760 Naval Air Squadron (760 NAS) is 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 ...

. The squadron first formed on 1 April 1940 as No.1 Fleet Fighter Pool with a variety of aircraft types before standardising in 1941 on the

Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry, Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British vari ...

. In this role it disbanded on 31 December 1942. In May 1944 760 NAS briefly reformed as an Anti-Submarine Operational Training Squadron before disbanding into

766 Naval Air Squadron 766 Naval Air Squadron (766 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was to have initially formed in 1939 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as a Seaplane School, however, it formed at RNAS Machrihannish as a Night ALT (Attack Li ...

in November. Reformed again as part of No.1 Naval Air Fighter School in April 1945 it converted fighter pilots to the

Corsair A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially: * Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa * French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown Corsair may also refer to: Arts and ...

and then the

Seafire ''SeaFire'', first published in 1994, was the fourteenth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond (including Gardner's novelization of ''Licence to Kill''). Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was f ...

until 23 January 1946 when it disbanded. 760 Squadron reformed in 1989 at the Air Engineering School

Lee-on-Solent Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a seaside district of the Borough of Gosport in Hampshire, England, about five miles (8 km) west of Portsmouth. The area is located on the coast of the Solent. It is primarily a resi ...

providing air engineering training for officers and ratings using old airframes. The school moved to Gosport in 1995. It continues as the Engineering Training Squadron of the Royal Navy Air Engineering and Survival School, now equipped with retired Sea King airframes.

History of 760 NAS

Fighter Pool Squadron (1940 - 1942)

760 Naval Air Squadron was formed at RNAS Eastleigh (HMS Raven), in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, on the 1 April 1940, as Fighter Pool No.1. It was initially equipped with four

Skua The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called jae ...

, two Roc and one

Sea Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed privat ...

aircraft. Five months later, on the 16 September 1940, the squadron relocated to

RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...

near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The squadron acquired

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Fulmar The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...

Martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

, Buffalo,

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and

aircraft, from 1940 to 1941. 760 NAS disbanded at Yeovilton on the 31 December 1942.

Anti-Submarine Operational Training Squadron (1944)

760 Naval Air Squadron reformed 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 ...

, 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 ...

, on the 1 May 1944, as an Anti-Submarine Operational Training Squadron. The squadron was equiped solely with

aircraft. However, this role only lasted for six months and 760 NAS disbanded at Inskip on the 1 November 1944.

Naval Air Fighter School (1945 - 1946)

760 Naval Air Squadron reformed on the 10 April 1945 at RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird), located north of the village of

Zeals Zeals is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Mere, next to the A303 road towards Wincanton, and adjoins the villages of Bourton, Dorset and Penselwood, Somerset. Its name comes from the Old E ...

, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, as part of the Naval Air Fighter School. The squadron was initially equipped with

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

aircraft and in August 1945, also operated Hellcat. On the 12 September 1945, 760 NAS moved to

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and ad ...

, situated near

Lee-on-the-Solent Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a seaside district of the Borough of Gosport in Hampshire, England, about five miles (8 km) west of Portsmouth. The area is located on the coast of the Solent. It is primarily a resi ...

. Retaining only the Harvard, the squadron was equipped with

aircraft from October 1945. The squadron moved again, on the 27 December 1945 it relocated to

RNAS Henstridge (HMS Dipper) Royal Naval Air Station Henstridge or RNAS Henstridge (HMS Dipper) is a former Fleet Air Arm base located west of Shaftesbury, Dorset and east of Yeovil, Somerset in South West England. It is home to the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Uni ...

, situated near

Henstridge Henstridge is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Sherborne in the South Somerset district, near the border with Dorset. The parish includes the hamlet of Yenston. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,814. H ...

, in

and continuing with Seafire aircraft. However, the move to Henstridge only lasted one month, with 760 NAS disbanding there on the 23 January 1946.

Engineering Training Squadron (1989 - )

760 Naval Air Squadron reformed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) in 1989, within the Air Engineering School and utilised

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

airframes for training. Prior to RNAS Lee-on Solent closing, the squadron moved to

HMS Sultan Four ships and three shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Sultan''. Ships * was a schooner purchased in 1768 and sold in 1773. * was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1775, and converted for use as a prison ship in 1797. S ...

, in

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

, in December 1995. It is currently the Engineering Training Squadron, within the Royal Naval Air Engineering & Survival School (RNAESS), equipped with Sea King airframes for training purposes.

Current role

760 Engineering Training Squadron, is part of Royal Naval Air Engineering & Survival School (RNAESS), based at HMS Sultan, which is located at Gosport in Hampshire. The RNAESS forms part of the Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering, which provides training for aircraft engineering officers and tradesmen across the three British armed forces. The squadron is housed in the Stephenson Hangar at HMS Sultan, where it's role is to train Air Engineering personnel in the supervision and administration of aircraft maintenance and line procedures.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: * Blackburn Skua Mk.II (Apr 1940 - Apr 1941) * Blackburn Roc I (Apr 1940 - Mar 1941) *

Gloster Sea Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...

(Apr 1940 - Sep 1940) * Miles M.9B Master I (Jun 1940 - Dec 1942) * Fairey Fulmar Mk.I (Mar 1941 - Jun 1941) * Fairey Fulmar Mk.II (Mar 1941 - Jun 1941) * Grumman Martlet Mk I (Oct 1941) * Brewster Buffalo Mk I (Dec 1941 - Apr 1942) * Hawker Hurricane Mk I (Oct 1941 - Dec 1942) * Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk IB (Oct 1941 - Dec 1942) * Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk IIC (May 1944 - Oct 1944) * North American Harvard IIA (Apr 1945 - Jan 1946) * Vought Corsair Mk III (Apr 1945 - Oct 1945) * Grumman Hellcat F. Mk I (Aug 1945) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk III (Oct 1945 - Jan 1946)

Fleet Air Arm Bases

760 NAS operated from a number of air bases: * Royal Naval Air Station EASTLEIGH (1 April 1940 - 16 September 1940) *

Royal Naval Air Station YEOVILTON Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose (H ...

(16 September 1940 - 13 August 1941) * Royal Naval Air Station INSKIP (1 May 1944 - 1 November 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station ZEALS (10 April 1945 - 12 September 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station LEE-ON-SOLENT (12 September 1945 - 27 December 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station HENSTRIDGE (27 December 1945 - 23 January 1946) *Royal Naval Air Station LEE-ON-SOLENT (1989 - 1995) *

(1995 - present)

Commanding Officers

760 Naval Air Squadron has had a number of Commanding Officers: 1940 - 1942 * Lt J. Chasson, RN (Apr 1940-May 1940) * Lt-Cdr P. H. Havers, RN (May 1940-Jan 1941) *Lt-Cdr G. N. Torry, RN (Jan 1941-Aug 1941) *Lt K. V. V. Spurway, RN (Aug 1941-Oct 1941) *Lt E. W. T. Taylour, RN (Oct 1941-Dec 1941) *Lt O. J. R. Nicolls, RN (Dec 1941-Aug 1941) 1944 *Lt-Cdr J. D. Kellsal,

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 ...

(May 1944-Nov 1944) 1945 - 1946 *Lt-Cdr P. G. Burke, RNZVNR (Apr 1945-Sep 1945) *Lt-Cdr R. Tebble,

(Sep 1945-Jan 1946)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II {{UK-navy-stub