880 Naval Air Squadron
880 Naval Air Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1941–1945 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Role | Fighter squadron |
Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
880 Naval Air Squadron was a
The squadron was reformed on 1 May 1951 as a carrier-based anti-submarine squadron in the
The
In May 1942, the squadron took part in the
After Indomitable's return to Britain later that month, 880 Squadron re-equipped with
In February 1944, the Squadron embarked aboard Furious for operations off Norway, continuing operations off that carrier until September that year,[13] taking part in Operation Tungsten, an attack against the German battleship Tirpitz on 3 April 1944.[14] In November the squadron embarked aboard Implacable, which took part in operations off Norway in November and December that year.[2][15] In March 1945, the squadron was on board Implacable as the carrier left Britain on passage to join the British Pacific Fleet.[16] In June 1945, 880 Squadron took part in Operation Inmate, an attack on the isolated Japanese base at Truk atoll by Implacable and supporting ships. Implacable's Seafires (from 880 and 801 Squadrons) dive-bombed oil tanks and spotted for the cruisers of the task force as they shelled targets on the atoll.[17] In July–August 1945, Implacable's air wing, including 880 Squadron, (with the squadron's Seafires now fitted with drop tanks to increase range), took part in strikes against the Japanese home islands.[16][18] The squadron was disbanded at RAAF Station Schofields, near Sydney, Australia, on 11 September 1945, when it was merged with 801 Squadron.[16]
Canada
The squadron was re-formed as an anti-submarine squadron of the
On 1 February 1968, VS 880 joined the newly established Canadian Armed Forces as the Royal Canadian Navy was merged with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force.[21] Bonaventure was decommissioned without replacement on 3 July 1970, with VS 880 carrying out its last flight from the carrier on 12 December.[21][22] With the demise of Bonaventure, VS 880 was transferred to shore-based inshore anti-submarine operations, with its Trackers receiving the new designation of CP-121 on 27 July 1970.[21] In December 1973, Canada declared a 200 nmi (230 mi; 370 km) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and the squadron's role was changed to protecting the EEZ, which resulted in the squadron being re-designated MR 880, and anti-submarine systems being removed from its Trackers.[23] Duties included fisheries protectionpollution and wildlife surveys and ice patrols over Canada's Arctic coasts, with the aircraft receiving new radar and communications equipment in 1978, and adding the ability to carry CRV7 rockets from 1982.[21] It moved to CFB Summerside on Prince Edward Island in 1981.[24] Late-1980s' plans to upgrade Canada's Trackers with turboprop engines were abandoned, and the fisheries protection role was privatised, leading to the squadron's Trackers being retired in April 1990.[21] The squadron has never been officially disbanded and still exists as a "zero strength" unit.[25]
References
- ^ Canadian naval squadron designations are correctly written with a space rather than a hyphen, unlike the otherwise similar US Navy designations.[1]
- ^ The aircraft shot down was a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor according to Thetford[3] and a Dornier Do 18 flying boat according to Sturtivant and Ballance.[2]
- ^ Stitt 1996, p. 41
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 300
- ^ a b Thetford 1978, p. 229
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 75
- ^ Shores, Cull & Izawa 1992, pp. 160, 350
- ^ Shores 1996, pp. 278, 283
- ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1991, pp. 448–451
- ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1991, p. 669
- ^ Shores et al. 2016, pp. 48, 50
- ^ Roskill 1960, pp. 126, 128
- ^ Hobbs 2013, pp. 103, 149
- ^ Shores et al. 2018, pp. 346–347
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, pp. 300, 302
- ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 43
- ^ Hobbs 2013, p. 110
- ^ a b c d Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 301
- ^ Hobbs 2017, pp. 200–210
- ^ Hobbs 2017, pp. 252–253, 261, 263–264, 281
- ^ a b Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 302
- ^ a b c Stitt 1996, p. 43
- ^ a b c d e Stitt 1996, p. 52
- ^ Hobbs 2013, pp. 208–209
- ^ Stitt 1996, pp. 49, 51
- ^ "880 Squadron". Archived from the original on 18 August 2001. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "Index of Naval Air Squadrons: 880 Squadron (Canada)". Fleet Air Arm Archive. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- Hobbs, David (2013). British Aircraft Carriers: Design, Development and Service Histories. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-138-0.
- Hobbs, David (2017). The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-0283-8.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War At Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
- Roskill, S. W. (1960). The War at Sea 1939–1945: Volume III The Offensive Part I: 1st June 1943–31st May 1944. History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1991). Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-16-X.
- Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Izawa, Yusuho (1992). Bloody Shambles: Volume One: The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-50-X.
- Shores, Christopher (1996). Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940–42. London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-898697-37-X.
- Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried (2016). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Three: Tunisia and the End in Africa: November 1942 – May 1943. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-910690-00-0.
- Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried; Thomas, Andy (2018). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Four: Sicily and Italy to the Fall of Rome: 14 May, 1943 – 5 June 1944. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-911621-10-2.
- Stitt, Robert M. (January–February 1996). "Willing Tracker: The Grumman S2F Tracker in Canadian Service: Part One". ISSN 0143-5450.
- Sturtivant, Ray; Ballance, Theo (1994). The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
- Thetford, Owen (1978). British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (4th ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30021-1.