821 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 formed on 3 April 1933 with the transferral and amalgamation of the

Fairey III The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in u ...

aircraft from 446 and half of 455 Flight (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flights

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

to the newly formed Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force. The squadron operated 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 ...

History

Pre-war

The squadron was upgraded to use the

Fairey Seal The Fairey Seal was a British carrier-borne spotter-reconnaissance aircraft, operated in the 1930s. The Seal was derived – like the Gordon – from the IIIF. To enable the Fairey Seal to be launched by catapult from warships, it could be f ...

aircraft, and then embarked aboard with the Home Fleet in May 1933. The

Abyssinian crisis The Abyssinia Crisis (; ) was an international crisis in 1935 that originated in what was called the Walwal incident during the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia (then commonly known as "Abyssinia"). The Lea ...

in August 1935 caused the squadron to be briefly transferred to the Mediterranean, but it returned to the UK in February 1936. It then transferred its Seals to

822 Naval Air Squadron 822 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadron before and during World War II. History Pre-war 822 squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 from a merger of No's 442 and 449 (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flights at Netheravon and posted ...

and received as replacements Blackburn Shark IIs, which it used to take up the role of Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance. By September 1937 the Sharks had been replaced by

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 us ...

and the Squadron transferred to the new aircraft carrier in November 1938. They sailed to the Mediterranean in spring 1939, and as war loomed they were transferred to

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

control on 24 May 1939.

Second World War

Operating off ''Ark Royal'' the squadron was responsible for the first allied

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

kill of the war, when they sank , after she had unsuccessfully tried to

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 ...

''Ark Royal''. The squadron sailed with the carrier to the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

, searching for German shipping and

commerce raider Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...

s. After briefly operating in the Mediterranean, 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 ...

in April 1940 caused ''Ark Royal'' to be recalled to support allied operations in Norway. The squadron was used to attack enemy positions, but on 21 June an attempt was made to sink the . The squadron sustained heavy losses in this unsuccessful operation and was forced to disband in December. A single flight, X Flight, continued in service though, with six aircraft. They sailed to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

aboard and then to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

aboard HMS ''Ark Royal''. They covered 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 ...

, before being absorbed in 815 Naval Air Squadron. 821 Squadron was re-formed at

Detling Detling is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the slope of the North Downs, north east of Maidstone, and on the Pilgrims' Way. History and features The ''Cock Horse Inn'' was used ...

in July 1941, initially tasked with carrying out anti-submarine duties in Orkney. In November they were transferred to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and in March 1942 they were re-equipped with six

Fairey Albacore The Fairey Albacore is a single-engine biplane torpedo bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation. It was primarily operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and was heavily used during the Second ...

s. They carried out bombing raids on

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, and in Egypt were active in supporting ground forces at Maaten Bagush, Gambut and Daba. 821 Squadron was transferred again in November 1942 to operate out of

RAF Hal Far The RAF Hal Far airfield was the first permanent airfield to be built on Malta. It was opened on 1 April 1929 as HMS ''Falcon'', a Royal Navy stone frigate, and was used by Fleet Air Arm crews. It was transferred to the Maltese Government and ...

, on Malta, attacking enemy supply convoys headed to North Africa. Four of the squadron's aircraft were transferred to Castel Benito,

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

in March 1943 to support night bombing raids by the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. In July 1943 at the time of

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, 821 squadron was based at Hal Far on Malta with Albacores for torpedo/spotter/reconnaissance. The entire squadron then transferred to

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

in June to attack enemy shipping. 821 Squadron returned to the UK by October and was disbanded again. It reformed again in May 1944, this time equipped with 12 Fairey Barracuda IIs and operating as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance squadron. The squadron was embarked aboard in November and sailed to the Far East. They carried out mine-laying operations in February 1945, with Barracuda IIIs, and from April with six

F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

s until June 1945. The squadron was active until February 1946.

Notes

References

821 Squadron's pre war history

{{Royal Naval Air Squadrons Military units and formations established in 1933 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons