860 Naval Air Squadron (860 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's

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, which was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1946, and remains active.

In British service

860 Squadron was formed in June 1943 at

RNAS Donibristle RNAS Donibristle is a former Fleet Air Arm base located east of Rosyth, Fife, and northwest of Edinburgh. From 1918 to 1939 the station was called RAF Donibristle. History The following units were posted here at some point: ;Royal Air Force ...

, Scotland, from personnel of the Royal Netherlands Navy, under the command of ''Luitenant'' J. van der Tooren. As a torpedo-bomber/reconnaissance squadron, flying the

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 ...

, the squadron moved to Maydown, Northern Ireland, in November 1943. There it was divided into two

flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...

of six aircraft to operate from the merchant aircraft carriers and , and then from ''Acavus'' and from June 1944. In June 1945 the squadron was re-equipped with the

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

, and in August it was assigned to the escort carrier . In May 1946 the squadron converted to the

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Avia ...

, and in September 1946 was handed over to Dutch control, becoming part of the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service.

In Dutch service

Assigned to the former ''Nairana'', now renamed HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (QH1), it took part in operations in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

during the Indonesian War of Independence. It operated the

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft ...

from 1950 until 1956, then the

Hawker Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design origina ...

from 1957, while based at Valkenburg Naval Air Base, and flying from the second . Disbanded in 1964, it was reformed in October 1966 as an ASW/ SAR helicopter squadron operating from Naval Air Station De Kooy and the s. Equipped with the

Westland Wasp The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earlier piston-e ...

, then the

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

from 1978, in early 2008 it converted to the NHIndustries NH90, and in July that year became part of the joint military Defence Helicopter Command.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II