791 Naval Air Squadron (791 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 formed as an Air Target Towing Unit, at RNAS Arbroath, in Scotland, in October 1940. It operated various types of aircraft for target towing duties, used to support air gunnery training and practice. The squadron disbanded in December 1944, at Arbroath. It reformed at RNAS Trincomalee, in Sri Lanka, in November 1945, as a Fleet Requirements Unit. The squadron moved to RNAS Sembawang, in Singapore, in December 1945, ferried via HMS ''Smiter''. It also operated a Communications Flight and an Air-Sea Rescue Flight, as well as undertaking anti Mosquito spraying duties. 791 NAS disbanded at Sembawang in June 1947.

History of 791 NAS

Air Target Towing Unit (1940 - 1944)

791 Naval Air Squadron formed as an Air Target Towing Unit, on the 15 October 1940, at RNAS Arbroath, located near Arbroath in East Angus, Scotland. The squadron was initially equipped with two Roc, a carrier-based turret-armed fighter aircraft, for target towing. It operated various types of aircraft while at Arbroath, in March 1941

Albacore The albacore (''Thunnus alalunga''), known also as the longfin tuna, is a species of tuna of the order Perciformes. It is found in temperate and tropical waters across the globe in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. There are six distinct s ...

single-engine biplane

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

aircraft, were received. One year on, in March 1942, the squadron started using

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 ...

a Carrier-based dive bomber/ fighter aircraft and Sea Gladiator single-seat fighter biplane aircraft, fitted with arrestor hooks, and these were followed by Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber aircraft in the April. October 1942 saw the arrival of

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

single-seat fighter aircraft to the squadron and one year later, in October 1943,

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

single-seat fighter aircraft were received. By the end of that year the squadron received a later variant of Swordfish and in April 1944, it started using the TT III mark of Defiant, a dedicated turret-less target tug. 791 Naval Air Squadron disbanded as an Air Target Towing Unit, on the 10 December 1944, at RNAS Arbroath.

Fleet Requirements Unit (1945 - 1947)

791 Naval Air Squadron reformed as a Fleet Requirements Unit, on the 1 November 1945, at RNAS Trincomalee (HMS Bambara), located in China Bay in eastern Sri Lanka. It was equipped with six Corsair, an American fighter aircraft, six Vengeance, an American dive bomber aircraft, and a single Harvard, an American single-engined advanced

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

. In December, the squadron moved to RNAS Sembawang, located at

Sembawang Sembawang is a planning area and residential town located in the North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to the south, Yishun to the southeast, Woodlands to the west and the Straits of Jo ...

, in the northern part of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. HMS ''Smiter'', designated a , was tasked with ferrying aircraft of

888 Naval Air Squadron 888 Naval Air Squadron (888 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron 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 a ...

, to the newly reopened Naval air station in Singapore. They were joined by the Corsair, Vengeance and Harvard aircraft of 791 NAS. The two squadrons disembarked, from HMS ''Smiter'', to RNAS Sembawang, on the 27 December 1945. April 1946 saw the arrival of two Expediter, an American twin-engined

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft co ...

. These were followed by three

Auster Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.Willis, issue 122, p.55 History The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, ma ...

, British military

liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...

and observation aircraft, in the October. November 1946 saw the withdrawal of the Corsair aircraft, however, in December, two

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 ...

aircraft, a navalised version of the Spitfire, were received. The squadron also operated a Communications Flight and an

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 IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people ...

flight.

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

Vengeance aircraft were acquired and used for

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

spraying against

Mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

. 791 Naval Air Squadron disbanded as a Fleet Requirements Unit, on the 16 June 1947, at RNAS Sembawang.

Aircraft flown

791 Naval Air Squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: *

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 ...

(Oct 1940 - Mar 1944) *

Fairey Albacore The Fairey Albacore is a single-engine biplane torpedo bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation. It was primarily operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and was heavily used during the Second ...

(Mar 1941) *

Blackburn Skua The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single- radial engine aircraft by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It was the first Royal Navy carrier-borne all-metal cantilever monoplane aircraft, as well as t ...

(Mar 1942 - Mar 1944) *

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 ...

(Mar 1942) * Fairey Swordfish I (Apr 1942 - Dec 1944) * Supermarine Spitfire Mk I (Oct 1942 - May 1943) * Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk IIC (Oct 1943) * Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk Mk IA (Dec 1943 - Jan 1944) * Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk Mk IB (Dec 1943 - Jan 1944) * Fairey Swordfish II (Dec 1943 - Jan 1944) * Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk III (Apr 1944 - June 1944) * Vought Corsair Mk IV (Nov 1945 - Nov 1946) * Vultee Vengeance II (Dec 1945 - Dec 1946) *

North American Harvard IIB 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 ...

(Dec 1945 - May 1947) * Vultee Vengeance IV (Dec 1945 - Dec 1946) * Beech Expediter (Apr 1946 - Apr 1947) * Taylorcraft Auster V (Oct 1946 - Jun 1947) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk XV (Dec 1946 - Jun 1947)

Naval Air Stations and Aircraft Carriers

791 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, both in the UK and overseas and a Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier: * Royal Navy Air Station ARBROATH (15 October 1940 - 10 December 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station TRINCOMALEE (1 November 1945 - 23 December 1945) * HMS ''Smiter'' ''(ferry)'' (23 December 1945 - 27 December 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station SEMBAWANG (27 December 1945 - 16 June 1947)

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 791 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment and end: 1940 - 1944 * Lt-Cdr ( A) L. Gilbert,

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 ...

(Oct 1940-Dec 1941) *Lt-Cdr (A) K.B. Brotchie, RNVR (Dec 1941-Sep 1942) * Lt J.C.M. Harman RN (Sep 1942-May 1943) *Lt-Cdr (A) C.A. Crighton, RNVR (May 1943-Apr 1944) *Lt-Cdr (A) A.P.T. Pierrsene, RNVR (Apr 1944-Dec 1944) 1945 - 1947 *Lt-Cdr (A) C.M.T. Hallewell, RN (Nov 1945-Aug 1946) *Lt (A) R.A. Shilcock, RN (Aug 1946-Apr 1947) *LT (A) D.M. Jeram, RN (Apr 1947-Jun 1947)

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