RNAS Lawrenny Ferry | |
---|---|
Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire in Wales | |
Coordinates | 51°43′5″N004°52′40″W / 51.71806°N 4.87778°W |
Type | Seaplane and Flying boat station |
Site information | |
Owner | Admiralty |
Operator | Royal Navy |
Controlled by | Fleet Air Arm |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
In use | 1943 - 1946 |
Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II |
Royal Naval Air Station Lawrenny Ferry(RNAS Lawrenny Ferry, also known as HMS Daedalus II) is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1941 and 1946, being used by the Royal Navy, 1941 - 1943 and then put into a Care & Maintenance status.
The station was situated 3 miles (4.8 km) North East of Pembroke Dock, on the North side of the junction of the river Cresswell and river Carew, where they meet with the Eastern Cleddau, the northerly extension of Milford Haven. [1]
In early 1941 the Royal Navy put in place provisions to enable flying training for seaplanes at Lawrenny Ferry. [1] 764 Seaplane Training Squadron used the facilities, which included a Mains hangar, three concrete aircraft pens, an eighteen-foot (5.5 m) slipway and fuel storage, before moving permanently from RAF Pembroke Dock. Accommodation was two Nissen huts, however, officers and petty officers used Lawrenny Castle, [2] the Lawrenny Arms pub acted as the NCOs' mess and two steam yachts, named Carmela and Zaza, also provided accommodation for any squadron personnel. The base became a Royal Naval Air Station under the control of RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) and having an official role of Seaplane Flying Training Part II, including Seaplane conversion and gunnery courses. RNAS Lawrenny Ferry was commissioned as Daedalus II on the 1 February 1942. [1] With training discontinuing due to a reduced need, the base was reduced to Care and Maintenance in November 1943 on three months’ notice to re-commission and resume flying. The nissen huts and hangar were demolished in 1945, [2] however the base was still listed in the April 1946 Navy List. [1]
764 Naval Air Squadron started using Lawrenny Ferry, while based at RAF Pembroke Dock, around May 1941 to train Fleet Air Arm pilots in the art of flying seaplanes. However, in response to Luftwaffe air raids on Pembroke Docks, in October 1941 the Air Section was withdrawn from there and 764 NAS moved permanently to RNAS Lawrenny Ferry. It arrived with eight Supermarine Walrus and one Fairey Swordfish floatplane, which was soon withdrawn, leaving the Walrus as the main aircraft operated. In July 1942, Vought OS2U Kingfisher aircraft arrived. [1] The need for Seaplane Training had diminished by the middle of 1943 and eventually 764 NAS disbanded at RNAS Lawrenny Ferry on 7 November 1943. [3]
Flying and notable non-flying units previously based at Lawrenny Ferry: [4]
Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately four miles west of Portsmouth on the coast of the Solent at grid reference SU560019. It was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm and was first established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and administrative centre of the Fleet Air Arm.
Royal Naval Air Station Dale is a former Royal Naval Air Station, located 10 miles (16 km) South West of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1942 and 1948, being used by both the Royal Air Force (1942–1943) and the Royal Navy (1943–1948).
HMS Daedalus II was a British Royal Navy air station and training establishment between 1940 and 1946. The name applied to four different locations with the United Kingdom at various times during the Second World War. The establishment was formed to free up space at RNAS Lee-on-Solent .
751 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active as an Observer Training Squadron from 1939 to 1944 as part of No.1 Observer School. 751 NAS formed at RNAS Ford in May 1939. Ford was attacked and bombed, in August 1940, and the following day the squadron relocated to RNAS Arbroath. Twelve months later it moved to RNAS Dundee, remaining there until disbanding at Dundee in May 1944.
752 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Formed in May 1939, at RNAS Ford as an Observer Training Squadron, it was active through to 1945 as part of No. 1 Observer School. Ford was attacked in August 1940 and the squadron moved to RNAS Lee-on-Solent for a one month stay. From November 1940, through to disbandment in October 1945, it operated at RNAS Piarco , Trinidad.
