CW (Seafire, Firebrand & Sea Hornet) CW:CU (Sea Fury from May 1950) LM (Sea Fury, Sea Hawk & Sea Vampire from November 1953) LM:BY (all types from January 1956) BY (Hunter from July 1965)[2]
Military unit
Hawker Hunter GA.11 'WW654' which served with 738 Naval Air Squadron
738 Naval Air Squadron (738 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN), which last disbanded during May 1970 at HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Brawdy. It initially formed as a Pilot Training Squadron formed at HMS Asbury, RNAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, in February 1943. The squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston, Maine, United States, at the end of July 1943 and also providing advanced carrier training to American-trained Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) pilots and it later provided complete Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance (TBR) aircrew for Grumman Avenger FAA squadrons. The squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, in February 1945 and disbanded there in July 1945. 738 Naval Air Squadron was next active as part of the Naval Air Fighter School, between May 1950 and March 1954, providing newly qualified FAA pilots the operational techniques of air-to-air and air-to-ground firing. It had formed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall, England, moving to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth in 1953. It reformed in April 1954 at HMS Fulmar and now the squadron’s role was to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was also responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet aircraft. It became an Advanced Flying Training Squadron in June 1962 providing training for low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training.
History of 738 NAS
Pilot Training Squadron (1943 - 1945)
Six Vought Corsair Mk I and II of 738 Naval Air Squadron airborne over Maine from their US NAS Lewiston base during 1944
On 31 July 1943 the squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston, Maine, United States, a U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Facility (NAAF) loaned to the Admiralty from 1 August 1943, to teach advanced aircraft carrier landing techniques to United States Navy flight school trained, Fleet Air Arm pilots.[6] Here the squadron received Grumman Avenger, an American torpedo bomber, and Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance aircrews were then also trained up enabling complete crews for FAA Grumman Avenger equipped squadrons.[4] On 14 February 1945, 738 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, another U.S. Naval Air Station loaned for use to the Admiralty, from August 1943. The squadron remained for a further five months before disbanding on 31 July 1945.[7]
738 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar), Moray, Scotland on 9 November 1953, but disbanded on 24 March 1954 only to reform again nine days later, still at RNAS Lossiemouth, on 3 April. The following month saw the squadron receive both Hawker Sea Hawk F1 a British single-seat jetday fighter and de Havilland Sea Vampire T.22, a two-seat trainer variant of the jet fighter aircraft, with the squadron’s role to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet powered aircraft.[2]
April 1954, until it moved to RNAS Yeovilton in 1956, saw the Command Instrument Grading and Examination Flight attached to 738 Naval Air Squadron. The de Havilland Sea Vampire aircraft were withdrawn from squadron use in March 1955 and it received more Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft, transferred over from 736 Naval Air Squadron.[2] In 1957 the then squadron commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Alan J. Leahy, DSC, RN, formed an aerobatic demonstration team, to display at that years Society of British Aircraft ConstructorsFarnborough Airshow. The team used the name ‘The Red Devils’ and consisted five Hawker Sea Hawk FB.3 (Fighter-bomber variant) aircraft, each painted red with Royal Navy in large, white letters under the wings. The squadron’s engineers made alterations which enabled the aircraft to produce coloured smoke.[9]
During the rest of the decade, the squadron lost (December 1958), and then later regained (June 1960, again from 736 Naval Air Squadron), Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft, but it took the de Havilland Sea Venom FAW.21, a carrier-capable jet fighter-bomber aircraft, used as an all-weather interceptor aircraft by the FAA, for all weather fighter training from October 1957 until September 1960, and later provided the Sea Venom Operational Flying School Parts I and II. The Squadron became the Naval Air Fighter School in 1958 when the parent formation was renamed the Naval Air Fighter and Strike School and it kept this role until 1962 when it retired its Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 aircraft and then became known as the Advanced Training Squadron.[2]
Advanced Training Squadron ( 1962 - 1970)
From conversion to a GA.11, XE668 served with 738 NAS at Lossiemouth and Brawdy before moving to Hurn and the FRU in 1969
In line with its new role, Hawker Hunter T.8, a two-seat jet trainer for the RN, fitted with an arrestor hook for use on RN airfields, and Hawker Hunter GA.11, a single-seat weapons training version for the RN (converted F.4 fitted with an arrester hook), began to arrive at RNAS Lossiemouth during June 1962. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander F. Hefford, DSC, RN, 738 Naval Air Squadron’s tasks included low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training. On 6 January 1964, 738 Naval Air Squadron relocated to RNAS Brawdy (HMS Goldcrest) in Pembrokeshire, Wales,[10] where it operated as phase 2 of the Advanced Flying Training course, giving tuition on fighter tactics and weapons release to students graduating out of 759 Naval Air Squadron, which was also based at RNAS Brawdy.[2]
Using three Hawker Hunter GA.11 aircraft and a single Hawker Hunter T.8 two-seat trainer aircraft, a Fleet Air Arm aerobatic team was formed from 738 Naval Air Squadron, led by Lieutenant Commander Chris Comins, RN, whilst at RNAS Brawdy (HMS Goldcrest).[11] The team was known as the 'Rough Diamonds' and were operational from 1965, disbanding in 1969. The aircraft were painted in the standard Fleet Air Arm colour scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey on top, over a White underside, however, the lead aircraft also had a dayglo red nose cone-band, fuselage spine and wing tips. All aircraft carried 'BY' for Brawdy on both sides of the tail and a 'Pegasus' on both sides of the nose, for 738 Naval Air Squadron.[12]
738 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded on 5 May 1970[2] and the Hawker Hunter aircraft were absorbed into the fleets of the other Squadrons.[8]
Aircraft flown
The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:[13][14]
Vought CorsairSupermarine Seafire F Mk XVIIHawker Sea Hawk FGA 6
^Note; Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighters were named after sea birds. Later the "Wildcat" name would be adopted by the RN to simplify supply and prevent possible confusion over delivery orders.
^Note; Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighters were named after sea birds. Later the "Avenger" name would be adopted by the RN to simplify supply and prevent possible confusion over delivery orders.
Bibliography
Ballance, Theo; Howard, Lee; Sturtivant, Ray (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN978-0-85130-489-2.
Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN0-85130-223-8.
Thetford, Owen (1991). British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London, UK: Putnam Aeronautical Books, an imprint of Conway Maritime Press Ltd. ISBN0-85177-849-6.
Derry, Martin; Robinson, Neil (2018). Hawker Hunter In British Service. Barnsley,South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Aviation, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books. ISBN978-152674-2490.
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