812 Naval Air Squadron

Last updated

812 Naval Air Squadron
ActiveApril 1933–December 1942
June 1944–August 1946
October 1946–October 1953
November 1955–December 1956
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
Size12 to 18 aircraft
Part of Fleet Air Arm
Motto(s)Dex aie
(Norman  : "God aid us")
Aircraft flown Blackburn Ripon (1933–34)
Blackburn Baffin (1934–36)
Fairey Swordfish (1936–42)
Fairey Barracuda (1944–45)
Fairey Firefly (1946–53)
Fairey Gannet (1955–56)
Battle honours North Sea 1940
English Channel 1940
Mediterranean 1941
Malta Convoys 1941

812 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1933 and 1956, and saw service in both World War II and the Korean War.

Contents

Service history

First formation

The squadron was first formed on 3 April 1933 aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, then part of the Mediterranean Fleet, [1] [2] by amalgamating No 461 and 462 (Fleet Torpedo) Flights. [1] Originally equipped with the Blackburn Ripon, [1] these were replaced with the Blackburn Baffin in January 1934, with the squadron being the first to be fully equipped with this improved derivative of the Ripon. [3] In June 1934, when Glorious returned to Britain for a refit, the Squadron transferred over to HMS Furious and in February 1935, moved over to HMS Eagle, disembarking in March and remaining shore based at Hal Far airfield in Malta until Glorious returned to the Mediterranean in September that year. [4] On 24 November 1936, a cyclone hit Hal Far, destroying three hangars and wrecking seven of the squadron's Baffins. As a result, the squadron was re-equipped with the Fairey Swordfish in December 1936. [5] [1] Apart from a short visit to the UK to take part in the 1937 Coronation Review at Spithead, the squadron remained in the Mediterranean until the outbreak of the war in September 1939. [1] Glorious was then sent to patrol the Indian Ocean, but was recalled to home waters in early 1940, and 812 Squadron was transferred to RAF Coastal Command [2] to take part in mining and bombing operations in the low countries and in the Dunkirk evacuation. [6]

In March 1941 the squadron left Coastal Command to take part in Malta convoy protection duties aboard HMS Argus. In July, aboard HMS Furious, they participated in the attack on Petsamo. Further Malta convoy duties followed aboard Furious, transferring to HMS Ark Royal in September. After the Ark Royal was torpedoed and sunk on 13 November, the squadron regrouped at Gibraltar. While based at RNAS North Front, late on 30 November the U-boat was spotted by a Fairey Swordfish from No. 812 Squadron FAA and heavily damaged by two bombs dropped by the aircraft. Unable to reach her destination, U-96 made for the port of Saint Nazaire. The squadron received new aircraft equipped with ASV (Air to Surface Vessel) radar, enabling them to sink the U-boat U-451 on the night of 21 December 1941, [7] and to damage five others. The squadron returned to the UK in April 1942 aboard USS Wasp (CV-7), and were reattached to Coastal Command in September to fly operations over the English Channel. On 18 December 1942, it was amalgamated into 811 Squadron. [2]

First reformation

Fairey Barracuda Fairey Barracuda.jpg
Fairey Barracuda

No. 812 Squadron was reformed on 1 June 1944 at RNAS Stretton (HMS Blackcap) and equipped with the Fairey Barracuda. [2] After short spells at RNAS Ballyhalbert (HMS Corncrake), Northern Ireland, and RAF Heathfield (HMS Wagtail), Scotland, the squadron embarked on HMS Vengeance in February 1945, along with 1850 Squadron, flying the Vought F4U Corsair, [8] to form the 13th Carrier Air Group. [9] Returning to the Mediterranean, 13 CAG were based at HMS Falcon at Hal Far, Malta, and flew exercises over Sicily. After the German surrender on 8 May 1945, the group were assigned to serve with the British Pacific Fleet. [8]

The group sailed for Australia aboard Vengeance, and were based at HMS Nabswick (MONAB V) at Jervis Bay from 22 July 1945, where they trained for the planned invasion of Japan. After the Japanese surrender on 8 August, they were temporarily based at Ponam in the Admiralty Islands, before being sent to Hong Kong, arriving at HMS Nabcatcher (MONAB VIII) at Kai-Tak, in October 1945, and remaining there until the end of the year. [8]

No. 812 Squadron was re-equipped with the Fairey Firefly, and returned to Australia in January 1946, where they were based HMS Nabthorpe (MONAB VI) at Schofields, New South Wales, while Vengeance was in dry dock for repairs. In March 1946 Vengeance and her squadrons returned to the UK, via Ceylon, and arrived at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) on 12 August 1946, where 812 Squadron was disbanded. [8]

Second reformation

Fairey Firefly AS.6 in Korean War markings Fairey Firefly.jpg
Fairey Firefly AS.6 in Korean War markings

The squadron was reformed again on 1 October 1946 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) in Derry, Northern Ireland, [2] and joined 804 Squadron, flying the Supermarine Seafire, [10] to form the 14th Carrier Air Group. In February 1947, 14 CAG sailed aboard HMS Theseus on a lengthy Far Eastern cruise, eventually returning in December. [2]

In August 1948 the group sailed for the Mediterranean aboard HMS Ocean, where Hal Far was used as a shore base. The group was transferred to HMS Glory in November 1949, and participated in several cruises and exercises, with landings being made on USS Midway (CV-41) in October. [2]

