771 Naval
Air Squadron
"Not unto us alone"
|
History |
|
| 24. May 1939 | 771 NAS formed at RNAS Lee-on-Solent |
| 17. August 1955 | 771 NAS disbanded at RNAS Lee-on-Solent |
| 11. July 1961 | 771 NAS reformed at RNAS Portland |
| 1. December 1964 | 771 NAS disbanded at RNAS Portland |
| 23. June 1967 | 771 NAS reformed at RNAS Portland |
| 22. March 2016 | 771 NAS disbanded at RNAS Culdrose |
| Planes: |
Swordfish
Henley
Mar. 1944 - Jun. 1944
Walrus I
Skua II
Roc I
Albacore
Blenheim I
Apr. 1944 - May 1945
Blenheim IV
Sea Gladiator
Defiant TT.1
Chesapeake I
Proctor Ia
Lysander TT.III
Martinet TT.1
Havoc I /
Boston II & III
Hurricane FB IIc
Sea Otter
Corsair II & III
Wildcat IV, V, VI
Oxford I
Hellcat I
Hoverfly I
Hoverfly II
Seafire
LIII, F.15, F.45, F.46
Anson I
Harvard T.2B
Mosquito
FB.6, PR.16, B.25, PR.34, TT.39
Sea Mosquito
TR.33, TR.37
Sea Hornet
FR.20, NF21
Sea Fury T.20
Meteor T.7
Sea Vampire
F.20, F.21
Sturgeon TT.2
Firefly FR.1, T.1, T.2
TT.4, TT.5, AS.6
Dragonfly HR.5
Wasp HAS.1
Whirlwind
HAR.3, HAS.7
Whirlwind HAS.7
Wessex
HAS.1, HU.5
Chipmuk T.10
Devon C.20
Sea King HAR.5
| 771 NAS Commanding Officers | ||
| 1939 - 1955 | ||
| Lt-Cdr K. W. Beard, RN | 24. May 1939 | 13. Sep. 1940 |
| Lt-Cdr F. E. C. Judd, RN | 13. Sep. 1940 | 15. Jan. 1941 |
| Maj A. R. Burch, RM | 15. Jan. 1941 | 15. Oct. 1941 |
| Lt-Cdr N. E. Goddard, DSC RNVR | 15. Oct. 1941 | 4. May 1942 |
| Lt-Cdr H. T. Molyneaux, RNVR | 4. May 1942 | 13. Feb. 1944 |
| Lt-Cdr W. Dobson, RN | 13. Feb. 1944 | 11. Apr. 1945 |
| Lt-Cdr C. C.Burke, RNZNVR | 11. Apr. 1945 | 24. Oct. 1945 |
| Lt-Cdr G. M. T. Osborn, DSO DSC RN | 24. Oct. 1945 | 23. Feb. 1948 |
| Lt-Cdr C.R. Bateman, RN | 23. Feb. 1948 | 7. Jan. 1949 |
| Lt-Cdr R. W. M. Walsh, RN | 7. Jan. 1949 | 18. Nov. 1949 |
| Lt-Cdr J. G. Baldwin, DSC RN | 18. Nov. 1949 | 18. Dec. 1950 |
| Lt-Cdr J. A. Welpy, RN | 18. Dec. 1950 | 5. May 1952 |
| Lt-Cdr M. W. Rudorf, RN | 5. May 1952 | 15. Sep. 1952 |
| Lt-Cdr R. Pridham-Wippell, DSC RN | 15. Sep. 1952 | 3. Jun. 1953 |
| Lt-Cdr B. E. Bullivant, RN | 3. Jun. 1953 | 28. Mar. 1955 |
| Lt-Cdr R. W. Turral, RN | 28. Mar. 1955 | 17. Aug. 1955 |
| 1961 - 1964 | ||
| Lt-Cdr A. I. R. Shaw, MBE RN | 11. Jul. 1961 | 23. Mar. 1962 |
| Lt-Cdr R. V. Woodward, RN | 23. Mar. 1962 | 28. Mar. 1964 |
| Lt-Cdr J. R. J. Rutherford, RN | 28. Mar. 1964 | 1. Dec. 1964 |
| 1967 - 2016 | ||
| Lt-Cdr J. T. Rawlins, MBE RN | 23. Jun. 1967 | 14. Aug. 1968 |
| Lt-Cdr R. McLean, MVO RN | 14. Aug. 1968 | 20. May 1970 |
| Lt-Cdr I. Lachlan, RN | 20. May 1970 | 4. Oct. 1971 |
| Lt-Cdr C.L. MacGregor, RN | 4. Oct. 1971 | 5. Sep. 1974 |
| Lt-Cdr R.N. Woodward, RN | 5. Sep. 1974 | 16. Sep. 1974 |
| Lt-Cdr C. P. West, RN | 16. Sep. 1974 | 16. Jun. 1976 |
| Lt-Cdr K.J. Mac Ayres RN | 16. Jun. 1976 | 10. May 1978 |
| Lt-Cdr Roger A. Mortimer, RN | 10. May 1978 | 28. Sep. 1979 |
| Lt-Cdr Peter Fish, RN | 28. Sep. 1979 | 20. Sep. 1982 |
| Lt-Cdr G. R. K. Gadsden RN | 20. Sep. 1982 | 10. Jan. 1983 |
| Lt-Cdr E. K. Bramall, RN | 10. Jan. 1983 | 8. Apr. 1983 |
| Lt-Cdr R. H. S. Everall, RN | 8. Apr. 1983 | 15. Oct. 1985 |
| Lt-Cdr D. R. George, RN | 15. Oct. 1985 | 18. Dec. 1988 |
