1845 Naval Air Squadron (1845 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 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 formed at RN Air Section Brunswick, United States, in June 1944 as a fighter squadron, with eighteen Vought Corsair Mk III fighter aircraft. It embarked in HMS ''Puncher'' on 30 August , disembarking to HMS ''Gannet'', RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland, on 18 September and joining the 10th Naval Fighter Wing. It re-equipped with twenty-four Vought Corsair Mk IV, and embarked HMS ''Slinger'' in December, sailing for the British Pacific Fleet, the squadron was disbanded in April 1945, and its aircraft and personnel absorbed into squadrons aboard the aircraft carriers HMS ''Formidable'' and HMS ''Victorious''. On 1 June it reformed in Australia as a single seater fighter squadron at HMS ''Nabsford'', RNAMY Archerfield, Queensland, and it shortly later became a spare squadron in the 3rd Carrier Air Group at HMS ''Nabbington'', RNAS Nowra, New South Wales. With the end of the Second World War the squadron disbanded on 24 October.

History

Single-seat fighter squadron (1944 - 1945)

1845 Naval Air Squadron formed on 1 June 1944 in the

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at RN Air Section Brunswick, which was located at United States Naval Air Station (USNAS) Brunswick,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, as a Single Seat Fighter Squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Commander( A) D.G. Parker,

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), ...

. It was equipped with eighteen Vought Corsair aircraft, an American

carrier-borne A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft must be able to launch i ...

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

. These were the Brewster built F4U-1 variant the F3A-1 and F3A-1D, designated Corsair Mk III by the Fleet Air Arm. Training consisted

air combat ''Air Combat'' is a 1995 Combat flight simulation game, combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, and the first title of the ''Ace Combat'' franchise. Players control an airc ...

, low altitude and

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and

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. On 3 July the squadron began Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landings (ADDLs) utilising the nearby US Naval Auxiliary Airfield at

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. ...

, Maine. On completion of working up in late August, the squadron prepared to embark in the , for passage to the United Kingdom. With the squadron on board, the escort carrier sailed for

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arriving on 1 September and then joined with the United Kingdom bound Convoy CU.38 for the

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crossing, with the squadron disembarking to Royal Naval Air Maintenance Yard Belfast (HMS ''Gadwall'') on 18 of the month, before moving to RNAS Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet''), where along with 1843 Naval Air Squadron, the squadron formed the 10th Naval Fighter Wing. On 23 the squadron flew to RNAS Ayr (HMS ''Wagtail''), it returned to RNAS Eglinton on 6 November and its strength was increased to twenty-four aircraft and these were the Goodyear built FG-1D variant, designated Corsair Mk IV by the Fleet Air Arm. The squadron embarked in , a ''Ruler''-class escort carrier, on 19 December to begin working up and the escort carrier sailed for the

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to join 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 ...

. Upon arriving at Australia, the squadron disembarked and spent a couple of weeks at RNAS Schofields (HMS ''Nabthorpe''), ( Mobile Naval Air Base No. 3), which was situated at RAAF Station Schofields,

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 ...

, around the end of February to the beginning of March 1945, before reembarking in HMS ''Slinger''. HMS ''Slinger'' was tasked with replenishing elements of the British Pacific Fleet,

Task Force 57 Task Force 57 (TF 57) is a US Navy task force. It was previously active during World War II. Task Force numbers were in constant use, and there were several incarnations of TF 57 during World War II. Land based bombers of the United States Air Fo ...

, when it prepared for Operation Iceberg, the initial invasion of

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, as demand for replacement Vought Corsair aircraft and aircrew was high. However, this impacted on 1845 Naval Air Squadron and it was therefore disbanded on 5 April, with its aircraft and personnel absorbed into the Fleet Air Arm squadrons aboard the s, and .

Single-seat fighter squadron (1945)

1845 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 1 June 1945 in Australia at Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard Archerfield (HMS ''Nabsford'') ( Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No.1), which was located at

RAAF Station Archerfield RAAF Station Archerfield was a permanent Royal Australian Air Force station at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from 1939 to 1956. History 1939–1945 At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Royal Austr ...

, was a

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

station at

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, Queensland, as a Single Seat Fighter Squadron, soon afterwards under the command of Lieutenant Commander(A) R.J.H. Grose RNVR. It moved to RNAS Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock'') (Mobile Naval Air Base No. VI), which was situated at RAAF Maryborough, at Maryborough Airport,

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 ...

, on 23 June and was equipped with a mix of Vought Corsair Mk II and IV. The squadron moved again on 14 July, to RNAS Nowra (HMS ''Nabbington'') (Mobile Naval Air Base No. I), which was at RAAF Nowra,

, where it formed part of the 3rd Carrier Air Group (3rd CAG) which formed at HMS ''Nabbington'' on 2 August, as a spare CAG for a ''Illustrious''-class fleet carrier. On 19 October the aircraft were flown to RNAS Bankstown (HMS ''Nabberley'') (Mobile Naval Air Base No. II), at RAAF Bankstown at

Bankstown Airport Bankstown Airport is an airport and business park located in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, approximately from the Sydney central business district (CBD), Australia, and west of Sydney Airport. It is situated on of land and has three para ...

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, New South Wales, and the squadron disbanded on 24 October at HMS ''Nabbington''.

Aircraft flown

1845 Naval Air Squadron flew different variants of only one aircraft type: * Vought Corsair Mk III

fighter bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

(June - November 1944) * Vought Corsair Mk IV fighter bomber (November 1944 - April 1945, June - October 1945) * Vought Corsair Mk II fighter bomber (June - October 1945)

Battle honours

The

battle honours 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 ...

awarded to 1845 Naval Air Squadron are: * Okinawa 1945

Assignments

1845 Naval Air Squadron was assigned as needed to form part of a number of larger units: * 10th Naval Fighter Wing (14 October 1944 - February 1945) * 3rd Carrier Air Group (2 August - 31 October 1945)

Naval air stations

1845 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in the United Kingdom, and overseas, a couple of Royal Navy

escort carrier 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 ...

* RN Air Section Brunswick, Maine, (1 June - 30 August 1944) * (30 August - 18 September 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet''), County Londonderry, (18 September - 23 October 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station Ауr (HMS ''Wagtail''), South Ayrshire, (23 October - 6 November 1944) * Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet''), County Londonderry, (6 November - 19 December 1944) * (19 December 1944 - 25 February 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station Schofields (HMS ''Nabthorpe''), New South Wales, (25 February - 11 March 1945) * HMS ''Slinger'' (11 March - 5 April 1945) * disbanded - (5 April 1945) * Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard Archerfield (HMS ''Nabsford''), Queensland, (1 - 23 June 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station Maryborough (HMS ''Nabstock''), Queensland, (23 June - 14 July 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station Nowra (HMS ''Nabbington''), New South Wales, (14 July - 24 October 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station Bankstown (HMS ''Nabberley''), New South Wales, (aircraft) (19 October 1945) * disbanded - (24 October 1945)

Commanding officers

List of

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 ...

s of 1845 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment: * Lieutenant Commander(A) D.G. Parker,

, from 1 June 1944 * disbanded - 5 April 1945 * Not identified, from 1 June 1945 * Lieutenant Commander(A) R.J.H. Grose, RNVR, from 24 June 1945 * disbanded - 24 October 1945 Note: Abbreviation (A) signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 1800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1944 Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II