891 Naval Air Squadron was a fighter squadron of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In August 1942 the squadron transferred from

RNAS Lee-on-Solent 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 ...

where it had been formed in July to RNAS Charlton Horethorne with six

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

s to prepare for carrier operations, later transferring to RNAS St Merryn and then embarking on to take part in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

. The squadron was disbanded in April 1943, but was reformed in June 1945 and equipped with Hellcat IIs in order to operate in the Pacific, but the war ended before they could be deployed. The squadron was disbanded in September 1945. On 8 November 1954 891 NAS was recommissioned with

de Havilland Sea Venom The de Havilland Sea Venom is a British postwar carrier-capable jet aircraft developed from the de Havilland Venom. It served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and with the Royal Australian Navy. The French Navy operated the Aquilon, develo ...

FAW 20s under the command of Lt.Cmdr. M. A. Birrell, DSC. The squadron was initially equipped with two Sea Venoms and four

Sea Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by a ...

T22s, then on 1 March 1955 the squadron formed an 'X' flight commanded by Lt.-Cmdr. G. M. Jude, Royal Australian Navy, to train RAN crews in preparation for the formation of 808 RAN Squadron in August 1955. 891 replaced its Mk.20 Sea Venoms with Mk.21s in June 1955, then in April 1956 the squadron disbanded, only to reform in December 1957 under the command of Lt.-Cmdr. J. F. Blunden at RNAS Merryfield with Sea Venom FAW Mk.22s. 891 was the last Sea Venom squadron to see active service when operating from it became involved in Operation Damen, carrying out rocket attacks against Yemeni rebel infiltrations in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

. 891 NAS disbanded as the last frontline Sea Venom squadron in July 1961.

References

* * {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons