1701 Naval Air Squadron (1701 NAS) was a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

(FAA)

naval air squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet A ...

of the United Kingdom’s

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN). It was formed in February 1945 at HMS ''Daedalus'', RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as an amphibian bomber reconnaissance squadron. It was equipped with Supermarine Sea Otter, and the squadron joined HMS ''Begum'' in April 1945 bound for the Far East. The squadron was intended to join the newly established Mobile Naval Air Bases for Air Sea Rescue duties. 'B' Flight joined MONAB IV (HMS ''Nabaron'') at RNAS Ponam in the Admiralty Islands in May 1945 and embarked in HMS ''Reaper'' in October 1945. 'A' Flight joined MONAB VI (HMS ''Nabstock'') at RNAS Maryborough, Queensland, Australia in June 1945. The flights re-grouped in the Autumn of 1945 at HMS ''Nabcatcher'', RNAS Kai Tak, Hong Kong, where it disbanded during August 1946.

History

Air Sea Rescue (1945-1946)

1701 Naval Air Squadron formed on 1 August 1945 as an Air Sea Rescue (ASR) squadron at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus''),

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. It was initially equipped with six

Supermarine Sea Otter The Supermarine Sea Otter was an amphibious aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was the final biplane flying boat to be designed by the company, and the last biplane to enter service with both the R ...

, an

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

maritime patrol Maritime patrol or maritime reconnaissance is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to active ...

and

air sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people w ...

aircraft, planned for operations in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. The squadron personnel consisted

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

( A) L.F. Plant,

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

, six

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s and six Telegraphist Air Gunners. In late March the initial six Supermarine Sea Otter were withdrawn and replaced with eight new ones, before the squadron travelled to RNAS Belfast (HMS ''Gadwall''),

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland, where it prepared for embarking on the , for passage to the Pacific for operations with the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...

. 1701 Naval Air Squadron personnel and aircraft all embarked in HMS ''Begum'' on 17 April, and sailed from the Clyde, via

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and arrived at

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

in the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

. The squadron was divided into two flights of four aircraft; ‘B’ flight disembarked from HMS ''Begum'' on 28 May to RNAS Ponum (HMS ''Nabaron''), Ponam Island, a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

airstrip transferred to the Royal Navy (RN) on loan, which was home to

Mobile Naval Air Base The Mobile Naval Airfield Organisation (MNAO) was the shore-based component of the naval air logistics organisation. This comprised two types of units, a Mobile Operational Naval Air Base (MONAB) and a Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard (T ...

No. IV (MONAB IV) to which the Flight became attached to providing air sea rescue duties. On 15 June, ’A’ flight disembarked from HMS ''Begum'' to RNAS Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock''),

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287 people. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mar ...

Australia, which was where Mobile Naval Air Base No. VI (MONAB VI) was situated. Here the flight provided air sea rescue operations and also provided a detachment of two aircraft to RNAS Bankstown (HMS ''Nabberley''),

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. On 1 November 'A' Flight left RNAS Maryborough for the final time, relocating to Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No. 1 (TAMY 1) at RNAMY Archerfield (HMS ''Nabsford''),

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland, Australia, to prepare for redeployment to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, RNAS Ponum, on Manus, was beginning to rundown to closure with everything preparing to move to Australia. On 3 October 1945 ‘B’ flight was embarked in the ''Ruler''-class escort carrier for Hong Kong. On 4 November 'A' Flight left Australia for Hong Kong to rejoin the rest of the squadron, embarked in the . 'B' Flight disembarked from HMS ''Reaper'' on 13 October and 'A' Flight disembarked from HMS ''Striker'' on 16 November, to RNAS Kai Tak (HMS ''Nabcatcher''), MONAB VIII, situated at

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...

, Hong Kong, with the HQ flight having been established on 1 November. The airfield at Kai Tak was a joint Royal Navy /

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) station, the RN (West) side of the station housed Mobile Naval Air Base No. VIII (MONAB VIII). Here the squadron reverted to second-line duties. Between 17 - 31 December it provided a detachment in the ''Attacker''-class escort carrier . In April the following year the squadron received an

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...

, a twin-engine multi-role

training aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristic ...

, and this was joined by a

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer aircraft, in July. 1701 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 27 August 1946, its Supermarine Sea Otter aircraft were absorbed into

721 Naval Air Squadron 721 Naval Air Squadron (721 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). 721 Naval Air Squadron formed at HMS ''Gadwall'', RNAS Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the beginning of March 1945, as a Fleet ...

, the resident Fleet Requirements Unit, as an ASR flight.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has operated a number of different aircraft types, including: *

ABR.I

aircraft (February 1945 - August 1946) *

multi-role

(April - August 1946) *

trainer aircraft (July - August 1946)

Naval air stations

1701 Naval Air Squadron operated from a single naval air station of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom, many overseas and a number of

escort carriers The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slower type of aircraf ...

: * Royal Maval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus''), Hampshire, (1 February -17 April 1945) * (17 April - 28 May 1945) ** 'A' Flight: *** - transit - (14 - 17 June 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock''), Queensland, (17 June - 24 July 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Bankstown (HMS ''Nabberley''), Sydney, (24 July - 7 August 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock''), Queensland, (7 August - 15 October 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Bankstown (HMS ''Nabberley''), Sydney, (15 - 21 October 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock''), Queensland, (21 October - 1 November 1945) *** Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard Archerfield (HMS ''Nabsford''), Queensland, 1 - 4 November 1945) *** (4 - 16 November 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Kai Tak (HMS ''Nabcatcher''), Hong Kong, (16 November 45 - 27 August 1946) ** 'B' Flight: *** Royal Naval Air Station Ponum (HMS ''Nabaron''), Admiralty Islands, (28 May - 3 October 1945) *** (3 - 13 October 1945) *** Royal Naval Air Station Kai Tak (HMS ''Nabcatcher''), Hong Kong, (13 October 1945 - 27 August 1946) * Royal Naval Air Station Kai Tak (HMS ''Nabcatcher''), Hong Kong, (1 November 1945 - 27 August 1946) ** (Detachment 17 - 31 December 1945) * disbanded - (27 August 1946)

Commanding officers

List of

s of 1701 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment: *

(A) L.F. Plant,

, from 1 February 1945 * Lieutenant(A) P.H. Woodham, , RNVR, from 19 October 1945 * disbanded - 27 August 1946 Note: Abbreviation (A) signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 1700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1945 Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II