822 Naval Air Squadron was a

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 Wi ...

aircraft squadron before and 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 to the Home Fleet aboard . From March to November 1936 it was equipped with

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 ...

s passed on from 821 Squadron, soon replaced by

Blackburn Shark The Blackburn Shark was a carrier-borne torpedo bomber designed and built by the British aviation manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was originally known as the Blackburn T.S.R., standing for ''torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance'', in reference to ...

s, to carry out a Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance role. In August 1937 the squadron received

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 ...

aircraft, which it continued to operate from ''Furious'' until February 1939, when the squadron was re-allocated to HMS ''Courageous'' as a deck landing training unit. ''Furious '' and ''Courageous'' were 1st class cruisers which had been converted in 1924 to serve as an aircraft carriers. When ''Courageous'' was sunk by the German submarine U-29 in September 1939, the squadron was disbanded.

World War II

The squadron was re-formed in October 1941 as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance (TBR) Swordfish squadron. In March 1942 it was re-equipped with 9

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 and sailed in July on . On 11 November, the squadron attacked

La Senia Airfield Ahmed Ben Bella Airport ( ar, مطار أحمد بن بلة), formally Es-Sénia Airport is an airport located 4.7 nm (8.7 km) south of Oran (near Es Sénia), in Algeria. History During World War II, La Sénia Airport was first used by ...

, losing Commanding Officer, Lieutenant JGA McI Nares. After July 1943, it attached to

45th Naval TBR Wing This is a list of Royal Navy aircraft wings. Naval Aircraft Wings Aircraft Carrier Groups * 1st Carrier Air Group * 2nd Carrier Air Group * 3rd Carrier Air Group * 6th Carrier Air Group - Never formed * 7th Carrier Air Group * 8th Carr ...

and transferred to southern India in February 1944 for service with the Eastern Fleet. There the squadron joined

11th Naval TBR Wing This is a list of Royal Navy aircraft wings. Naval Aircraft Wings Aircraft Carrier Groups * 1st Carrier Air Group * 2nd Carrier Air Group * 3rd Carrier Air Group * 6th Carrier Air Group - Never formed * 7th Carrier Air Group * 8th Carr ...

and attacked a railway target at Sigli, Sumatra from . The squadron was subsequently sent back to the UK, minus their aircraft, on and in early 1945 was re-allocated to

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 ...

for anti-submarine duties in the English Channel. In June 1945 the squadron was again re-equipped, this time with 12 Barracuda IIs.

Aircraft operated

References

Sqn Histories 712–825
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1933