739 Naval Air Squadron (739 NAS) was a

Naval Air Squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet Ai ...

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 ...

. It was formed as the Blind Approach Development Unit for the Fleet Air Arm, operating with Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft, at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), in 1942. Just under one year later the squadron moved to RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), in late 1943 and continued in the role. Roughly one year later the squadron moved again, relocating to RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin) in late 1944, disbanding in 1945. From 1947 it was based at RNAS Culham, with a new role, as a Fleet Air Arm Photographic Trials and Development Unit.

History of 739 NAS

Blind Approach Development Unit (1942 - 1947)

739 Naval Air Squadron formed at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) 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 ...

, situated near

Lee-on-the-Solent Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a seaside district of the Borough of Gosport in Hampshire, England, about five miles (8 km) west of Portsmouth. The area is located on the coast of the Solent. It is primarily a resi ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, approximately four miles west of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, on the 15 December 1942, as the Blind Approach Development Unit. It was initially equipped with

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

Fairey Fulmar The Fairey Fulmar is a British carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft/fighter aircraft which was developed and manufactured by aircraft company Fairey Aviation. It was named after the northern fulmar, a seabird native to the British Isles. The F ...

aircraft. Nine months later the squadron moved to RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), north of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, Hampshire, England, on 14 September 1943, gaining

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

and

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

aircraft. It remained at Worthy Down for around one year before moving again. On 5 October 1944 the squadron relocated to RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin), located east of

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

, Fife. 739 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 7 March 1945.

Photographic Trials and Development Unit (1947 - 1950)

On 1 May 1947 739 Naval Air Squadron reformed to became the RN Photographic Trials and Development Unit, based at RNAS Culham (HMS Hornbill), located near

Culham Culham is a village and civil parish in a bend of the River Thames, south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. The parish includes Culham Science Centre and Europa School UK (formerly the European School, Culham, which was the only Accredited Europe ...

, Oxfordshire, (it had originally been intended to share the RAF's PR resources at

RAF Benson Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line station and home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, us ...

, which became overcrowded). The squadron operated Sea Mosquito & Sea Hornet aircraft in this role, until finally disbanding on 12 July 1950

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: *

* Beech Expiditer II * Fairey Swordfish I * Fairey Swordfish II * Sea Mosquito T.R.33 * de Havilland Hornet F.20 * de Havilland Hornet P.R.22

Fleet Air Arm Bases

739 NAS operated from a number of air bases: * Royal Naval Air Station LEE-ON-SOLENT (15 December 1942 - 14 September 1943) * Royal Naval Air Station WORTHY DOWN (14 September 1943 - 5 October 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station DONIBRISTLE (5 October 1944 - 1 May 1947) * Royal Naval Air Station CULHAM (1 May 1947 - 12 July 1950)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II {{UK-navy-stub