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704 Naval Air Squadron
704 Naval Air Squadron
Active	11 April 1945 - 2 December 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role	Naval Operational Training Unit
Size	Squadron
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Home station	RNAS Zeals; RAF Thorney Island
Insignia
Identification Markings	FD3A+
Aircraft flown
Attack	de Havilland Mosquito
Transport	Airspeed Oxford

704 Naval Air Squadron (704 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed as a Operational Training Unit, at RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird) in Wiltshire, in April 1945, operating with de Havilland Mosquito aircraft. The squadron later moved to RAF Thorney Island in West Sussex, in the September, and continued with de Havilland Mosquito conversion courses, however the squadron disbanded in December 1945.

History of 704 NAS

Naval Operational Training Unit (1945)

On 11 April 1945, 704 Naval Air Squadron was formed at RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird), located near the village of Zeals in Wiltshire, as a Naval Operational Training Unit, for the conversion of de Havilland Mosquito aircrew.^[2] The squadron was equipped with de Havilland Mosquito, a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft. It mainly operated with the FB.VI strike ("fighter-bomber") variant and also had a smaller number of T.III two-seat trainer versions.^[3]

On 20 June four of the aircraft were detached to 703 Naval Air Squadron which was operating at RAF Thorney Island, which was located on Thorney Island, West Sussex. The aircraft were utilised for development work in conjunction with the Royal Air Force’s Air-Sea Warfare Development Unit (ASWDU).^[2] The rest of 704 NAS relocated to RAF Thorney Island on 4 September and the detachment was incorporated back into the squadron. Three months later the squadron disbanded on 2 December 1945 when it was absorbed into 762 Naval Air Squadron, a Twin Engine Conversion Unit.^[3]

Aircraft flown

The squadron operated a couple of different aircraft types:^[3]

de Havilland Mosquito T Mk.III trainer aircraft (October - December 1945)
de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI fighter-bomber (April - July 1945)
de Havilland Mosquito B Mk.25 bomber (June - September 1945)
Airspeed Oxford training aircraft (September - November 1945)

Naval air stations

704 Naval Air Squadron operated from one naval air stations of the Royal Navy and one Royal Air Force station, both in England:^[3]

Royal Naval Air Station Zeals (HMS Hummingbird) (11 April 1945 - 4 September 1945)
- Royal Air Force Thorney Island (Detachment four aircraft 20 June - 4 September 1945)
Royal Air Force Thorney Island (4 September 1945 - 2 December 1945)
disbanded (2 December 1945)

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 704 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment:^[2]^[3]

Lieutenant Commander(A) S.M.P. Walsh, , RNVR, from 11 April 1945
Lieutenant Commander P.A.M. Hudson, , RN, from 25 August 1945
disbanded - 2 December 1945

References

Citations

^ Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 26.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wragg 2019, p. 114.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 11.

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.