795 Naval Air Squadron (795 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 ...

which last disbanded at RNAS Ford (HMS ''Peregrine''), in Sussex, during March 1947. Originally formed as the Eastern Fleet Fighter Pool at RNAS Tanga (HMS ''Kilele''), in Tanganyika, in June 1942, it’s 'A' Flight's supported the invasion of Madagascar, from HMS ''Illustrious'', before being detached at Majunga on anti-submarine patrols as part of the Royal Air Force’s No. 207 Group. The squadron later moved to RNAS Mackinnon Road, in Kenya, before disbanding during August 1943. It reformed as a Refresher Training Squadron at RNAS Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet''), in Northern Ireland, in August 1946 as part of the Fleet Air Arm’s 52nd Training Air Group and later included a couple of deployments in HMS ''Implacable''.

History of 795 NAS

Eastern Fleet Fighter Pool (1942 - 1943)

795 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Tanga (HMS ''Kilele''), Tanganyika Territory,

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

, on 24 June 1942 as the Eastern Fleet Fighter Pool. It was initially equipped with Fairey Fulmar, a 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 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 ...

and

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, and Grumman Martlet, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft. As part of the Battle of Madagascar, 'A' Flight, which was formed of six Fairey Fulmar aircraft, embarked in the lead ship of her class of

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

along with the Fairey Albacore

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

torpedo bomber equipped

796 Naval Air Squadron 796 Naval Air Squadron (796 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 ...

, on 29 August. On 11 September the flight was put ashore at Majunga,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and was tasked to provide anti-submarine patrols, under the direction of

No. 207 Group RAF No. 207 (General Purpose) Group was a group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) established on 15 December 1941 by downgrading the British RAF Command known as Air H.Q. East Africa to Group status. The group was commanded by Air Commodore William S ...

. The Flight undertook a number of active sorties but in November it moved to the ex-

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

HMS ''Albatross''. The main section of the squadron had moved to RNAS Mackinnon Road, in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, East Africa, on 19 September 1942 and remained there for almost a year. 795 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 11 August 1943. Fairey Fulmar Mk II from underside

Refresher Training Squadron (1946 - 1947)

795 Naval Air Squadron reformed as a Refresher Training squadron, on 1 August 1946 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet''), and as part of the

52nd Training Air Group This is a list of all the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm groups that were formed. There were Carrier Air Groups which administered squadrons which operated on carriers and Training Air Groups which administered squadrons that operated from land base ...

. The squadron was equipped with Fairey Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft. Its role was to provide refresher training to aircraft carrier standard. On the 13 November 1946 the squadron exchanged Commanding Officer and staff with 719 Naval Air Squadron, then on 14 January 1947, the squadron embarked in , the

name ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class. Fairey Firefly FR

795 Naval Air Squadron disbanded for the second time on 24 March, the squadron disembarked from ''Implacable'' to RNAS Ford (HMS ''Peregrine''), in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, it’s aircraft flown to RNAS Stretton (HMS ''Blackcap''), in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, to be put into storage, on the same day.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types and variants: * Fairey Fulmar Mk.II carrier-based reconnaissance/fighter aircraft (May 1942 - June 1943) * Grumman Martlet Mk I carrier-based fighter aircraft (1942) *Grumman Martlet Mk II carrier-based fighter aircraft (September 1942 - April 1943) *Grumman Martlet Mk III carrier-based fighter aircraft (November 1942 - August 1943) *Grumman Martlet Mk IV carrier-based fighter aircraft (June - August 1943) *

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 ...

Ila advanced trainer aircraft (June - September 1943) *

Hawker 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 ( ...

Mk IB fighter aircraft (December 1942 - January 1943) * Fairey Firefly FR.I carrier-borne fighter, strike fighter and aerial reconnaissance aircraft (August - November 1946, November 1946 - March 1947)

Naval Air Stations and Aircraft Carriers

795 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, both in the UK and overseas and a number of Royal Navy aircraft carriers: 1942 - 1943 *Royal Naval Air Station TANGA (HMS ''Kilele'') (24 June 1942 - 19 September 1942) **'A' Flight - six Fairey Fulmar *** (29 August 1942 - 11 September 1942) *** Majunga (11 September 1942 - 13 November 1942) ****

Antsirabe Antsirabe () is the third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region, with a population of 265,018 in 2014. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively cool climate (like the rest of the central region), it ...

''detachment three aircraft'' (12 October 1942 - 13 November 1942) *** HMS ''Albatross'' (13 November 1942 - 15 November 1942) ***Royal Naval Air Station TANGA (HMS ''Kilele'') (15 November 1942 - ) * Royal Naval Air Station MACKINNON ROAD (19 September 1942 - 11 August 1943) ** RAF Nakuru ''detachment'' (Flight attached to No. 70 OTU RAF) (26 April - 15 May 1943) *''disbanded'' - (11 August 1943) 1946 - 1947 * Royal Naval Air Station EGLINTON (HMS ''Gannet'') (1 August 1946 - 13 August 1946) * (13 August 1946 - 5 November 1946) *Royal Naval Air Station EGLINTON (HMS ''Gannet'') (5 November 1946 - 14 January 1947) *HMS ''Implacable'' (14 January 1947 - 24 March 1947) * Royal Naval Air Station STRETTON (HMS ''Blackcap'') (aircraft - 24 March 1947) * Royal Naval Air Station FORD (HMS ''Peregrine'') - ''disbanded'' (26 March 1947)

Commanding Officers

List of

commanding officer 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 latitu ...

s of 795 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment: 1942 - 1943 *

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 sub ...

O.N. Bailey, RN, from 24 June 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 rank i ...

R. Pridham-Wippell, RN, from 10 November 1942 *Lieutenant N. Matthews, RN, from 1 March 1943 *Lieutenant Commander( A) G.W. Parish, ,

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 7 June 1943 *''disbanded'' - 11 August 1943 1946 - 1947 *Lieutenant J.M. Brown, , RN, from 10 August 1946 *Lieutenant C.R.J. Coxon, RN, from 13 November 1946 *''disbanded'' - 26 March 1947

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1947 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom 1947 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-navy-stub