834 Naval Air Squadron
| 834 Naval Air Squadron | |
|---|---|
HMS Battler | |
| Active | 1941-1944 |
| Country |  United Kingdom New Zealand |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Role | Torpedo bomber Fighter |
| Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
| Motto(s) | Una feriendo delmus (Latin: By striking together we destroy)[1] |
| Battle honours | Atlantic 1941-43 Salerno 1943[2] |
834 Naval Air Squadron (834 NAS) was a
HMS Battler to provide convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean. 834 NAS received a further flight of 6 Wildcat Vs in April 1944 and the Seafire flight was disbanded in July. The squadron returned to the UK in November 1944 and was disbanded in December.[3]
834 NAS contained a number of New Zealanders seconded from the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve who served as pilots and, at one point, the squadron commander.[4] In 1994 the designation of 834 Squadron was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal New Zealand Navy.[1]
The Fleet Air Arm Museum contains a surviving Fairey Swordfish (HS618) which was operated by 834 NAS from May 1943 until it was damaged in the hanger of HMS Hunter during bad weather. It is currently painted in the colours of 813 Naval Air Squadron.[5]
| From | To | Aircraft | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 1941 | April 1943 | Fairey Swordfish | MK.I |
| September 1942 | November 1944 | Fairey Swordfish | Mk.II |
| June 1943 | July 1944 | Supermarine Seafire | Mk.IIc |
| April 1944 | November 1944 | Grumman Wildcat | Mk.V |
References
- ^ a b Dennerly 1997, p. 60
- ^ Dennerly 1997, p. 66.
- ^ a b "834 Squadron". Fleet Air Arm Archive. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Waters, S. D. (1956). The Royal New Zealand Navy. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch. p. 513.
- ^ "Fairey Swordfish II (HS618)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- Dennerly, P. Y. (1997). Ships Badges of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Auckland: Royal New Zealand Navy Museum. ISBN 0477017959.
- Jinks, Peter C. (June 1974). "834 - banana boat squadron". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 6. pp. 684–689.
- Sturtivant, Ray; Ballance, Theo (1994). The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
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