No. 330 Squadron RNoAF

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

No. 330 Squadron RNoAF
N-3PB (1941–43) Catalina (1942–43) Sunderland (1943–45) Albatross (1962–68)

Military unit

No. 330 Squadron RNoAF (

disaster relief

.

The squadron has its roots in the

Northrop N-3PB and Consolidated PBY Catalina seaplanes. It relocated to RAF Oban in Scotland on 23 January 1943 and adopted Short Sunderland flying boats in the same role. It relocated to Sola in June 1945, where it operated mostly as an airline

until December, when it was deactivated.

The unit was reactivated between 20 July 1953 and 5 July 1958 to operate the

Gardermoen Air Station and from 1956 at Rygge. It was again reactivated from 1 March 1962 to 1 October 1968 to carry out maritime surveillance and anti-submarine operations from Sola, using the Grumman HU-16 Albatross. In its current role the squadron became operational in 1973, using ten, later twelve Sea Kings. These are due to be replaced with the AgustaWestland AW101

from 2020.

Operations

The 330 Squadron is part of the Rescue Helicopter Service of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. It is based at Sola Air Station, with detachments at Florø, Ørland, Bodø, Rygge and Banak. The unit's primary role is search and rescue. The squadron is funded through a cooperation between the

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Operationally the squadron is under the command of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway (JRCC SN) and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway (JRCC NN), respectively.^[1] Norway has signed agreements with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the United Kingdom and Russia which under given circumstances may result in the 330 Squadron operating within these countries' territories.^[2]

The squadron operates twelve Westland Sea King helicopters. Two are located on each base at any given time,[3] Up to two helicopters are on long-term maintenance at any time. At all bases at least one of the helicopters is on stand-by at any time.^[3] The Florø base is operated by the civilian contractor CHC Helikopter Service until the new SAR Queen helicopters are ready.^[4]

The helicopters are manned by two pilots, a systems operator, a navigator, a technician/lift operator, a

anaesthesiologist. Five of these are military personnel, while the anaesthesiologists work for the local health trust and are funded through them.^[1]

The Sea Kings fly a combined 4,500 hours per year. Half of these are used for missions, the remainder for training.^[5] Because the unit operates under military rules, it has a stricter training regime than civilian operators. It can also operate under more severe weather conditions.^[6] The bases have on-call rooms and a crew on duty at all times. The squadron aims as an average scrambling time of 15 minutes; this varies between 10 and 25 minutes depending on the time of day, the layout of the base and preparations.^[3]

The 330 Squadron is part of the

incubator; and in areas where the Sea Kings are closer and areas where there is no ordinary air ambulance service. Ambulance use must be permitted by the JRCCs.^[8]

When not used for SAR missions, the Sea Kings may be used for auxiliary and transport missions within the armed forces, assisting the Norwegian Police Service, aerial firefighting and anti-pollution.^[9]

Bases

Rygge

class=notpageimage|

Locations of 330 Squadron bases

The squadron was under RAF Coastal Command in Reykjavík.^[20] The eighteen Northrop N-3PB aircraft arrived by ship on 22 May.^[21] After final assembly they were operational on 23 June. The squadron was originally set to carry out Arctic convoy escorts.^[20] The squadron's A-flight and headquarters were located at Corbett Camp, the B-flight was located at Valhall in Akureyri and the C-flight at Camp Norse in Búðareyri. The latter two were established on 20 June and 14 September, respectively.^[22]

It was quickly established that the aircraft were poorly suited for their role. Due to the high latitude their compasses did not work properly, often leaving them without proper navigation. Two aircraft were subject to crashes after misnavigation.

RAF Reykjavik

Akureyri

Búðareyri

class=notpageimage|

Locations of 330 Squadron bases in Iceland

Both Norwegian and British authorities discussed converting the 330 Sqn to use the Lockheed Hudson, but the fighter role was instead placed on two new Norwegian squadrons, 331 and 332.^[25] No. 330 was instead issued the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina in June 1942.^[26] However, they were unsuitable for Búðareyri and the Northrops were not needed in Reykjavík, so the squadron ended up with six each of the Catalina and the Northrop.^[27] An operating challenge was a lack of spare parts, but the Norwegians were helped both with parts and training by a nearby United States Air Force squadron.^[28]

The Catalinas retained the same roles as the Northrops: anti-submarine sweeping, patrol and convoy escort. The aircraft rotated between being based at Reykjavík and at Akureyri.

