805 Squadron was a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron. Originally formed as 805 Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in 1940 and operating for the duration of World War II in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres. 805 Squadron was recreated as a unit of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN) in 1948, and operated from Australian aircraft carriers until 1982, having the distinction of being the last fast jet squadron in the RAN. 805 Squadron was re-established in 2001 to operate the Kaman Super Seasprite as a replacement for helicopters currently in service, but problems with the helicopters saw the project cancelled and the squadron disbanded in 2008.

History

Royal Navy

805 Squadron was first formed as a

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 ...

squadron in November 1940 at the RAF aerodrome at

Abukir Abu Qir ( ar, ابو قير, ''Abu Qīr'', or , ), formerly also spelled Abukir or Aboukir, is a town on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, near the ruins of ancient Canopus and northeast of Alexandria by rail. It is located on Abu Qir Penins ...

in Egypt. Operating

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 ...

s in a convoy protection role, the squadron operated in the Western Desert until January 1941, when it transferred to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. A short time later, it returned to Egypt, where at Dekeila it re-equipped with

Brewster Buffalo The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II. Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrestor hook and other modifications ...

fighters. In June 1941, these were replaced by the Grumman Martlet III. The squadron disbanded in January 1943. The squadron recommissioned in the UK for service in the Pacific Campaign, equipped with

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurri ...

s, but saw no further service prior to the end of the war.

Royal Australian Navy

In August 1948, 805 Squadron was reformed as a

FAA squadron operating Hawker Sea Fury Mk II aircraft. The Squadron formed part of the 20th Carrier Air Group embarked on . During September 1951, 805 Squadron deployed to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, flying sorties for 64 days. Three 805 Squadron pilots were killed during the campaign. The

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

"Korea 1951–52" was awarded to the squadron for this deployment. Following the retirement of the Sea Fury aircraft, the unit was disbanded on 26 March 1958. 805 Squadron reformed at Nowra on 31 March 1958, equipped with de Havilland Sea Venom FAW.53 all weather night fighters. 805 Squadron later embarked on , as part of the 21st Carrier Air Group. The squadron was again disbanded on 30 June 1963 and its aircraft transferred to B Flight, 816 Squadron. Kaman SH-2G(A) Seasprite, Australia - Royal Australian Navy (RAN) JP445696

Kaman SH-2G(A) Seasprite, Australia - Royal Australian Navy (RAN) JP445696

On 10 January 1968, 805 Squadron reformed, equipped with the

McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk is a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The model was based on the A-4F variant of the Skyhawk, and was fitted with slightly different avionics as ...

fighter. The VF-805 designation was used to conform with USN squadron naming system during the Skyhawk era, under which 'VF' referred to fixed wing fighter aircraft, denoting the fleet defence role of the squadron's aircraft. The squadron operated from ''Melbourne'' until 1982. On 28 February 2001, 805 Squadron was reformed, equipped with Kaman SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite helicopters to be operated from the new s. The Squadron completed First of Class Flight Trials aboard HMAS ''Parramatta'', but did not reach operational status due to difficulties with integrating the helicopters' avionic systems. Following technical problems with the new helicopter, the squadron was relegated to minimal duties in 2005, grounded in 2006, and faced possible scrapping in early 2007. Efforts to rectify the technical problems were not successful and the project was cancelled in early 2008. As a result, 805 Squadron was disbanded on 26 June 2008.

Aircraft

RN service

* Grumman Martlett III *

(Strike)

RAN service

* Hawker Sea Fury Mk II * de Havilland Sea Venom FAW.53 * McDonnell Douglas A4G Skyhawk *

Kaman SH-2 Seasprite The Kaman SH-2 Seasprite is a ship-based helicopter originally developed and produced by American manufacturer Kaman Aircraft Corporation. It has been typically used as a compact and fast-moving rotorcraft for utility and anti-submarine warfar ...

References

External links

RAN website on 805 Squadron's history
{{DEFAULTSORT:805 Squadron Ran Flying squadrons of the Royal Australian Navy Military units and formations of Australia in the Korean War Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 2008