Unit Name: | 730 Naval Air Squadron |
Dates: | 17 April 1944 - 1 August 1945 |
Type: | Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron |
Role: | Communications Squadron |
Size: | Squadron |
Command Structure: | Fleet Air Arm |
Garrison: | RNAS Abbotsinch RNAS Ayr |
Garrison Label: | Naval Air Stations |
Identification Symbol: | AR0A+ (from November 1944) |
Identification Symbol Label: | Identification Markings |
730 Naval Air Squadron (730 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1944 and 1945 as a Communications Squadron.[1] The squadron was formed and operated out of RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling) from April to November 1944, by that point in time it operated four types of aircraft. It moved to RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail) and while there gained two more aircraft types. For the first three months of 1945 a detachment operated out of RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), however, the squadron remained at RNAS Ayr until disbanding in August 1945.
730 Naval Air Squadron was formed on the 17 April 1944 at RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling)[2] located in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in Scotland, where the squadron operated Stinson Reliant, a single-engine four-to-five seat high-wing monoplane liaison and training aircraft, and Beech Expediter II, a twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft, used for training, transport and utility work. Essentially the squadron came into existence by raising the Flag Officer Carrier Training flight to squadron status. It was tasked with transporting the Admiral, Commodore and senior staff around the naval air stations in Scotland.
Later that year, in August, Beech Traveller aircraft were acquired, an American biplane with an atypical negative wing stagger and these were soon followed by Fairey Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft, in September. The squadron remained stationed at RNAS Abbotsinch for around seven months before moving to RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail) situated in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, in Scotland, on the 20 November 1944. From January 1945, Airspeed Oxford, a twin-engine monoplane aircraft and Fairey Swordfish, a biplane torpedo bomber aircraft, were added and these were in use until the squadron was disbanded.
From 1 January to 8 March 1945, a detachment from 730 Naval Air Squadron out of RNAS Ayr, operated from RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), located close to Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.[3]
On the 1 August 1945, 730 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail).[1]
The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:
730 Naval Air Squadron operated from two naval air stations of the Royal Navy, both in Scotland:[1]
List of commanding officers of 730 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment: