RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest)
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RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest) | |||||||||||
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Dale, Pembrokeshire in Wales | |||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°42′55″N 005°11′30″W / 51.71528°N 5.19167°W | ||||||||||
Type | Royal Naval Air Station | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Admiralty Air Ministry | ||||||||||
Operator | Royal Navy Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
Controlled by | Fleet Air Arm (1943-1948) RAF Coastal Command (1942-1943) * No. 19 Group RAF | ||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1941 | -1942||||||||||
In use |
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Battles/wars | AMSL | ||||||||||
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Skeleton_framework_of_a_former_hangar_on_Dale_airfield_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4073044.jpg/220px-Skeleton_framework_of_a_former_hangar_on_Dale_airfield_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4073044.jpg)
Royal Naval Air Station Dale (RNAS Dale, also known as HMS Goldcrest) is a former Royal Naval Air Station, located 10 miles (16 km) South West of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1942 and 1948, being used by both the Royal Air Force (1942–1943) and the Royal Navy (1943–1948).
The village of
History
Station design
Construction of the airfield began between the villages of Dale and Marloes in 1941. RAF Dale opened in the 1 June 1942. The airfield had three runways, constructed of tarmac and concrete in a triangular pattern, measuring: 1065 m (3495 ft) long, 1285 m (4215 ft) long, and 1458 m (4785 ft) long. The area north west of the runways contained associated buildings.[2] Initially it was to be named RAF Marloes, planned as a No. 19 Group RAF Satellite Landing Ground (SLG) to nearby RAF Talbenny,[1] but the name was changed to RAF Dale instead.[3]
RAF Coastal Command
The first RAF unit to use RAF Dale was
The
RAF Dale was transferred to the Admiralty, in exchange for RNAS Angle (HMS Goldcrest), in September 1943. It was transferred on 5 September from No. 19 Group RAF, and commissioned, as HMS Goldcrest, on the 7 September 1943.
794 Naval Air Firing Unit was the first FAA unit to arrive in September 1943, it remained at Dale for two months before leaving in the November. However, at this point the Admiralty set about improving the airfield to support up to six naval air squadrons. A new concrete apron was added; a standard RN pattern four-story control tower was built; concrete huts and at least two naval Mainhill hangars to supplement the existing T2 and Blister hangars were constructed.[5]
In March 1944, 762 Twin Engine Conversion Unit arrived and then six months later, 748 No 10 Naval OTU relocated to Dale. Work began on the new Fighter Direction School, ½ mile down the coast at Kete, in the latter part of 1944, and the facility was completed in 1945. Then in August 1945, 748 OTU moved out and 790 Fighter Direction Training Unit moved in, beginning live interception flights for the new R.N. Air Direction School, at Kete.
In December 1945, 762 Twin Engined Conversion Unit departed Dale, meaning only 790 NAS was undertaking flying operations at the airbase. On the 1 January 1946, Dale received RNAS Brawdy as a satellite airfield and later that month 784 Night Fighter Training Squadron moved there. However, it disbanded later that year at Brawdy, in the September.
861 Naval Air Squadron formed at Dale, on the 16 September 1946, for the Royal Netherlands Navy, the squadron worked up until ready to embark, leaving Dale on the 22 February 1947.
On 13 December 1947, when 790 NAS departed RNAS Dale, the air station closed to flying. On 31 March 1948, Dale was reduced to Care & Maintenance Status and then it was paid off, on the 31 October 1948.[1]
Royal Air Force Operational History
Anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare
![No. 304 (Land of Silesia) Polish Bomber Squadron](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/304th_Polish_Bomber_Squadron.svg/70px-304th_Polish_Bomber_Squadron.svg.png)
The squadron was involved in notable
On the 30 March 1943 the squadron moved to RAF Docking.[4]
Coastal Command Development Unit
In April 1943 the
- Consolidated B-24 Liberator GR Mk.V - one aircraft
- Handley Page Halifax GR.II - one aircraft
- Vickers Wellington B Mark X - two aircraft
- Vickers Warwick GR Mk II - one aircraft
- Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk.X - two aircraft
- Percival Proctor - a number of aircraft for communications flights.
