745 Naval Air Squadron

745 Naval Air Squadron
Active1 March 1943 – 30 March 1945
23 April 1956 – 1 November 1957[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role
  • Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron
  • Radar Jamming Trials Unit
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Home stationSee Naval air stations section for full list.
Insignia
Identification Markingsletter/number combinations (Swordfish)
795-798 (Avenger)[2][3]
Fin Shore CodesGN (Avenger)[3]
Aircraft flown
AttackFairey Swordfish
Electronic
warfare		Grumman Avenger
Fairey Swordfish II, an example of the type used by 745 NAS

745 Naval Air Squadron (745 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It was initially active from 1943 to 1945 as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training squadron, part of No.2 Telegraphist Air Gunner School based at R.N. Air Section Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.[4] It reformed in April 1956 at HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland, as a Radar Jamming Trials Unit. It operated with four modified Grumman Avenger aircraft, undertaking a trials evaluation of the 'Orange Harvest' radar warning receiver equipment, disbanding in November 1957.

History of 745 NAS

Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron (1943 - 1945)

745 Naval Air Squadron assembled at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), on 10 February 1943, for passage to Canada, which then formed as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron on the 1 March 1943,[2] at R.N. Air Section Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, where the Admiralty had lodger facilities for an RN air section at Royal Canadian Air Force base Yarmouth. It was part of No. 2 Telegraphist Air Gunner School,[4] within the Royal Navy No. 1 Naval Air Gunnery School (NAGS), which was under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.[5] It was equipped with the biplane torpedo bomber aircraft Fairey Swordfish, specifically the mark II and IV variants. 745 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 30 March 1945.[3]

Radar Jamming Trials Unit (1956 - 1957)

745 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 23 April 1956 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, as a radar jamming trials unit, out of 'X' Flight of 744 Naval Air Squadron.[3] It was equipped with four Grumman Avenger AS5, an anti-submarine strike version of the American torpedo bomber[6] and these aircraft were modified for tactical evaluation of the 'Orange Harvest' equipment. Occasionally the squadron deployed aircraft to RAF St Mawgan, Cornwall, England, for trials alongside the Air-Sea Warfare Development Unit RAF (ASWDU).[3]

In May 1957 the Squadron moved temporarily to RAF Ballykelly, County Londonderry, to enable the runways at RNAS Eglinton to be resurfaced. Autumn 1957 saw 745 Naval Air Squadron return to RNAS Eglinton and it also conducted trials aboard the Centaur-class aircraft carriers HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. The squadron disbanded on 1 November 1957.[3]

Aircraft operated

The squadron has operated a couple of different aircraft types, including:[3]

745 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air station of the Royal Navy, in the United Kingdom and one in Canada:[2][3]

1943 - 1945

1956 - 1957

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of 745 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:[3]

1943 - 1945

  • Lieutenant Commander(A) R.H. Ovey. RNVR, from 1 March 1943
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) F.A.H. Harley, RN, from 6 November 1944
  • disbanded - 30 March 1945

1956 - 1957

  • Lieutenant Commander M.F. Bowen, RN, from 16 April 1956
  • disbanded - 1 November 1957

References

Citations

  1. ^ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 67.
  2. ^ a b c Wragg 2019, p. 122.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 50.
  4. ^ a b "RN Air Section Yarmouth". www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  5. ^ "A School of Swordfish". www.vintage wings.ca. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  6. ^ Thetford 1991, p. 228.

Bibliography