The squadron became operative on 20 April 1943. Three days later a detachment was sent to

During the period in Scotland the squadron flew 12,000 hours, carrying out 655 sweeps and patrols, 50 convoy escorts and 22 search and rescue missions. Five submarines were attacked, sinking one and badly damaging another. No ships escorted by the 330 Sqn were sunk. Six Sunderlands were lost during the war, both due to engine failure and due to enemy action. All but one resulted in loss of life.[41]

In April 1945 the Mk II and III Sunderlands were replaced with Mk V, which had more reliable

Command of the squadron was given to the newly formed Royal Norwegian Air Force on 21 November 1945, when RAF withdrew from Norway. The 330 Sqn was officially deactivated on 15 December 1945. The aircraft were still owned by the RAF, but were not returned until early 1946. Most of the personnel transferred to 333, which had just been relocated to Sola.[45]

Aircraft operated during World War II

Thunderjet

Following Norway's entry into the

The 333 Sqn had continued to operate the Catalinas through the 1950s, although they by the end of the decade were all but modern. The Norwegian authorities agreed to receive eighteen Grumman HU-16B-ASW Albatrosses through the Marshall Plan. These flying boats were intended for maritime surveillance and transport to Svalbard,^[50] as well as submarine sweeping.^[51] 330 and 333 Sqn would receive nine airframes each. Combined they would provide 8,100 flight-hours annual, up from 2,400 with the Catalinas. Training was carried out by the United States Coast Guard and Air Force.^[50]

The 300 Sqn's first Albatross landed in February 1962 and the unit was activated at Sola Air Station on 1 March. Delivery of the final aircraft took place in late 1963. The 330 Sqn was designated the operational training unit and all check-outs took place at Sola for both squadrons. From late 1962 a detachment was established at Bardufoss Air Station with one aircraft and one crew.^[49] The 330 Sqn was declared operative from 15 July 1963. The detachment was a strain on the unit's moral and its commanded asked his subordinates to withdraw it and replace it with a mobilized unit. The resources used to support the detachment made the 330 Sqn almost unable to provide sweeping operations.^[50]

The Albatrosses improved the sweeping capacity and introduced news technology such as sonar, radar and magnetic anomaly detector. Norway did not have capacity to sweep its waters and instead focused on the surveillance. This allowed both British and American forces to carry out such tasks.^[52] Despite the leap in technology, the Albatrosses were soon declared obsolete. Allied Forces Northern Europe determined that they needed full anti-submarine capabilities and opted to replace the flying boats with the Lockheed P-3 Orion.^[53] Five Orions were capable of the same job as eighteen Albatrosses, and the number of squadrons was cut to one. The 330 Sqn was therefore deactivated on 1 October 1968.^[49]

Sea King

Search and rescue was at the time only a secondary role for various air force units, such as the Albatross,

The 330 Sqn was assigned the SAR task and was headquartered at Bodø Main Air Station, with a wing at each location. The A-flight was at Bodø, the B-flight at Banak, the C-flight at Ørland and the D-flight at Sola. Of ten aircraft, two were stationed at each base and two were at any given time in for overhaul. The flights were re-designated as detachments from 1980. The squadron was officially reactivated on 25 April 1973.^[58] The flights at Sola and Bodø were operative 1 May and the other two on 1 August.^[59] The first major was on 7 April 1974, when the Banak flight saved 13 lives off the trawler Longvabakk in Oksfjorden.^[58]

Especially among the first officers the SAR service was not what they had imagined when joining the air force and many applied to the

On 30 April 1977 one helicopter disappeared off the coast of Sola. A replacement helicopter was delivered in January 1978. Three helicopters participated in the most extensive operation following the sinking of Alexander L. Kielland on 27 March 1980. On 22 April 1982 another helicopter crashed, this time without fatalities, when hitting a power line in Sirdal.^[58] Another such incident occurred on 10 November 1986 near Bodø, this time with one fatality. In 1988 another helicopter crashed at Tyinvann in 1988, without fatalities and with the aircraft being repaired. During the late 1980s the helicopters were often grounded due to lack of spare parts, which on 6 July 1988 hindered the unit form participating in aiding the sinking Piper Alpha oil platform.^[60]

