Spitfire Ia 761 NAS at RNAS Yeovilton 1943

761 Naval Air Squadron (761 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 at HMS ''Heron'', RNAS Yeovilton, as the Advanced Training Squadron of the Fleet Fighter School, in 1941. The squadron moved to HMS ''Dipper'', RNAS Henstridge, in 1943, as part of the No. 2 Naval Air Fighter School. It remained at HMS ''Dipper'' and in this role, until January 1946, when the squadron disbanded.

History of 761 NAS

Naval Air Fighter School (1941–1946)

761 Naval Air Squadron formed, on 1 August 1941, at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS ''Heron'') near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and 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 Somerset's southern border with ...

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_ ...

. It was formed out of 760 Naval Air Squadron's

Fairey Fulmar The Fairey Fulmar is a British carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft/fighter aircraft which was developed and manufactured by aircraft company Fairey Aviation. It was named after the northern fulmar, a seabird native to the British Isles. The F ...

, a carrier-based

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

/ fighter aircraft and tasked as the Advanced Training Squadron of the Fleet Fighter School, and it used RNAS Haldon (HMS ''Heron'' II) for air firing practice. During 1942,

Blackburn Roc The Blackburn Roc (company designation B-25) was a naval fighter aircraft designed and produced by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It took its name from the mythical bird of the tales of the Arabian Nights, the Roc. It was ope ...

, a carrier-based turret fighter aircraft and Supermarine Spitfire I, a single-seat fighter aircraft, were received by the squadron. On 10 April 1943, 761 Naval Air Squadron relocated to RNAS Henstridge (HMS ''Dipper''), 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

, as part of No.2 Naval Air Fighter School. At this point, the squadron was equipped with a mix of eighteen Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine Seafire, the latter a

navalised {{refimprove, date=February 2011 A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an aircraft that has been specifically designed for naval use, in some cases as a variant of a land-based design. An aircraft based on an aircraft carrier is called c ...

Spitfire fighter aircraft, along with six

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second W ...

, an advanced trainer aircraft. Utilising 'D' Flight, trainees went about real deck landing training on the , , and the aircraft carrier, (converted from an ocean liner), . Supermarine Seafire was the main aircraft operated by the squadron and by June 1944, sixty-eight Supermarine Seafire fighter aircraft were being used, consisting various marks. 761 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS Henstridge (HMS ''Dipper'') on 16 January 1946.

Aircraft operated

The squadron has operated a number of different aircraft types, including: Supermarine Type 377 Seafire Mk

Mk.I

/ fighter aircraft (August 1941 - April 1943) * Fairey Fulmar Mk.II reconnaissance/fighter aircraft (August 1941 - April 1943) *

I fighter aircraft (April 1942 - July 1942) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk I fighter aircraft (September 1942 - July 1944) *

I advanced trainer (April 1943 - November 1943) * Miles Master II advanced trainer (April 1943 - January 1946) * Supermarine Seafire Mk Ib fighter aircraft (April 1943 - March 1945) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk Va fighter aircraft (April 1943 - January 1945) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb fighter aircraft (April 1943 - January 1945) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb "hooked" fighter aircraft (November 1943 - February 1945) * Supermarine Seafire Mk III fighter aircraft (April 1944 - January 1946) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk IIc fighter aircraft (July 1944 - August 1945) *

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 ...

III advanced trainer (November 1944 - January 1946) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk XV fighter aircraft (July 1945 - January 1946) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk XVII fighter aircraft (November 1945 - January 1946)

Naval air stations

761 Naval Air Squadron operated from a couple of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in England: * Royal Naval Air Station YEOVILTON (HMS ''Heron'') (1 August 1941 - 10 April 1943) * Royal Naval Air Station HENSTRIDGE (HMS ''Dipper'') (10 April 1943 - 16 January 1946) ** 'D' Flight DLT *** (1 - 5 May 1944 / 18 - 20 May 1944) *** (26 - 27 August 1944) *** HMS ''Ravager'' (27 January - 2 February 1945 / 21 - 22 June 1945 / 18 - 23 August 1945) * ''disbanded'' - (16 January 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 761 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment: *

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

C.P. Campbell-Horsefall, RN, from 1 August 1941 * Captain R.C. Hay, , RM, from 1 January 1942 * Lieutenant( A) R.B. Pearson, RN, from 21 July 1942 * Lieutenant(A) W.C. Simpson,

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 ...

, from 12 September 1942 * Lieutenant A.C. Wallace, RN, from October 1942 * ''not identified'', from November 1942 *

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

(A) R.J. Cork, , RN, from 10 April 1943 * Lieutenant Commander(A) R.H.P. Carver, DSC, RN, from 15 November 1943 * Lieutenant Commander(A) S.G. Orr, , RNVR, from 20 September 1944 * Lieutenant Commander(A) P.N. Charlton, , RN, from 27 April 1946 * ''disbanded'' - 16 January 1946

Notes

References

* * * {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1941 Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II