702 Naval Air Squadron
| 702 Naval Air Squadron | |
|---|---|
 702 NAS Badge | |
| Active | Royal Air Force 15 July 1936 - 24 May 1939 Royal Navy 24 May 1939 - 21 January 1940 27 December 1940 - July 1943 1 June 1945 10 September 1946 4 April 1949 - 26 August 1952 30 September 1957 - 11 August 1958 3 January 1978 - 1 August 2014 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Type | Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron |
| Role | Training and Fleet Air Arm Maintenance |
| Size | Squadron |
| Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
| Motto(s) | Cave Ungues Felis (Latin for 'Beware the Claws of the Cat') |
702 Naval Air Squadron (702 NAS) was a naval squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset and earlier at RNAS Portland in Dorset. As a training Squadron it trained all ground and air crew for the sister front-line maritime Lynx squadron, 815 NAS[1]
It merged with 700(W) NAS to form 825 NAS.[2] 702 NAS disbanded on 1 August 2014.[3]
History[edit]
Formation and WWII (1936 - 1945)[edit]
702 NAS was founded on 15 July 1936[4] to operate aircraft from the ships of the 2nd Battle Squadron. Operating Supermarine Walrus, an amphibious maritime patrol aircraft, and Fairey Seal, a carrier-borne spotter-reconnaissance biplane, from its base at the Royal Air Force station and flying boat base RAF Mount Batten, located in Plymouth Sound, Devon, initially, later these were replaced by the biplane torpedo bomber Fairey Swordfish float-plane variant. Aircraft were attached to the name ship of her class HMS Nelson, sister ship HMS Rodney and the Revenge-class battleship HMS Resolution. Granted Squadron status in 1939, and briefly disbanded in 1940.[5]
702 Naval Air Squadron reformed as a Long Range Catapult squadron equipped with the biplane Fairey Seafox, a ship-borne reconnaissance seaplane, for duty in Armed Merchant Cruisers for much of the Second World War. It was based out of RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), Hampshire, England. The initial ship was RMS Alcantara (1926), followed by HMS Pretoria Castle (F61), HMS Canton, SS Queen of Bermuda and RMS Asturias (1925). On 10 May 1942 a Sea Hurricane flight was formed and used on the CAM ship HMS Maplin. The squadron disbanded in July 1943.[6]
[edit]
In 1949 the squadron reformed at RNAS Culdrose as the Naval Jet Evaluation Training Unit. Equipped with four de Havilland Sea Vampires, it also became the first unit to fly the Gloster Meteor and was the first unit to achieve jet landings at night on a carrier, embarked in HMS Implacable and HMS Theseus. The squadron was renumbered as 738 Naval Air Squadron in 1952.
Aircrew and Maintainer training squadron (1978 - 2014)[edit]
702 was reformed in 1978 and has since operated the Westland Lynx HAS2, HAS3 and HMA8. The squadron is tasked to provide aircrew training and maintenance personnel for the Maritime Lynx, ready for ship's flights. It has a complement of around 160 aircrew and maintainers with approximately a further 20 aircrew and 115 maintainers in training per annum also providing refresher training for an additional 30 aircrew.
In 1981 these roles were split and the parenting duty became the charge of 815 Naval Air Squadron. The following year both squadrons relocated to RNAS Portland for a period of eighteen years before returning to its current location of RNAS Yeovilton in 1999.
702 NAS disbanded at a ceremony held at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton on 1 August 2014. Its aircraft transferred to 815 NAS and its personnel transferred to either 815 NAS or 825 NAS.[citation needed]
Commanding Officers[edit]
List of commanding officers of 702 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:[6][7]
1936 - 1940
- Lieutenant S.W.D. Colls, RN, (Flight Lieutenant RAF), from 15 July 1936
- none, from 18 July 1937
- Lieutenant P.E. O'Brien, RN, (Flight Lieutenant RAF), from 14 August 1938
- not identified, from 14 November 1938
- Lieutenant Commander R.A.B. Phillimore, RN, from 24 May 1939
- disbanded - 21 January 1940
1940 - 1943
- not identified, from 27 December 1940
- disbanded - July 1943
1945 - 1946
- Lieutenant Commander(A) G.T. Bertholdt, RNVR, from 1 June 1945
- Lieutenant J.E.G. Essery, RNVR, from 4 September 1945
- disbanded - 10 September 1946
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ "702 Naval Air Squadron | Royal Navy". Archived from the original on 4 October 2011.
- ^ "The Lynx Wildcat evolution - Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Flying with wings and fond farewell at 702 Naval Air Squadron - Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "History of 702 NAS at the Royal Navy website". Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 7.
- ^ a b Wragg 2019, p. 113.
- ^ Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 8.
Bibliography[edit]
- 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.
- Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.
External links[edit]