793 Naval Air Squadron (793 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 in 1939 at RNAS Ford and remained active throughout to 1945, as an Air Towed Target Unit, as part of No.1 Observer School. From 1940 to disbandment it operated at RNAS Piarco (HMS Goshawk),

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

History of 793 NAS

Air Towed Target Unit (1939 - 1945)

793 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Ford (HMS Perigrine), located at

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the 25 October 1939, as an Air Towed Target Unit and operating Blackburn Roc Mk.I aircraft. On the 18 August 1940, a formation of Junkers Ju 87, or Stuka, dive bombers, attacked RNAS Ford as part of a large

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

force attacking airfields around Hampshire and Sussex. 28 personnel were killed and 75 wounded in the raid, which also destroyed 17 aircraft, damaged 26 more and caused significant infrastructure damage. The raid prompted 793 NAS to be stood down and 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 in

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

, in preparation for sailing to relocate to

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, located in the Caribbean, operating from RNAS Piarco, on the island of Trinidad, which began on the 18 November 1940. The squadron's role was to support the training of observers for the Fleet Air Arm. It formed part of the No. 1 Observer School operating out of RNAS Piarco, working alongside three Observer Training Squadrons:

749 Naval Air Squadron 749 Naval Air Squadron (749 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active from 1941 through to 1945, formed as a Observer Training Squadron, part of No.1 Observer School at RNAS Piarco (HMS Goshawk), located ...

750 Naval Air Squadron The Royal Navy Observer School grew out of HM Naval Seaplane Training School at RNAS Lee-on-Solent as a result of a series of changes of identity and parent unit. From 1918 until 1939 the Royal Air Force was responsible for naval aviation, includ ...

and

752 Naval Air Squadron 752 Naval Air Squadron (752 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 ...

. Here, 793 NAS also operated Miles Martinet T.T.1 for target towing,

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 ...

British

carrier-borne Carrier-based aircraft, sometimes known as carrier-capable aircraft or carrier-borne aircraft, are naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy enough to withstand ...

reconnaissance aircraft/ fighter aircraft, and

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 ...

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. 793 NAS operated from RNAS Piarco for the remainder of World War II, finally disbanding there on the 10 October 1945.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: * Blackburn Roc Mk.1 * Miles Martinet T.T.1 * Fairey Fulmar Mk.II * Fairey Albacore Mk.I

Naval Air Stations

793 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, both in the UK and overseas: * Royal Naval Air Station FORD (25 October 1939 - 1 October 1940) * Royal Naval Air Station LEE-ON-SOLENT (1 October 1940 - 12 October 1940) *-transit- (12 October 1940 - 18 October 1940) * Royal Naval Air Station PIARCO (18 October 1940 - 10 October 1945)

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 793 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment and end: * Lt ( A) J. N. Gladich,

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 1939-Aug 1940) * Lt-Cdr (A) K. D. R. Davis, RNVR (Nov 1940-Jun 1944) *Lt-Cdr (A) F. C. Booth, RNVR (Jun 1944-Dec 1944) *Lt-Cdr (A) F. B. Gardner, RNVR (Dec 1944-Aug 1945) *Lt-Cdr (A) S. J. McDowell, RNVR (Aug 1945-Oct 1945)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II {{UK-navy-stub