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725 Naval Air Squadron

Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm

Field	Value
unit_name	725 Naval Air Squadron
image	[[File:Miles Martinet.png	300px]]
caption	Miles Martinet TT Mk I; an example of the type used by 725 Squadron
dates	1943–1945
disbanded	27 December 1945
country
branch
type	Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
role	Fleet Requirements Unit
size	Squadron
command_structure	Fleet Air Arm
garrison	See Naval air stations section for full list.
garrison_label	Home station
colors
colors_label
equipment	See Aircraft flown section for full list.
equipment_label	Aircraft

725 Naval Air Squadron (725 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN), which was disbanded following the conclusion of the Second World War. The squadron was established at HMS Gannet at RNAS Eglinton in 1943, serving as a Fleet Requirements Unit with Blackburn Roc and later Miles Martinet. In 1944, a limited number of aircraft were assigned to facilitate target-towing operations. By August 1945, a diverse array of aircraft, including Grumman Hellcat, Stinson Reliant, Beech Traveller and Avro Anson, were operated. It relocated to HMS Vulture, RNAS St Merryn to function as an air target towing unit.

The squadron was reformed for the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Air Arm as 725 Squadron RAN on 13 January 1958.

History

Fleet Requirements Unit (1943-1945)

725 Naval Air Squadron was established at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), County Londonderry, on 27 August 1943, serving as a fleet requirements unit with three Blackburn Rocs; however, these were subsequently supplemented and Miles Martinet target tug aircraft were also incorporated.

In August 1944, two of the latter aircraft were assigned to RN Air Section Ballyhalbert, located at RAF Ballyhalbert, County Down, to offer target-towing services for the pilots of the 3rd Naval Fighter Wing, which had recently relocated to that location.

A diverse array of aircraft, such as Grumman Hellcat fighter aircraft and Avro Anson multi-role training aircraft, was in operation by August 1945, at which point it was relocated to RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture), Cornwall, to function as an air target towing unit.

The squadron disbanded in December 1945, the responsibilities were taken over by 736 Naval Air Squadron.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including:

Blackburn Roc fighter aircraft used for target towing (August - December 1943)
Miles Martinet TT Mk I target tug aircraft (December 1943 - December 1945)
Stinson Reliant Liaison and training monoplane (July 1944 - July 1945)
Grumman Hellcat F. Mk. I fighter aircraft (December 1944)
Beech Traveller utility aircraft (December 1944 - August 1945)
Avro Anson Mk I multirole training aircraft (May - August 1945)

Naval air stations

725 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy:

Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton (HMS Gannet), County Londonderry, (27 August 1943 - 4 August 1 945)
- RN Air Section Ballyhalbert, County Down, (Detachment two/four aircraft 21 August 1944 - 21 February 1945)
- Royal Naval Air Station Ronaldsway (HMS Urley), Isle of Man, (Detachment four aircraft 21 August - 9 November 1944)
Royal Naval Air Station St Merryn (HMS Vulture), Cornwall, (4 August - 27 December 1945)
disbanded - (27 December 1945)

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of 725 Naval Air Squadron, with date of appointment:

Lieutenant Commander(A) S.J. McDowell, RNVR, from 27 August 1943
Lieutenant Commander(A) R. MacDermott, RNVR, from 10 August 1945
Lieutenant(A) P.V. Robinson, RN, from 1 October 1945
Lieutenant(A) F.A.H. Harleym RN, from 29 October 1945
Lieutenant J.L. Moore, RN, from 21 December 1945
disbanded - 27 December 1945

Note: Abbreviation (A) signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

"Ballyhalbert". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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