797 Naval Air Squadron: Difference between revisions

 

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797 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of [[List of air stations of the Royal Navy|naval air stations of the Royal Navy]], overseas:{{sfn|Ballance|Howard|Sturtivant|2016|p=97}}

797 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of [[List of air stations of the Royal Navy|naval air stations of the Royal Navy]], overseas:{{sfn|Ballance|Howard|Sturtivant|2016|p=97}}

* [[Katukurunda Airport|Royal Naval Air Station Katukurunda (HMS ”Ukussa”)]] (by 24 July 1942 – 1 October 1943)

* [[Katukurunda Airport|Royal Naval Air Station Katukurunda (HMS ”Ukussa”)]] (by 24 July 1942 – 1 October 1943)

* [[Colombo Racecourse|Royal Naval Air Station Colombo Racecourse (HMS ”Bherunda”)]] (1 October 1943 – 24 October 1945)

* [[Colombo Racecourse|Royal Naval Air Station Colombo Racecourse (HMS ”Bherunda”)]] (1 October 1943 – 24 October 1945)

** ‘X’ Flight: [[Juhu Aerodrome|Royal Air Force Juhu]] (1 July 1944, to [[722 Naval Air Squadron]] 7 September 1944)

** ‘X’ Flight: [[Juhu Aerodrome|Royal Air Force Juhu]] (1 July 1944, to [[722 Naval Air Squadron]] 7 September 1944)

* disbanded – 24 October 1945

* disbanded – 24 October 1945

Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm

Military unit

797 Naval Air Squadron (797 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) which last disbanded in October 1945 in Ceylon. Its role was a Fleet Requirements Unit which formed at HMS Ukussa, Royal Naval Air Station Katukurunda, in Ceylon, in July 1942. The squadron moved to RNAS Colombo Racecourse (HMS Bherunda) in October 1943. It had a Communications Flight which became 742 Naval Air Squadron in December 1943 and the following summer it had an ‘X’ Flight deployed for target towing for a couple of gunnery schools in Bombay, India and which eventually moved to 722 Naval Air Squadron.

797 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Katukurunda (HMS Ukussa), British Ceylon (Sri Lanka), in July 1942, it was initially equipped with two Blackburn Skua, a British carrier-based dive bomber/fighter aircraft. It was tasked as a Fleet Requirements Unit.^[5] Unit personnel included new arrivals, along with ground crew from the recently sunk aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. A small number of Gloster Sea Gladiator, a British biplane fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish, a biplane torpedo bomber, were also acquired in 1943, and Fairey Albacore biplane torpedo bomber aircraft were added later. The squadron relocated to RNAS Colombo Racecourse (HMS Bherunda), located within Colombo Racecourse, in the Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Ceylon,^[6] on 1 October 1943 and shortly afterwards the Blackburn Skua were withdrawn and replaced with Boulton Paul Defiant, a British interceptor aircraft.

In August 1943, three Beech AT-7 Navigator, a twin-engined trainer, transport and utility aircraft were received by the communications flight, which became 742 Naval Air Squadron during December 1943. On 1 July 1944, ‘X’ Flight was detached to Juhu. It was equipped with Fairey Swordfish which were used to tow targets and it operated in support of a Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS) gunnery school at Colaba along with an Indian Navy gunnery school, at Malabar Point, in Bombay. In September this flight was absorbed by 722 Naval Air Squadron. In 1944 a considerable number of new aircraft were received, with North American Harvard, an American advanced trainer aircraft, Grumman Avenger, an American torpedo bomber aircraft, Fairey Barracuda, a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber and Bristol Beaufighter, a twin-engine multirole combat aircraft, added to the squadron. In July 1945 the squadron briefly operated six de Havilland Mosquito, also a twin-engine multirole combat aircraft. 797 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 24 October 1945.

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:^[8]

797 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, overseas:

List of commanding officers of 797 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:^[8]

• Lieutenant(A) F.L. Page, RNVR, from July 1942
• Lieutenant(A) K.C. Winstanley, RNVR, from December 1943
• disbanded – 24 October 1945

Note: Abbreviation (A) signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.