539 Raiding Squadron (539 RS) is UK Commando Force's integral operational amphibious movement capability, delivering them on to land from water and patrolling waterways. It forms part of 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines. The Squadron are based in the new Royal Marines Tamar complex at the northern end of

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

History

Royal Marine Hovercraft on Patrol in Iraq MOD 45142903

539 Assault Squadron was formed on 2 April 1984 and commissioned as operational on 24 July 1984. This was in direct response to lessons learned during previous winters in north Norway that were then subsequently confirmed during the

Falklands Conflict The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

in 1982. More recent operations include

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

. 539 ASRM supported

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

as it took the

Al-Faw Peninsula The Al-Faw peninsula (; also transliterated as ''Fao'' or ''Fawr'') is a peninsula in the Persian Gulf, located in the extreme southeast of Iraq. The marshy peninsula is southeast of Iraq's third largest city, Basra, and is part of a delta for t ...

, carrying out numerous operations such as several landings and the clearing of various waterways. 539 ASRM continued to operate in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, performing security patrols of Iraq's southern ports and water networks until the end of Operation Telic. In July 2011 the Squadron, as part of the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), took part in the Cougar 11 deployment, including Exercise Omani Cougar and Exercise Somaliland Cougar. As of 2017, the Squadron consisted of over 100 personnel and was equipped with a variety of

Landing Craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

including

Rigid Raider The Rigid Raider (RRC) is a series of fast raiding and assault craft made by RTK Marine, a subsidiary of Halmatic, part of BAE Systems Surface Ships. They are primarily in service with two branches of the British Armed Forces: The Royal Navy (i ...

s and Landing Craft Vehicle/Personnel. 539 Assault Squadron was named after the famous 539 Assault Flotilla which landed on Gold Beach during the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

. On 5 November 2019 the unit was renamed 539 Raiding Squadron and is a Squadron within 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines.

References

External links

539 Assault Squadron539ASRM - The Genesis of a Unique Squadron
{{DEFAULTSORT:539 Assault Squadron Rm Royal Marine formations and units Military units and formations established in 1984