RNAS Hatston, also called HMS ''Sparrowhawk'', was a

Royal Naval Air Station 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 ...

, one mile to the north west of

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

on the island of

Mainland, Orkney The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections. Seventy-five per cent of ...

, Scotland. It was located near the strategically vital naval base of

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

, which for most of the twentieth century formed the main base of the ships of the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

History

Hatston's main period of activity came 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 opposin ...

, when it was host to a number of different types of aircraft of the

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 ...

, including

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 used ...

Blackburn Roc The Blackburn Roc (company designation B-25) was a naval fighter aircraft designed and produced by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It took its name from the mythical bird of the tales of the Arabian Nights, the Roc. It was ope ...

s, Grumman Martlet IV and Grumman Avengers. Two squadrons of

Blackburn Skua The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single- radial engine aircraft by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It was the first Royal Navy carrier-borne all-metal cantilever monoplane aircraft, as well as t ...

s flew from Hatston on 10 April 1940, on a mission to sink the German cruiser ''Königsberg'', in which they were successful. After the end of the war, the airfield became the island's main airport, until 1948. By then

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...

was operating Douglas Dakotas which were deemed too large to use the runways safely. They moved operations to a larger airfield,

RAF Grimsetter Kirkwall Airport is the main airport serving Orkney in Scotland. It is located southeast of Kirkwall and is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. The airport is used by Loganair. History The airport was built and commissioned in ...

, outside Kirkwall. RNAS Hatston remained in use from 1953 until 1957, when it was the home of the Orkney Flying Club, but was finally closed and turned into an industrial estate.

Units

The following units were here at some point: * 700 NAS, 701 NAS, 712 NAS, 746 NAS, 771 NAS * 800 NAS, 801 NAS, 802 NAS,

803 NAS 803 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron. History Interwar 803 NAS was formed on 3 April 1933 by promoting No 409 (Fleet Fighter) Flight to the status of a squadron, with nine Ospreys. In the same month it embarked on fo ...

, 804 NAS, 806 NAS, 807 NAS, 809 NAS, * 810 NAS, 811 NAS, 812 NAS, 813 NAS,

814 NAS 814 Naval Air Squadron or 814 NAS, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It is currently equipped with the AgustaWestland AW101, AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopter and is based at R ...

, 816 NAS, 817 NAS, 818 NAS, 819 NAS, * 820 NAS, 821 NAS, 822 NAS, 823 NAS, 824 NAS,

825 NAS 825 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Naval Air Squadron which was re-commissioned on 10 October 2014 and currently flies the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2. It was a carrier-based squadron that was formed on 8 October 1934 from the ...

, 826 NAS, 827 NAS, 828 NAS, 829 NAS, * 830 NAS, 831 NAS, 832 NAS, 833 NAS, 835 NAS, 836M Flight, 837 NAS, 837D Flight, * 840 NAS, 841 NAS, 842 NAS, 845 NAS,

846 NAS 846 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Between December 1979 and the summer of 2013, 846 Naval Air Squadron operated the Westland Sea King HC4 helicopter to provide troop transport and load lifting support to 3 ...

, 848 NAS, 852 NAS, 853 NAS, 856 NAS, * 860 NAS, 878 NAS,

880 NAS 880 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft carrier-based squadron formed in January 1941. The squadron served throughout the Second World War being embarked in the carriers , , and serving off East Africa, in the Mediterran ...

, 881 NAS, 882 NAS, 883 NAS,

884 NAS __NOTOC__ Year 884 ( DCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 1 – Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, count of Castile, founds and rep ...

885 NAS Year 885 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Charles the Fat summons a meeting of officials at ...

887 NAS 887 Naval Air Squadron (887 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 a ...

, 888 NAS, * 890 NAS, 891 NAS, 893 NAS, 894 NAS, 896 NAS, 898 NAS,

899 NAS 899 Naval Air Squadron (899 NAS) was a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom. It was most recently based at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) as the British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA2 training squadron until it was decommissioned in March ...

, * 1770 NAS, 1771 NAS, * 1820 NAS, 1840 NAS, 1841 NAS, 1842 NAS, *

No. 254 Squadron RAF No. 254 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was the designation of a number of units formed throughout the 20th century. History World War One No. 254 Squadron first formed in 1918 as a coastal reconnaissance squadron operating from Prawle Point. ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

History of RNAS Hatston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatston Royal Naval Air Stations in Scotland Buildings and structures in Orkney Aviation in Scotland Royal Navy bases in Scotland Kirkwall