| Lt-Cdr M. J. Lawrence, RN | 18. Dec. 1988 | 28. Jul. 1989 |
| Lt-Cdr I. S. Dominey, RN | 28. Jul. 1989 | 15. Mar.. 1991 |
| Lt-Cdr S. D. Pendrich AFC, RN | 15. Mar.. 1991 | 23. Jul. 1993 |
| Lt-Cdr L. Matthews, RN | 23. Jul. 1993 | 5. Mar. 1996 |
| Lt-Cdr G. B. M. Milton, RN | 5. Mar. 1996 | 19. May 1998 |
| Lt-Cdr P.C. Richings, RN | 19. May 1998 | 7. Jul. 2000 |
| Lt-Cdr D. Whitehead, RN | 7. Jul. 2000 | 6. Aug. 2002 |
| Lt-Cdr D. A. Cunningham, RN | 6. Aug. 2002 | 21. Jul. 2004 |
| Lt-Cdr J. C. Barnbrook, RN | 21. Jul. 2004 | 24. Jul. 2006 |
| Lt-Cdr C. A. Godwin, RN | 24. Jul. 2006 | 27. Jul. 2008 |
| Lt-Cdr G. J. Finn, RN | 27. Jul. 2008 | 30. Mar. 2010 |
| Lt-Cdr C. P Canning, RN | 30. Mar. 2010 | 29. Mar. 2012 |
| Lt-Cdr M. P. Shepherd, RN | 29. Mar. 2012 | 30. Jun. 2013 |
| Cdr M.P. Shepherd, RN | 30. Jun. 2013 | 4. Apr. 2014 |
| Lt-Cdr S. T. Armstrong, RN | 4. Apr. 2014 | 12. Jan. 2015 |
| Lt-Cdr R. T. Calhaem, RN | 12. Jan. 2015 | 22. Mar. 2016 |
|
History |
|
A notable point in 771s wartime history was that they started the chain that led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. The Commanding Officer of HMS Sparrowhawk, Capt Henry Lockhart St John Fancourt, RN, had been ordered to identify and sink the Bismarck at the earliest opportunity. The two squadrons of Albacore TSRs he had did not have sufficient range to attack the battleship whilst in harbour. He was relying on the RAF to carry out flights over Bergen, and inform the Royal Navy when the Battleship had left port. On 22. May 1941 RAF Coastal Command deemed the weather unsuitable for flight; however, Capt Fancourt, RN volunteered to put together a crew to fly 771s Martin Maryland twin engined plane to carry out the sortie. Temporary Lieutenant (A) Noel Ernest Goddard, RNVR, at the time the Senior Pilot of 771 NAS, volunteered to pilot the sortie, with his crew of Acting Leading Airman John Walker Armstrong as TAG-WO, and Leading Airman J. D. Milne as TAG-AG. The extremely experienced observer Commander Geoffry Alexander Rotherham, at the time the Air Stations XO, stepped up to act as Mission Commander. Goddard flew on instruments at low level over the sea, making landfall on target. Having identified that the ships had sailed already they attempted to radio their discovery back to RAF Coastal Command. However, they did not receive any reply. Rotherham decided to contact the Air Station directly on the Towed Target frequency and also fly directly to HMS Sparrowhawk's forward airfield, Sumburgh, where the Albacores were ready to intercept. Acting on Rotherhams's radio message, the Home Fleet were set to sea and engage the Bismarck and her escorts intercepting her at the Battle of the Denmark Straits. On 16 September 1941 The London Gazette reported the awarding of the following honours: Rotherham received the DSO, Goddard the DSC, and Armstrong the DSM. Goddard went on to Command 771 NAS as a Temporary Lieutenant Commander (A) on 15. October 1941. On 1 July 1942 771 NAS moved to RNAS Twatt to fly more modern aircraft in a similar role. - Has anyone more Informations about this Squadron - |