753 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active as an Observer Training Squadron from 1939 to 1946 as part of No.2 Observer School, forming out of the School of Naval Co-operation, in May 1939. Initially at RNAS Lee-on-Solent, the squadron moved to RNAS Arbroath just over one year later, in August 1940, following a German bombing attack on the air station. It spent four years operating out of Arbroath, before relocating again, this time to RNAS Rattray, where the squadron disbanded in August 1946.
754 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active as an Observer Training Squadron from 1939 to 1944 as part of No.2 Observer School, forming out of the School of Naval Co-operation, in May 1939. It initially operated out of RNAS Lee-on-Solent, however, after the Naval Air Station was attacked and bombed, it then moved to RNAS Arbroath, in September 1940. Here, it provided training for Observers and also Air Gunners and where four years later, in March 1944, it disbanded. The squadron then briefly reformed as a Training Squadron, as part of No. 1 Naval Air Gunners School, when 744 Naval Air Squadron was re-designated 754 Naval Air Squadron, in June 1944, at RN Air Section Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, untildisbanding again, in March 1945.
756 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron, operating from March 1941, out of RNAS Worthy Down, in Hampshire, England. TAG training was provided until the No. 2 School was ready in Canada, opening on the 1 January 1943, and 756 NAS disbanded in December 1942. The squadron reformed at RNAS Katukurunda, in Sri Lanka, in October 1943, as a Torpedo, Bomber, Reconnaissance pool. During 1944 and 1945, the squadron undertook a number of detachmemts on different types of Royal Navy aircraft carriers, with it disbanding in December 1945.
758 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron, from 1939 and 1941, renumbered from 759 Naval Air Squadron, operating out of RNAS Eastleigh. It moved to RNAS Arbroath, in 1940, disbanding there the following year. The squadron reformed at RNAS Donibristle, in 1942, as a Beam Approach School. Moving to RNAS Hinstock, it was known as the Naval Advanced Instrument Flying School. It provided instrument courses, utilising a large number of Oxford aircraft, with detachments sent to the specialised flying schools at RNAS Crail, RNAS East Haven, RNAS Fearn and RNAS Yeovilton. X and Y Rover Flights supplemented the detachments, Z Flight was on calibration work and evolving homing and landing capabilities, with the squadron disbanding in 1946, at RNAS Peplow, into 780 Naval Air Squadron.
759 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was created on November 1st, 1939 and was disbanded on December 24, 1969. It was initially intended as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron but became a Fighter School and Pool Squadron in 1939, at RNAS Eastleigh. It operated out of RNAS Yeovilton from 1940 to 1946, as part of the Naval Air Fighter School. In 1943 a detachment operated out of RNAS Angle, working with 794 NAS and known as the Naval Air Firing Unit. It was again the Naval Air Fighter School upon reformation in 1951 and disbandment in 1954, firstly at RNAS Culdrose and then moving to RNAS Lossiemouth, in 1953. The squadron reformed again, this time at RNAS Brawdy in 1963, as the Naval Advanced Flying Training School, before finally disbanding in 1969.
760 Naval Air Squadron is a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. The squadron first formed on 1 April 1940 as No.1 Fleet Fighter Pool with a variety of aircraft types before standardising in 1941 on the Sea Hurricane. In this role it disbanded on 31 December 1942. In May 1944 760 NAS briefly reformed as an Anti-Submarine Operational Training Squadron before disbanding into 766 Naval Air Squadron in November. Reformed again as part of No.1 Naval Air Fighter School in April 1945 it converted fighter pilots to the Corsair and then the Seafire until 23 January 1946 when it disbanded.
762 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed at RNAS Yeovilton in March 1942 as an Advanced Flying Training School. Almost immediately the squadron relocated to RNAS St Merryn, but before the end of the year, it was back at Yeovilton. 762 NAS disbanded nine months later.
