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 ...
during World War II, which was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1946, and remains active.
In British service
860 Squadron was formed in June 1943 at
RNAS Donibristle
RNAS Donibristle is a former Fleet Air Arm base located east of Rosyth, Fife, and northwest of Edinburgh.
From 1918 to 1939 the station was called RAF Donibristle.
History
The following units were posted here at some point:
;Royal Air Force
...
, Scotland, from personnel of the
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
, under the command of ''Luitenant'' J. van der Tooren. As a torpedo-bomber/reconnaissance squadron, flying the
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also used ...
, Northern Ireland, in November 1943. There it was divided into two
flights
Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface.
Flight may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film
* ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...
of six aircraft to operate from the merchant aircraft carriers and , and then from ''Acavus'' and from June 1944. In June 1945 the squadron was re-equipped with the
Fairey Barracuda
The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal.
The Barracuda ...
, and in August it was assigned to the
escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
.
In May 1946 the squadron converted to the
Fairey Firefly
The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Avia ...
, and in September 1946 was handed over to Dutch control, becoming part of the
Netherlands Naval Aviation Service
The Netherlands Naval Aviation Service ( nl, Marineluchtvaartdienst, shortened to MLD) is the naval aviation branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
History
World War I
Although the MLD was formed in 1914, with the building of a seaplane base ...
.
In Dutch service
Assigned to the former ''Nairana'', now renamed HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (QH1), it took part in operations in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
during the
Indonesian War of Independence
The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcoloni ...
. It operated the
Hawker Sea Fury
The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft e ...
from 1950 until 1956, then the
Hawker Sea Hawk
The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design origina ...
from 1957, while based at
Valkenburg Naval Air Base
Valkenburg Naval Air Base (Dutch: Vliegkamp Valkenburg) is a former air base located just south of Valkenburg, which is part of Katwijk and close to the city of Leiden, that was used by the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service until 2006, being t ...
, and flying from the second . Disbanded in 1964, it was reformed in October 1966 as an ASW/
SAR
SAR or Sar may refer to:
Places
* Sar (river), Galicia, Spain
* Sar, Bahrain, a residential district
* Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran
* Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China
* Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe
...
Westland Wasp
The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earlier piston-e ...
, then the
Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...
from 1978, in early 2008 it converted to the
NHIndustries NH90
The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...