-Apr 1946) * Fairey Barracuda II (Dec 1944-Apr 1946) * Fairey Barracuda III (Dec 1944-Apr 1946) *

Grumman Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

(Jan 1945-May 1945)

Naval Air Stations

735 Naval Air Squadron operated from a couple of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in England: * Royal Naval Air Station INSKIP (1 August 1943 - 18 March 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station BURSCOUGH (18 March 1944 - 30 April 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 735 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment and end: * Lt-Cdr E. S. Carver,

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

, RN (Aug 1943 - Mar 1944) * Lt-Cdr(A) R. T. Hayes,

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 ...

(Mar 1944 - Aug 1944) * Lt-Cdr(A) J. H. Mayne,

(Aug 1944 - Mar 1945) * Lt-Cdr(A) S.L. Revett,

(Mar 1945 - Dec 1945) * Lt-Cdr F. Stovin-Bradford,

, RN (Dec 1945 - Apr 1946)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II