In September 1943, as part of the swap between the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy with Dale and Angle airfields, the Coastal Command Development Unit (CCDU) moved to Angle.[8]
Ferry Flight Operations
Twin Engine Conversion Course
762 Naval Air Squadron was a Twin Engine Conversion Unit.[12] It provided a Twin Engine Conversion Course, operating Bristol Beaufort I a twin-engined torpedo bomber and the T. II trainer aircraft; twin-engine Bristol Beaufighter IIF night fighter; Bristol Blenheim IV twin-engine light bomber; Airspeed Oxford twin-engine trainer and Vickers Wellington GR. XI twin-engined, long-range medium bomber, aircraft. It moved to RNAS Dale from RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) on 31 March 1944, then departed for RNAS Halesworth (HMS Sparrowhawk) on the 3 December 1945.[1]
Fighter OTU
748 Naval Air Squadron was the No. 10 Naval Operational Training Unit. It moved here from RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), on the 1 September 1944.[1] It was equipped with North American Harvard trainer aircraft, and also variants of Vought Corsair, Fairey Firefly, Grumman Hellcat, Supermarine Seafire and Grumman Wildcat aircraft, providing refresher flying on the latter five aircraft. The squadron departed for RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture), on the 14 August 1945.[13]
Night Fighter School
784 Naval Air Squadron was a Night Fighter Training Squadron. It moved here from RNAS Drem (HMS Nighthawk), on the 15 January 1946, but operated from Dale's satellite airfield, RNAS Brawdy. The squadron was equipped with Fairey Firefly NF. I, a night fighter variant; Grumman Hellcat N.F. II, a night fighter version, fitted with an AN/APS-6 radar; and the North American Harvard II. It disbanded (at RNAS Brawdy) on the 10 September 1946,[1] becoming 'B' flight of the existing Fighter Direction Training Unit at Dale, 790 Naval Air Squadron.[14]
Other Units
First Line Fighter Squadrons
809 Naval Air Squadron was a Single Seat Fighter Squadron. It disembarked from HMS Stalker on the 19 February 1944 and then moved to RAF Long Kesh on the 20 March 1944. It was equipped with Supermarine Seafire L. III.
897 Naval Air Squadron was a Single Seat Fighter Squadron. It disembarked from HMS Stalker on the 18 February 1944 an then departed for to RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) on the 26 February 1944. The squadron operated Supermarine Seafire L. IIc.
861 Naval Air Squadron was formed at RNAS Dale on the 16 September 1946 as a Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) squadron with four Fairey Firefly aircraft,[18] and worked-up. Embarked in the HNLMS Karel Doorman (QH1) on the 22 February 1947.[19]
1770 Naval Air Squadron was a Two seat Fighter Squadron, it arrived here from RNAS Ayr (HMS Wagtail) on the 16 November 1944, and then embarked on HMS Indefatigable on the 21 November 1944. It operated Fairey Firefly I aircraft.[20]
RNAS Brawdy
On the 1 January 1946, RAF Brawdy was transferred to the Admiralty, on loan, as a satellite airfield for RNAS Dale and was commissioned as HMS Goldcrest II.[1]
Current use
Now owned privately by a local
See also
- List of air stations of the Royal Navy
- List of former Royal Air Force stations
- RAF Talbenny
- RAF Brawdy
- HMS Harrier (shore establishment)
References
Citations
- ^ Phillips 2012, p. 26.
- ^ "RAF Dale". West Wales RAF Bases Archive. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Jefford 2001, p. 87.
- ^ a b c d "Dale". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ Phillips 2006, p. 66 & 67.
- ^ a b Phillips 2006, p. 67.
- ^ a b "Angle". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Air Ministry: Coastal Command Development Unit". The National Archives (United Kingdom). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ Phillips 2006, p. 24.
- ^ Phillips 2006, p. 232.
- ^ Wragg 2019, p. 127.
- ^ Ballance 2016, p. 52.
- ^ Ballance 2016, p. 87.
- ^ Ballance 2016, p. 92.
- ^ Wragg 2019, p. 138.
- ^ "Fleet Air Arm 861 Squadron". Squadron Database of the Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945. 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Netherlands Naval Aviation Unit History: No.861 Squadron". Aeroflight. 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ Ballance 2016, p. 277.
- ^ "Six men charged over illegal Pembrokeshire rave". BBC Wales. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
Bibliography
- Ballance, Theo (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.
- Jefford, C G (2001). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 - 2nd Edition. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
- Phillips, Alan (2006). Military Airfields of Wales. ISBN 1-84494-019-5.
- Phillips, Alan (2012). Welsh Military Airfields Through Time. ISBN 978-1-4456-0993-5.
- Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.