1771 Naval Air Squadron

1771 Naval Air Squadron
1771 Naval Air Squadron
	1771 NAS badge
Active	1 February 1944 - 16 October 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Two-seat fighter squadron
Role	Fighter Squadron
Size	twelve aircraft
Part of	Fleet Air Arm 8th Carrier Air Group (June 1945 - September 1945);
Engagements	World War II European theatre of World War II Operation Provident; ; Pacific War Air raids on Japan; ;
Battle honours	Norway 1944; Japan 1945;
Insignia
Squadron Badge Description	Blue, a base barry wavy of six white and blue an eagle gold in combat with a sea monster black issuant from base armed and langued red (1944)
Identification Markings	single letters; 4A+ (September 1944); 270-281 (July 1945)
Tail Code	N (July 1945)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Fairey Firefly

1771 Naval Air Squadron (1771 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded at HMS Nabbington, RNAS Nowra, near Sydney, in October 1945. Notably, the squadron was the first British & Commonwealth unit to fly over Japan in the Second World War.^[4] The squadron formed at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton at the start of February 1944, as a Fighter Squadron and also operated from HMS Ringtail, RNAS Burscough, and HMS Landrail, RNAS Machrihanish, with deck landing training on the escort carriers HMS Trumpeter and HMS Ravager before embarking in the fleet carrier HMS Implacable in September. It was involved in sorties over Norway including reconnaisance of the German battleship Tirpitz and other anti-shipping strikes. The squadron remained in HMS Implacable and joined the British Pacific Fleet participating in attacks on the Caroline islands and the Japanese home islands, and becoming part of the 8th Carrier Air Group.

History

Two-seater Fighter Squadron (1944 - 1945)

1771 Squadron formed at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), Somerset, on 1 February 1944 as a two-seater fighter squadron. It was equipped with twelve Fairey Firefly I, a carrier-borne fighter, anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft.^[3] At the beginning of March the squadron relocated to RNAS Burscough (HMS Ringtail), Lancashire,^[2] which had day and night fighter facilities.^[5] In late June early July, deck landing training was done on the Ruler-class escort carrier HMS Trumpeter. Early August saw the squadron move to RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), Kintyre, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and mid-month HMS Ravager, an Attacker-class escort carrier. provided deck landing training.^[2]

The squadron embarked in the name ship of her class of aircraft carrier, HMS Implacable on 22 September and the following month undertook reconnaissance missions over Norway, including Tromsø, where the German battleship Tirpitz was anchored. This was followed by anti-shipping strikes in November, with one troopship being destroyed and four other ships damaged.^[3]

In March 1945 HMS Implacable sailed for the Far East joining the British Pacific Fleet. The squadron disembarked in May and spent two weeks at RNAS Jervis Bay (HMS Nabswick), New South Wales, Australia, the location of Mobile Naval Air Base (MONAB) No. 5, with it re-embarking on the carrier on 24 May.^[6] It took part in Operation Inmate, with attacks on Truk in the Caroline Islands in June.^[2] A detachment of seven aircraft from the squadron disembarked from HMS Implacable between 9 - 12 May to RNAS Ponam (HMS Nabaron), Ponam Island, a former United States Navy airstrip transferred to the Royal Navy on loan.^[7]

It conducted attacks in operations against the Japanese mainland as part of the 8th Carrier Air Group, just before the end of the Second World War.^[3] 1771 Naval Air Squadron disembarked to RNAS Nowra (HMS Nabbington), New South Wales, Australia, on 13 September, disbanding on 16 October.^[8] Squadron personnel had moved to HMS Golden Hind, Camp Warwick, Sydney on 4 October and returned to the United Kingdom aboard MV Dominion Monarch the following month.^[2]

Aircraft flown

1771 Naval Air Squadron flew only one aircraft type:^[2]

Fairey Firefly I fighter and anti-submarine aircraft (February 1944 - September 1945)

Battle honours

The battle honours awarded to 1771 Naval Air Squadron are:^[3]

Norway 1944
Japan 1945

Naval Air Stations

1771 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in the United Kingdom, a number overseas, and a couple of Royal Navy escort carrier and a fleet carrier:^[3]^[2]

Royal Naval Air Station YEOVILTON (HMS Heron) (1 February - 3 March 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station BURSCOUGH (HMS Ringtail) (3 March - 7 August 1944)
- HMS Trumpeter Detachment four aircraft DLT (29 June - 1 July 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station MACHRIHANISH (HMS Landrail) (7 August - 22 September 1944)
- HMS Ravager Detachment four aircraft DLT (16 - 17 August 1944)
HMS Implacable (22 September - 7 November 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station HATSTON (HMS Sparrowhawk) (7 - 16 November 1944)
HMS Implacable (16 - 29 November 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station HATSTON (HMS Sparrowhawk) (29 November - 5 December 1944)
HMS Implacable (5 - 9 December 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station HATSTON (HMS Sparrowhawk) (9 December 1944 - 8 January 1945)
Royal Air Force Mullaghmore (8 January - 7 February 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station AYR (HMS Wagtail) (7 February - 10 March 1945)
- HMS Pretoria Castle Detachment six aircraft DLT (6 - 10 March 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station ARBROATH (HMS Condor) (10 - 12 March 1945)
HMS Implacable (12 March - 7 May 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station JERVIS BAY (HMS Nabswick) (7 - 24 May 1945)
HMS Implacable (24 May - 13 September 1945)
- Royal Naval Air Station PONAM (HMS Nabaron) Detachment seven aircraft (9 - 12 December 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station NOWRA (HMS Nabbington) (13 September - 16 October 1945)
disbanded - (16 October 1945)

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 1771 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:^[3] ^[2]

Lieutenant Commander(A) H.M. Ellis, , RN, from 1 February 1944 (KiFA 6 March 1945[9])
Lieutenant Commander(A) W.J.R. MacWhirter, DSC, RN, from 9 March 1945
disbanded - 16 October 1945

References

Citations

^ Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 339.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 278.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Wragg 2019, p. 190.
^ "Crews of the First British Aircraft to Fly over Japan. July 1945, in the British Escort Carrier HMS Implacable. On 17 July 1945 Fairey Firefly Fighters of 1771 Squadron Operating from Implacable Became the First Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm to Fly over Japan".
^ "Burscough". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ "Jervis Bay". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ "Ponam". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ "Nowra". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ "A History of HMS PRETORIA CASTLE". Royal Navy Research Archive - A History of HMS PRETORIA CASTLE. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

Bibliography

Ballance, Theo; Howard, Lee; Sturtivant, Ray (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.
Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.