Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located north east of Eglinton,

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. It opened as a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Station (RAF Eglinton) in 1941, before being transferred to the

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 Wil ...

in May 1943. The airfield was operational between 1941 and 1966.

History

RAF Eglinton use

The Royal Naval Air Station has its origins in the early Second World War when in 1941 RAF Eglinton was established as the home to No. 133 Squadron RAF which flew

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

fighters in defence of Londonderry. In 1942 the airfield was occupied by No. 41 Squadron RAF when it moved in on 22 September flying the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

VB before moving to

RAF Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. History Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the ...

on 20 September 1942. The station was allocated to the Royal Navy and was transferred in 1943 the airfield became a

airfield called RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) and was home to the

1847 Naval Air Squadron 1847 Naval Air Squadron (1847 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's 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 ...

which provided convoy air cover as part of the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blocka ...

RNAS Eglinton use

RNAS Eglinton () was the name assigned to RNAS Eglinton, a

airfield in

. A number of ships have borne the name . The air station's main function was to work up fighter squadrons' pilots before joining the attacks on Japan.

RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) Royal Naval Air Station Maydown or RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) is a former Fleet Air Arm base located northeast of Derry, County Londonderry and west of Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Units A number of units were here at some po ...

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 use ...

aircraft next door to Eglinton received

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 t ...

for its role in the

from 1943 until 1945. April 1959 saw RNAS Eglinton close and the squadrons moved to

RAF Ballyhalbert Royal Air Force Ballyhalbert or more simply RAF Ballyhalbert is a former Royal Air Force station at Ballyhalbert on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland RAF Kirkistown was a satellite to the larger Ballyhalbert. Construction b ...

and

RAF Ballykelly Royal Air Force Ballykelly or more simply RAF Ballykelly is a former Royal Air Force station which opened in 1941 in Ballykelly, County Londonderry. It closed in 1971 when the site was handed over to the British Army as Shackleton Barracks. A s ...

. In 1989 the married quarter estate comprising 78 houses located in Fraser Avenue and Mill Path in the nearby village of Eglinton were sold to a Roger Byron-Collins company who also acquired the officers married quarters in nearby RAF Ballykelly in 2009.

Posted units

A number of units were here at some point: A number of RAF squadrons were here at some point: A number of units were here at some point:

Current use

The current RNAS Eglinton site is now used by the

City of Derry Airport City of Derry Airport , previously known as RAF Eglinton and Londonderry Eglinton Airport, is a regional airport located northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle, a short distance from the village ...

with HMS ''Gannet'' a

base established in 1971 at

RNAS Prestwick HMS ''Gannet'' is a forward operating base of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm located at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, South Ayrshire in Scotland. The facility was previously also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Prestwick before it was do ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

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