The

The accident in 1988 reduced the fleet to eight. This spurred the Ministry of Justice to

The Sea Kings had two accidents in 1990 and 1991, respectively, after which the helicopters needed to be renovated. A new Mk 43B was delivered in August 1992, followed by the renovated aircraft from the 1990 crash. The main difference was new avionics. The squadron then, one by one, upgraded the avionics on the entire fleet, a job completed in 1996.^[61] The role of the SAR service was evaluated in 1992 and it ended up with Parliament approving the purchase of two more helicopters, bringing the total to twelve. The two new helicopters were delivered in 1995.^[62]

With the additional helicopters, the 330 Sqn could open a new base, at Ålesund Airport, Vigra. The goal was to increase the coverage in Møre og Romsdal and Sogn og Fjordane, situated midway between Ørland and Sola. By 1998 the government instead determined that the extra helicopters should be based in Eastern Norway and moved the base to Rygge Air Station. The new base became operational on 22 March 1999.^[10] This relieved the 720 Sqn for their SAR task, for which they neither had suitable aircraft nor the necessary preparedness.^[63]

From 2002 the anaesthesiologist became the responsibility of the respective

The replacement of the Sea Kings was first discussed in a Norwegian Official Report in 1997.^[65] In competition with the AgustaWestland AW101, the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar and the Sikorsky S-92, Norway ordered fourteen NHIndustries NH90 helicopters in 2001 to meet the needs of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Options would be places for a future ten SAR helicopters and fifteen troop transports. By operating only one class of helicopters, the Air Force hoped to cut costs.^[66]

The Ministry of Justice canceled the options in 2007 and instead initiated a new procurement process. This resulted in a project organization being established, Norwegian All Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter (NAWSARH). The procurement was in cooperation with Icelandic authorities.^[67] The project prequalified four models, NH90, AW101, EC-725 and S-92. On 8 November 2013 the project announced that it had selected AgustaWestland as the provider. The contract is for sixteen units with an option for a further six. The first helicopter were delivered in 2017.

AW101 will replace Sea King base for base, with Sola Air base declared operative with the new helicopters September 1st 2020. At the same time it was revealed that AW101 in Norwegian service will be named SAR Queen.^[68] Ørland Air base was the next to be operative in May 2021.^[69]

The last Sea King is planned to be retired by 2023.^[70]

Fleet

The following is a list of the fleet composition of the 330 Sqd. The quantity (qty) specifies the peak number of simultaneously operated aircraft.

Personnel

• Nils Arveschoug
• Christian Roy Kaldager
• Stefan Kutzsche
• Oluf Reed Olsen
• Einar Sverre Pedersen

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westland Sea King in service with Norway.

• Arheim, Tom; Hafsten, Bjørn; Olsen, Bjørn; Thuve, Sverre (1994). Fra Spitfire til F-16: Luftforsvaret 50 år 1944–1994 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Sem & Stenersen.
  ISBN 82-7046-068-0
  .
• Duvsete, Svein (2004). Luftforsvarets historie: Kalde krigere og barmhjertige samartaner (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug.
  ISBN 82-03-22071-1
  .
• Glenne, Roar (2012). Oppdrag utført : Norges luftmilitære kulturarv (in Norwegian). Oslo: Forsvarsmuseet.
  ISBN 978-82-91218-55-7
  .
• Hjelle, Bjørn Owe (2007). Ålesund lufthavn Vigra (in Norwegian). Valderøya.
  ISBN 978-82-92055-28-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
  )
• ISBN 82-03-22070-3
  .
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
• Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. Airlife Publishing Ltd.
  ISBN 1-85310-053-6
  .
• Ministry of Justice and the Police. Prop. 146 S (2010–2011) – Anskaffelse av nye redningshelikoptre mv. i perioden 2013–2020
  (PDF) (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 December 2014.
• NOU 1997:3 – Om Redningshelikoptertjenesten (PDF).
  Ministry of Justice and the Police. 1997. Archived from the original
  (PDF) on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.