In March 1951 Glory sailed for Korea, where 812 Squadron flew 852 sorties over the next six months, during which three aircraft were lost and several others damaged by AA fire. After two months based in Australia, Glory returned to Korean operations, where the squadron flew another 689 sorties, with 104 of them flown in one day. In May 1952 the squadron transferred its aircraft to Ocean, and the crews sailed home in Theseus. [2]

In June 1952, the squadron was re-equipped with the Firefly AS.6 at RNAS Anthorn (HMS Nuthatch), and in September sailed aboard HMS Eagle for exercises and a visit to Oslo. In January 1953 the squadron joined Theseus for a cruise, returning to Eagle in June for exercises off northern Scotland. It was disbanded at Eglinton on 20 October 1953. [2]

Third reformation

The squadron was reformed for a third time at Eglinton on 7 November 1955 as an anti-submarine squadron, flying the Fairey Gannet. In April 1956 it sailed to the Mediterranean in Eagle, taking part in visits and exercises before flying home from Malta, and was disbanded on arrival at Lee-on-Solent on 13 December 1956. [2]

Related Research Articles

811 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

811 Naval Air Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was first founded in 1933, and served during World War II, seeing action in the battle of the Atlantic and on Russian convoys, and was eventually disbanded in 1956.

835 Naval Air Squadron was a former squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm originally formed in February 1942 as a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance unit flying Fairey Swordfish. In June 1943, six Sea Hurricanes were added to the squadron as a fighter flight. The composite unit exchanged the Hurricanes in September 1944 for Grumman Wildcats, serving on until 1 April 1945, when the squadron disbanded.

Michael Torrens-Spence

Captain Frederick Michael Alexander Torrens-Spence, was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot in the Second World War. Torrens-Spence earned the distinction of holding commissions in the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">815 Naval Air Squadron</span> Military unit

815 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron flying the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA.2 helicopter and is the Navy's front line Wildcat Naval Air Squadron. The squadron is based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset. The squadron is capable of carrying out multiple roles such as: counter-narcotics, anti-piracy, Above Surface Warfare (ASW), search and rescue, disaster relief and flying and engineering training. In the early 2000s, the Navy said that the squadron was largest helicopter squadron in Europe.

803 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

803 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron.

820 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

820 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier-based squadron flying the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 in an Anti-Submarine role from RNAS Culdrose.

821 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the transferral and amalgamation of the Fairey III aircraft from 446 and half of 455 Flight Flights Royal Air Force to the newly formed Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force. The squadron operated during the Second World War.

810 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 with the amalgamation of the 12 Blackburn Dart aircraft from 463 and 44 Flight Flights Royal Air Force to the Fleet Air Arm. The squadron saw action during the Second World War, the Suez Crisis and the Korean War.

818 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier-based squadron formed in August 1939. It served on a number of the Navy's aircraft carriers during the Second World War, serving in most of the theatres of the war, before decommissioning at the end of the war.

814 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

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 Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopter and is based at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose in Cornwall. The squadron was formed in December 1938 and has been disbanded and reformed several times.

825 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

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.

828 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

828 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based squadron formed in September 1940 as a torpedo spotter reconnaissance squadron. It operated in a number of the theatres of the Second World War, carrying out a number of attacks on enemy targets including the Tirpitz in Norway.

824 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

824 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron based at RNAS Culdrose and currently operating the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 Operational Conversion Unit. It trains aircrew in Anti-Submarine warfare and Airborne Surveillance and Control.

802 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

823 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadron before and during World War II.

826 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

826 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadron formed during World War II which has been reformed several times since then until last disbanded in 1993.

Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station in 1941, before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm in May 1943.

706 Naval Air Squadron Military unit

706 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Established as a fighter and torpedo-bomber training unit in Australia at the end of World War Two, it was briefly reformed as a helicopter squadron in the early 1950s, before becoming a helicopter training unit in 1962, and operating until 1998.

885 Naval Air Squadron British naval unit

885 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. First formed on 1 March 1941, the squadron served as a fighter squadron during the Second World War. It operated in the Mediterranean in 1942–43, where it took part in Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa, the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Allied invasion of Italy. In 1944 it took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, spotting for Allied artillery bombardments and in 1945, was deployed as part of the British Pacific Fleet. It was abolished for the last time on 27 September 1945.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sturtivant & Ballance 1994 , p. 167
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grice, Bill (2008). "812 Squadron". HMS Theseus. Retrieved 24 October 2011.[ unreliable source? ]
  3. Willis 2021 , p. 123
  4. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994 , pp. 167–168
  5. Willis 2021 , p. 130
  6. "List of all Fleet Air Arm Commanding Officers 1939-1945". Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. Laws, Allan, "Fairey Swordfish: The Fleet Air Arm's enigmatic warrior", International Air Power Review, Volume 27, AIRTime Publishing Inc., Westport, Connecticut, 2010, ISSN 1473-9917, page 133.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Davis, Ron (2010). "No.812 Royal Navy Squadron". HMS Vengeance. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  9. "Fleet Air Arm Carrier Air Groups 1945". Squadron Database of the Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945. 2005. Archived from the original on 14 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. Grice, Bill (2007). "14th Carrier Air Group". HMS Theseus. Retrieved 24 October 2011.