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1792 Naval Air Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 15 May 1945 – 17 April 1946 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Type | Two-seat fighter squadron |
Role | Night fighter |
Size | Squadron |
Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
Home station | See Naval air stations section for full list. |
Motto(s) | Nocte vincimus (Latin for 'We conquer by night')[1] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Lieutenant commander(A) S Dixon-Child, RNVR |
Insignia | |
Squadron Badge Description | Per fess black and barry wavy of six white and block a dagger in pale white pommel and hilt gold winged white (1946)[1] |
Identification Markings | single letters 4A+ (HMS Ocean)[1] |
Aircraft flown | |
Fighter | Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I |
1792 Naval Air Squadron (1792 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It was formed in May 1945 at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent as a Night Fighter squadron. It was equipped with the Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I night fighter. The squadron joined HMS Ocean in December for service in the Mediterranean. On return to the UK the squadron was disbanded in April 1946.[2]
1792 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), on 15 May 1945, as a night fighter squadron. It was equipped with Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I, a night fighter variant of the carrier-borne fighter, anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft,[3] which was fitted with radar in a centre-line container.[4] Around one month later the squadron moved north to Lancashire, relocating to RNAS Inskip (HMS Nightjar) on 15 June.[1]
During August it moved to RNAS Drem (HMS Nighthawk), East Lothian, Scotland, where the Naval Night Fighter School and Night Fighter Direction Centre were based. The squadron spent almost three months at RNAS Drem working up before moving to RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on 27 November[5] and two weeks later embarked in the Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Ocean for the Mediterranean.[3]
Aboard the aircraft carrier it worked with 892 Naval Air Squadron, which operated Grumman Hellcat N.F. Mk II, the night fighter variant of the American carrier-based fighter aircraft, as a Night Fighter Air Group. Six weeks between 4 January and 8 February 1946 were spent at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), Malta, before returning to the UK in HMS Ocean, where the squadron disbanded on 17 April 1946.[1]
1792 Naval Air Squadron flew only one aircraft type:[1]
1792 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom, one overseas in Malta, and a Royal Navy aircraft carrier:[1]
List of commanding officers of 1792 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:[3]