1792 Naval Air Squadron

1792 Naval Air Squadron
1792 Naval Air Squadron
	1792 NAS badge
Active	15 May 1945 – 17 April 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Two-seat fighter squadron
Role	Night fighter
Size	Squadron
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Motto(s)	Nocte vincimus; (Latin for 'We conquer by night')
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Lieutenant commander(A) S Dixon-Child, RNVR
Insignia
Squadron Badge Description	Per fess black and barry wavy of six white and block a dagger in pale white pommel and hilt gold winged white (1946)
Identification Markings	single letters; 4A+ (HMS Ocean)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I

1792 Naval Air Squadron (1792 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was formed in May 1945 at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent as a Night Fighter squadron. It was equipped with the Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I night fighter. The squadron joined HMS Ocean in December for service in the Mediterranean. On return to the UK the squadron was disbanded in April 1946.^[2]

History

Night Fighter Squadron (1945 - 1946)

1792 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), on 15 May 1945, as a night fighter squadron. It was equipped with Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I, a night fighter variant of the carrier-borne fighter, anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft,^[3] which was fitted with radar in a centre-line container.^[4] Around one month later the squadron moved north to Lancashire, relocating to RNAS Inskip (HMS Nightjar) on 15 June.^[1]

During August it moved to RNAS Drem (HMS Nighthawk), East Lothian, Scotland, where the Naval Night Fighter School and Night Fighter Direction Centre were based. The squadron spent almost three months at RNAS Drem working up before moving to RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on 27 November^[5] and two weeks later embarked in the Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Ocean for the Mediterranean.^[3]

Aboard the aircraft carrier it worked with 892 Naval Air Squadron, which operated Grumman Hellcat N.F. Mk II, the night fighter variant of the American carrier-based fighter aircraft, as a Night Fighter Air Group. Six weeks between 4 January and 8 February 1946 were spent at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), Malta, before returning to the UK in HMS Ocean, where the squadron disbanded on 17 April 1946.^[1]

Aircraft flown

1792 Naval Air Squadron flew only one aircraft type:^[1]

Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I night fighter (May 1945 - April 1946)

Naval Air Stations

1792 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom, one overseas in Malta, and a Royal Navy aircraft carrier:^[1]

Royal Naval Air Station LEE-ON-SOLENT (HMS Daedalus) (15 May - 15 June 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station INSKIP (HMS Nightjar) (15 June - 29 August 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station DREM (HMS Nighthawk) (29 August - 27 November 1945)
Royal Naval Air Station MACHRIHANISH (HMS Landrail) (27 November - 11 December 1945)
HMS Ocean (11 December 1945 - 4 January 1946)
Royal Naval Air Station HAL FAR (HMS Falcon) (4 January - 18 February 1946)
HMS Ocean (18 February - 17 April 1946)
disbanded - 17 April 1946

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 1792 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:^[3]

Lieutenant Commander(A) S. Dixon-Child, RNVR, from 15 May 1945
disbanded - 17 April 1946

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 280.
^ Sturtivant, Ray (1994). The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Air-Britain. p. 341. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wragg 2019, p. 190.
^ Thetford 1991, p. 173.
^ "Drem". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 6 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.
Thetford, Owen (1991). British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London, UK: Putnam Aeronautical Books, an imprint of Conway Maritime Press Ltd. ISBN 0-85177-849-6.
Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.