794 Naval Air Squadron

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794 Naval Air Squadron
794 NAS badge
Active1 August 1940 - 30 June 1944
2 January 1945 - 26 March 1947[1]
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role
  • Air Target Towing Unit
  • School of Air Firing
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Motto(s)Fungar vice cotis
(Latin for 'I will do duty as a whetstone'); or Patimur ut discant alii
(Latin for 'We suffer that others may learn')[2]
Insignia
Squadron BadgeWhite, a lion rampant red armed and langued blue holding in his forepaws a target in military colours (1945)[2]
Identification MarkingsP2A+ & P8A+ Target Tugs (from August 1943)
Y8A+ then BY8A+ (from December 1943)
S1A+ (from January 1945)
J1A+ Corsair, J2A+ Seafire, J3A+ Martlet & J4A+ Martinet (from August 1945)
A4A+ & A5A+ (from 1946)
100-116/A (1947)[2][3]

794 Naval Air Squadron (794 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded in March 1947. The squadron formed as an Air Target Towing Squadron, at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton, during August 1940, although operated target tug aircraft out of the satellite, RNAS Haldon. In April 1943 it provided a detachment at RAF Warmwell as an air firing unit and three months later the squadron relocated to RNAS Angle and became the Naval Air Firing Unit. Further moves followed in quick succession, to HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Dale, in September, HMS Dipper, RNAS Henstridge, in November and HMS Heron II, RNAS Charlton Horethorne in December and by which time the squadron was designated No. 1 Naval Air Firing Unit, but disbanded in June 1944. The squadron reformed at HMS Vulture, RNAS St Merryn, in January 1945, as the School of Air Firing and later in the year was tasked to support the newly-formed Ground Attack School. It moved to HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, during August, and at this point had three flights providing courses for aerial warfare, airstrike and aerial reconnaissance.

History of 794 NAS[edit]

Air Target Towing Unit (1940 - 1944)[edit]

Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib ‘Z7015 7-L’, an example of the type used by 794 NAS

794 Naval Air Squadron formed on 1 August 1940, at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), in Somerset, England, as an Air Target Towing squadron.[3] It was initially equipped with Blackburn Roc, a naval turret fighter aircraft, adapted to tow targets and operated a detachment out of RNAS Haldon (HMS Heron II), located just outside Teignmouth, Devon,[2] which was used as a refuelling base for the aircraft providing target towing over the Lyme Bay live firing ranges.[4] On 10 April 1943, a detachment was provided at RAF Warmwell, in Dorset, as an air firing unit, however, on 1 July 1943, the whole squadron relocated to RNAS Angle (HMS Goldcrest), in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and became the Naval Air Firing Unit. The squadron now had sixteen Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the single-seat fighter aircraft, four Boulton Paul Defiant, a British interceptor aircraft, four Miles Master, a two-seat advanced trainer aircraft, and eight Miles Martinet, a target tug aircraft and operated with the Fighter School at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron).[3]

On 5 September 1943, RAF Dale was transferred to the Admiralty in exchange for RNAS Angle, from No. 19 Group RAF, with the Coastal Command Development Unit RAF moving in.[5] 794 Naval Air Squadron left Angle for RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest), also in Pembrokeshire, on 10 September.[6] The squadron’s next move was back to Somerset, when on 22 November, it relocated to RNAS Henstridge (HMS Dipper). Then less than two weeks later it moved again, on 1 December and remained in Somerset and transferred to RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II).[2] At this time the unit was known as the No. 1 Naval Air Firing Unit. 794 Naval Air Squadron was operational for a further seven months and then disbanded at RNAS Charlton Horethorne, on 30 June 1944.[3]

School of Air Firing (1945 - 1947)[edit]

Supermarine Seafire LF.IIIc ‘PP972 - 11-5 - N’, an example of the type used by 794 NAS

794 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 2 January 1945 at RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture), in Cornwall, out of 719, 780 and 792 Naval Air Squadrons. It was designated the School of Air Firing.[3] The squadron was equipped with Supermarine Seafire, a navalised version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, Fairey Firefly, a carrier-based fighter and anti-submarine aircraft, Vought Corsair an American carrier-based fighter aircraft, Grumman Martlet, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft, Miles Martinet target tug aircraft and North American Harvard, an American advanced trainer aircraft. The squadron’s role widened in June 1945 when it provided ground attack courses for the newly-formed Ground Attack School.[2]

794 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 9 August, where its three Flights offered courses in air combat, ground attack and photo-reconnaissance.[3] It became No. 3 Naval Air Fighter School and had an Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landing (ADDL) Flight working out of RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike), also in County Londonderry, by October. Early 1946 saw the unit absorb 759 Naval Air Squadron, (No. 1 NAFS), and time was spent in both HMS Implacable and HMS Theseus undertaking deck landing training on aircraft carriers. Refresher flying with Supermarine Seafire were provided during the Spring and in the late Summer the squadron became part of the 52nd Training Air Group. On 26 March 1947, 794 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS Eglinton.[2]

Aircraft flown[edit]

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:[3][2][7]

Blackburn Skua in target tug markings
Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk III target tug

Naval Air Stations[edit]

HMS Implacable underway in 1946, around the time 794 NAS was embarked

794 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy in the UK and was embarked in a couple of Royal Navy fleet aircraft carriers:[3][2]

1940 - 1944

1945 - 1946

Commanding Officers[edit]

List of commanding officers of 794 Naval Air Squadron with day, month and year of appointment:[7][3][2]

1940 - 1944

  • Lieutenant(A) R.W.H. Everett, RNVR, from 3 August 1940
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) F.C. Muir, RNVR, from 22 July 1942
  • Lieutenant(A) W.H. Stevens, RN, from 16 November 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) A.L. Hill, RNVR, from 10 April 1943
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) T.L. Crookston, RN, from 6 January 1944
  • disbanded - 30 June 1944


1945 - 1947

  • Lieutenant Commander(A) J.L. Appleby, RN, from 2 January 1945
  • Lieutenant Commander R.A. Bird, DSC, RN, from 3 July 1945 (KIFA 10 April 1946)
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) G Dennison, RNVR, from 11 April 1946
  • Lieutenant A.C. Lindsay, DSC, RN, from 1 August 1946
  • Lieutenant R.M. Crosley, DSC & Bar, RN, from 13 November 1946
  • disbanded - 26 March 1947

Notable people[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 118.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 95.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wragg 2019, p. 138.
  4. ^ "R.N.A.S. Haldon". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Angle Airfield, Angle (308209)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ "R.N.A.S. Angle". Royal Navy Research Archive. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b "794 Naval Air Squadron". www.wings-aviation.ch. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Argentinian WW2 FAA pilot Ronny Scott". www.fleetairarmoa.org. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

Bibliography[edit]

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