817 Squadron was a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron. It was originally formed as part of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

for service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and took part in combat operations in Norway, North Africa, Sicily and off the coast of France. Following the conclusion of hostilities, the squadron was disbanded in 1945. In 1950, it was re-raised as part of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

and subsequently took part in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. Recent deployments have included Operation Falconer, Operation Slipper and

Operation Sumatra Assist Operation Sumatra Assist was the Australian Defence Force's (ADFs) contribution to disaster relief in Indonesia following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. ADF personnel were deployed within hours of the earthquake. They served mainly in Aceh. M ...

. In December 2011, the squadron was disbanded.

Recent roles

Until its disbandment in December 2011, 817 was active as a helicopter squadron equipped with

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 engi ...

Mk 50 helicopters. 817 Squadron was a land based squadron operating the Sea King helicopter in Fleet Utility Support roles, including Search and Rescue, Surveillance, and Air and ground crew training. 817 Squadron also had responsibility for maintaining and operating aircraft on the ''Kanimbla'' class, HMAS ''Tobruk'' and HMAS ''Success''. The Squadron was based at HMAS ''Albatross'' (NAS Nowra).

History

817 Squadron was first formed as a

squadron in 1941, operating Fairey Albacore aircraft in the ASW role in Icelandic and Mediterranean waters. The Squadron reformed in 1943 with

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

aircraft and carried out operations in Sumatra and the Nicobar area before disbanding in 1945. On 25 April 1950, 817 Squadron was re-formed as a Royal Australian Navy FAA squadron operating Fairey Firefly AS6 aircraft. The Squadron embarked on HMAS ''Sydney'' and served with distinction during the Korean War, operating the Fairey Firefly Mk5. In October 1953 the squadron embarked on HMAS ''Vengeance''. The Squadron disbanded and reformed with Fairey Gannets in 1955, operating from HMAS ''Melbourne'' and conducting Fleet ASW support and training until 1958. 817 Squadron reformed in 1963 to conduct ASW, Fleet Utility support and training, equipped with

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.31A helicopters. These were updated to Wessex HAS.31Bs in 1968, and the Squadron was re-equipped with Westland Sea King MK50 helicopters in 1976. 817 Squadron operated from HMAS ''Melbourne'', until the aircraft carrier decommissioned in 1982 without replacement. Recent operational deployments have included UN operations in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

in 1993, peace keeping operations in Bougainville during 1994 (where one aircraft was hit by ground fire) and Operation Stabilise in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

during 1999 and 2000. 817 Squadron has also provided operational air support to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and support to the people of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

during 2000 and 2001 in Operation Trek, after the civil insurgence. The squadron was also called upon in 2003 to provide further air support in the Solomon Islands as part of Operation Anode. 817 Squadron has been heavily committed to the fight against terrorism with continuing deployments to the Persian Gulf aboard HMAS ''Kanimbla'' and HMAS ''Manoora''. These deployments have formed an integral part of the Australian contingent of the International Coalition Against Terrorism (ICAT). During late 2001 and 2002, 817 Squadron aircraft deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

as part of Operation Slipper to enforce UN sanctions against Iraq, and again in 2003 as part of Operation Falconer with the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. The Squadron also has maintained one aircraft and crew at Christmas Island for various periods to provide a surveillance capability in defence of Australia's northern borders. Most recently, 817 Squadron has provided aircraft for

and Operation Sumatra Assist II, which were Australia's contribution to the humanitarian effort in Indonesia as a result of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the subsequent

2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on 28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 915 people were killed, mostly on the island of Nias. The event caused panic in the region, which had already been devastated by ...

. During the latter operation, one of the two Seakings (Shark 02) embarked on HMAS ''Kanimbla'', crashed on the Island of

Nias Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre ...

with the loss of nine personnel. The accident occurred as a result of a series of maintenance errors, specifically the incorrect re-fitting of a nut and split pin during maintenance performed on the aircraft some two months before the crash. Deficiencies in maintenance practices, training, support and logistics operations within the Navy were also identified as contributing factors. Following the accident, several major changes were made to maintenance and safety management practices at 817 Squadron. 817 Squadron was decommissioned on 16 December 2011.

Battle honours

The following

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s have been awarded to 817 Squadron *Norway 1942 *North Africa 1942 *Biscay 1942 *Sicily 1943 *Korea 1951–2 *Somalia 1993 *Iraq 2003

Aircraft

RN Service

* Fairey Albacore (Torpedo Bomber) *

(Torpedo / Dive Bomber)

Previous RAN Service

* Fairey Firefly AS6 * Fairey Firefly Mk5 * Fairey Gannet *

HAS.31A *

HAS.31B *

Mk 50

References

817 Squadron Official Website817 Squadron History

External links

The Board of Inquiry Report into the Shark 02 crash
{{DEFAULTSORT:817 Squadron Ran Flying squadrons of the Royal Australian Navy Military units and formations of Australia in the Korean War Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 2011