RNAS Rattray
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Royal Navy Air Station Rattray, (RNAS Rattray; or HMS ''Merganser'') and also known as Crimond Airfield, Crimond Aerodrome or Rattray Aerodrome was a Royal Naval Air Station near Crimond,
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
.


History

The station started to be built from March 1943, with 774 Naval Air Squadron moving in from July 1943 for
Telegraphist A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitte ...
Air Gunners training but the site was not commissioned until 3 October 1944. The base then switched to training Torpedo Bombing Reconnaissance crews. The following units were here at some point: * 708 Naval Air Squadron: * 714 Naval Air Squadron (May 1944-unknown) * 717 Naval Air Squadron (November 1944-unknown) * 753 Naval Air Squadron * 766 Naval Air Squadron * 769 Naval Air Squadron * 774 Naval Air Squadron (July 1943-August 1945) * 815 Naval Air Squadron *
817 Naval Air Squadron 817 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) during the Second World War. In 1941, the squadron operated Fairey Albacore aircraft in the Anti-Submarine Warfare role in Icelandic ...
* 818 Naval Air Squadron * 821 Naval Air Squadron * 825 Naval Air Squadron The base was closed in 1946, being moved into a state of care & maintenance. It was also used as a Royal Naval Wireless Station until 2004.


Current use

The site is home to a
high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the band of radio waves with frequency between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten decameters (ten to one ...
transmitter station forming part of the Defence High Frequency Communications Service. The station is operated by Babcock International Group on behalf of the
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
.


See also

* List of air stations of the Royal Navy *
24 February Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene Christianity, Nicene bishops with Arianism, Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. *1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of ...
– Royal Navy submarine is lost with all 37 crew on sea trials in the Sound of Bute; she would not be located until 1994. * 27 March –
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 ...
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 ...
is destroyed by an accidental explosion in the
Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...
, killing 379 of the crew of 528. * 30 May – Royal Navy submarine is lost with all hands on a training exercise in the Firth of Clyde. *
30 November Events Pre-1600 * 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900 *1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of t ...
– is launched at
John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its heig ...
's shipyard at
Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
by the Princess Elizabeth. The
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 ...
's largest, fastest and last
battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
, she was laid down in October 1941 and will be in commission from 1946-60.


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links


WWII base information
{{Royal Naval Air Stations Transport in Aberdeenshire Rattray Buildings and structures in Buchan 1943 establishments in Scotland