763 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed in 1939 as the Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance Pool No. 1, at RNAS Worthy Down. Three months later, it moved to the short-lived RNAS Jersey, before moving back to Worthy Down via RNAS Lee-on Solent and disbanding in 1940. The squadron reformed, on the seaplane carrier HMS Pegasus, as a Seaplane Training Squadron, in 1942. This role lasted around two years and the squadron continually operated and provided training from HMS Pegasus, until disbanding in 1944. Roughly two months later, the squadron reformed again, this time at RNAS Inskip, as an Anti-submarine Operational Training Squadron and remained in this role for just over one year, disbanding in July 1945 at Inskip.
764 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It initially formed in April 1940, at RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as an Advance Seaplane training Squadron. The Squadron moved to RAF Pembroke Dock in July 1940, and later to RNAS Lawrenny Ferry, in October 1941 and remaining there until the Squadron disbanded in November 1943. It reformed at RNAS Gosport, in February 1944, as the User Trials Unit, however, the Squadron was decommissioned for the second time in September 1945. 764 NAS reformed again, at RNAS Lossiemouth, in May 1953, where it became an Advanced Training Unit. It moved to RNAS Yeovilton in September 1953, where it received its first jet aircraft. In November 1954 the Squadron disbanded.
765 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent, in May 1939, as a Seaplane School and Pool squadron. The squadron moved to RNAS Sandbanks, in August 1940, where it undertook the Seaplane Flying Training Course Part I. Lieutenant Commander Wilson was appointed as dual officer in charge of the air base, and Commanding officer of 765 NAS. By the middle of 1943, dedicated Seaplane Training schools ended and the squadron disbanded in the October. 765 NAS reformed at RNAS Charlton Horethorne, in early February 1944, as a Travelling Recording Unit. The squadron moved to RNAS Lee-on-Solent in March, before moving to RNAS Worthy Down on one month later during April, then in May it moved to RNAS Stretton, were it remained during June.
766 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was to have initially formed in 1939 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as a Seaplane School, however, it formed at RNAS Machrihannish as a Night ALT Course, in 1942. It moved to RNAS Inskip, in 1943, to become part of No. 1 Naval Operational Training Unit. By 1944, it was operating over 30 swordfish aircraft, but, during the year, also acquired Firefly aircraft from 1772 NAS, and Sea Hurricane aircraft from 760 NAS. It moved to RNAS Rattray early in 1946, but later that year, moved to RNAS Lossiemouth where it received Seafire aircraft, along with being Part 1 of the Operational Flying School. By late 1951, Sea Fury trainer aircraft were also added to its varied list of types operated. In 1953, the squadron moved to RNAS Culdrose, where it disbanded in 1954.
767 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed as a Deck Landing Squadron in 1939, when 811 Naval Air Squadron was renumbered 767 NAS, at RNAS Donibristle. A detachment went to Hyeres de la Palyvestre in the south of France, enabling training in fairer conditions. While here, the squadron took on an operational mission, with a bombing attack on the Italian port of Genoa. With the fall of France the squadron evacuated to Algeria, where it split. Part went to Malta, forming 830 Naval Air Squadron, the other part to HMS Ark Royal, with personnel returning to the UK via Gibraltar. The squadron regrouped at RNAS Arbroath and moved to the Deck Landing School at RNAS East Haven in 1943.
791 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed as an Air Target Towing Unit, at RNAS Arbroath, in Scotland, in October 1940. It operated various types of aircraft for target towing duties, used to support air gunnery training and practice. The squadron disbanded in December 1944, at Arbroath. It reformed at RNAS Trincomalee, in Sri Lanka, in November 1945, as a Fleet Requirements Unit. The squadron moved to RNAS Sembawang, in Singapore, in December 1945, ferried via HMS Smiter. It also operated a Communications Flight and an Air-Sea Rescue Flight, as well as undertaking anti Mosquito spraying duties. 791 NAS disbanded at Sembawang in June 1947.
Royal Air Force Pembroke Dock, or more simply RAF Pembroke Dock, was a Royal Air Force Seaplane and Flying boat station located at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Royal Navy contingent left in 1926 with the Royal Air Force occupying the site from 1 January 1930. During the initial stages of World War II, it became the home of two Dutch flying boats and their squadron personnel as well as hosting RAF, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and United States naval aircrews.