737 Naval Air Squadron (737 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active during 1943 as an amphibious Bomber Reconnaissance Training Squadron. Reactivated in 1944 it operated as an ASV Training Unit until 1945. It was active again between 1949 and 1957. From 1959 it was the Anti-Submarine Warfare school at RNAS Portland. It operated Westland Wessex HAS.3 rescue helicopters from their land base at RNAS Portland, Dorset.

History

Bomber Reconnaissance Training Squadron (1943)

737 Naval Air Squadron was formed at RNAS Dunino (HMS Jackdaw II) on 22 February 1943, as an amphibious Bomber Reconnaissance Training Squadron with Supermarine Walrus, until 28 September 1943.

ASV Training Unit (1944 - 1945)

The squadron then reformed as an ASV (Air-to-Surface Vessel) radar Training Unit at RNAS Inskip (HMS Nightjar) on 15 March 1944 remaining until 28th August 1944, when it then moved to RNAS Arbroath (HMS Condor), the unit was equipped with

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...

Mk II and

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

Mk I. On 15 April 1945 737 NAS moved to RNAS Burscough (HMS Ringtail). It received Fairey Barracuda Mk III in the following August. Other aircraft included Fairey Swordfish Mk II and Avro Anson Mk I. Crews were trained in the use of A.S.V. Mk X and XI radar for anti shipping operations. The squadron disbanded into 735 NAS in November 1945.

At RNAS Eglinton (1949 - 1957)

The squadron reformed on 30 March 1949 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet). During the month of July in 1951 737 NAS was involved in a trial around the suitability of the British Radio Directional Sonobuoy Mk 1 for Fleet Air Arm aircraft. On 22 November 1957, the squadron disbanded at Eglinton.

At RNAS Portland (1959 - 1983)

737 NAS reformed again on the 28 August 1959 at RNAS Portland as the Royal Navy Anti-Submarine Wafare School acquiring Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 from the remains of 815 NAS which disbanded. It then took on Westland Whirlwind HAS.7 roughly 1 month later. From July 1962 the squadron operated Westland Wessex HAS.1, then in October 1967 it took on deliveries of Westland Wessex HAS.3. Taking over from 829 NAS, in June 1970, 737 NAS became responsible for the Wessex Flights aboard the remaining County Class Destroyers. Westland Wessex HAS3 (WS-58), UK - Navy AN1334060

Westland Wessex HAS3 (WS-58), UK - Navy AN1334060

July 1970 saw the squadron take the Westland Sea King HAS.1, the first anti-submarine version for the Royal Navy. In May 1972, 737 NAS took over Anti-Submarine Warfare Operational and Advanced Flying Training, with the squadron regularly detached to RFA Engadine for seaborne training. The Sea King helicopters were later passed over to 826 NAS in June 1975, enabling 737 NAS to concentrate on Wessex HAS.3 training duties. On the 7th February 1983, 737 NAS disbanded at RNAS Portland, handing over its Wessex HAS.3 helicopters to 772 NAS.

Helicopter-only squadron

From 28 August 1959 the squadron only used helicopters. 737 NAS was assigned to operate from Helicopter Support Ship RFA

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places *Engadin, Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland *Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan, unincorporated community in Michigan *Engadine (Candler, North Carolina), a building l ...

and later, from the flight decks of the eight County Class guided missile destroyers, including HMS Glamorgan (D19), HMS Antrim (D18) and HMS Norfolk (D21). 737 Squadron supported

flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...

on these destroyers in addition to providing aircrew training at

RNAS Portland RNAS Portland (ICAO: EGDP) was an air station of the Royal Navy, situated at the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It was established in 1917 on the western edge of Portland Harbour as HMS ''Sarepta''. From 1959 the station shared the name ...

. In their ship-borne, anti-submarine role, the HAS.3s could carry two Mark 44 torpedoes or Mark 46 torpedoes (with parachutes) or four Mk.11 Depth Charges in addition to their Plessey dipping

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. They could also be fitted with a door-mounted

Machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

and act as a self-contained unit, handling all operations of

Anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

(ASW). Throughout the late 1970s most of the Wessex HAS.3 helicopters at

were being replaced by

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

s, which could carry more torpedoes or depth charges and had the security of twin engines, with greatly extended endurance.

Falklands War

was the Flagship of Operation Paraquet, the recovery of South Georgia in April 1982. Her helicopter, Westland Wessex HAS.3 XP142, nicknamed ''Humphrey'', was responsible for the rescue of 16 SAS men from Fortuna Glacier and the subsequent detection and disabling of the Argentine submarine Santa Fe. Another HAS.3, XM837, was lost in June 1982 when an

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

missile hit the hangar on the destroyer . A few HAS.3s remained in service after the Falklands War period. One of these, XP142, was seriously damaged near

San Carlos Water San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound. Name Despite its Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers ...

and was replaced on HMS ''Antrim'' by XM328 in November 1982. XM328 then sailed with HMS ''Antrim'' on her second deployment to the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Decommissioning

*XM328 was transferred to 772 Naval Air Squadron when 737 Squadron disbanded on 4 February 1983. *XP142 is preserved in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.

Aircraft flown

The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions: * Supermarine Walrus *

II *

I * Fairey Barracuda TR.3 * Supermarine Seafire F.15 & F.17 *

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Avia ...

FR.1/T.1/T.2/FR.4/AS.5 & AS.6 *

Fairey Gannet The Fairey Gannet is a carrier-borne aircraft that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed for the Royal Navy, being the first fixed-wing aircraft to combine both the search an ...

AS.1 & T.2 * Westland Whirlwind HAR.3, HAS.7 & HAS.22 *

Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main chang ...

HAS.1 & HAS.3 *

HAS.1

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War