818 Naval Air Squadron was 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 ...

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 ...

carrier-based

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

formed in August 1939. It served on a number of the Navy's aircraft carriers during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, serving in most of the theatres of the war, before decommissioning at the end of the war.

History

Norway and the Mediterranean

818 Squadron was formed as a torpedo reconnaissance

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in August 1939. This was some two months earlier than had originally been planned, owing to the increased threat of war. The squadron was initially equipped with nine Fairey Swordfish Is, and then embarked on the aircraft carrier at the navy's base at Scapa Flow. ''Ark Royal'' was then deployed to search for enemy shipping off Norway. 818 Squadron then transferred to in April 1940, after the

German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. On 11 April aircraft from the squadron attacked two German destroyers in Trondheim Fjord. The squadron then moved ashore, spending the period between May and June 1940 flying out of Thorney and RAF Carew Cheriton, working with

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. They returned to ''Ark Royal'' in mid-June, and sailed with her to the Mediterranean Sea. They were used in the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, carrying out strikes against the Vichy-French battleship . They again saw action in attacks on Italian targets on

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and in the

Battle of Cape Spartivento The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War, fought between naval forces of the Royal Navy and the Italian ''Regia Marina'' on 27 ...

, with attacks on the on 27 November 1940. They were also involved in providing air cover for the

Malta Convoys The Malta convoys were Allied supply convoys of the Second World War. The convoys took place during the Siege of Malta in the Mediterranean Theatre. Malta was a base from which British sea and air forces could attack ships carrying supplies ...

, and in February 1941 carried out attacks on targets at Livorno,

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, Pisa and La Spezia.

Hunting the battleship ''Bismarck''

The breakout into the Atlantic of the in May 1941 led to the ''Ark Royal'' being ordered into the Atlantic with the British fleet to hunt and sink the German ship. When the ''Bismarck'' was located, aircraft from

810 __NOTOC__ Year 810 ( DCCCX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Venetian dukes change sides again, submitting to Ki ...

and 818 Naval Air Squadrons carried out attacks. Eventually a Swordfish of 818 Squadron, probably the one piloted by Sub-Lt. John Moffat, struck ''Bismarck''s aft with a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

, jamming her rudder in a turn to starboard. Unable to manoeuvre, the ''Bismarck'' swung around in a wide circle, allowing the ships of Force H to catch up and sink the German ship.Jameson. Ark Royal, pp. 303–5.

The Mediterranean and Far East

The squadron later had their Swordfish replaced by nine Fairey Albacore Is, and they were embarked aboard in February 1942. ''Formidable'' then sailed to Ceylon to counter Japanese attacks, but by June a reduction in the threat of such attacks led to the squadron being disbanded. It was reformed at

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 ...

in October 1942 and was equipped with Swordfish IIs. They sailed aboard in March 1943 to provide cover for convoys to

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. Six aircraft from the squadron were used that August for operations during the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

. The squadron then returned to the Far East aboard ''Unicorn'' in November 1943, where they were assigned to the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

. They went ashore at Ceylon, and were disbanded at

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

in October 1944. They were again reformed, this time at RNAS Rattray in May 1945, and equipped with 18 Fairey Barracuda IIs, to operate as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance squadron. It had been planned that the squadron would join the 22nd Carrier Air Group in one of the new s, but the end of the war with Japan in August 1945 meant that the squadron was again disbanded, on

Victory over Japan Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

, 15 August.

Notes

References

818 Squadron at the Fleet Air Arm Archive
* *

{{Royal Naval Air Squadrons Military units and formations established in 1939 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons