807 Naval Air Squadron (807 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

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Second World War

807 Squadron was formed at Worthy Down in September 1940, equipped with Fairey Fulmar Is

Fairey Fulmar

The Fairey Fulmar was a British carrier-borne fighter aircraft that served with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. A total of 600 were built by Fairey Aviation at its Stockport factory between January 1940 and December 1942...

. Three were embarked on HMS Pegasus

HMS Ark Royal (1914)

HMS Ark Royal was the first ship in history designed and built as a seaplane carrier. She was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 shortly after her keel had been laid and the ship was only in frames; this allowed the ship's design to be modified almost totally to accommodate seaplanes...

, where they remained until February 1941, when the entire squadron embarked on for convoy duties. Re-equipped with Fulmar IIs in April 1941, 807 Squadron joined and saw action defending the Malta convoys

Malta Convoys

The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply convoys that sustained the besieged island of Malta during the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War...

 between July and September. Many of the squadron's aircraft were lost in the sinking of Ark Royal in November 1941. Four surviving machines were flown off to North Front

RAF Gibraltar

Royal Air Force Station Gibraltar, better known as RAF Gibraltar and formally as North Front, is a Royal Air Force station on Gibraltar. No military aircraft are currently stationed there, but there are regular visits...

, Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

. The squadron was gradually re-equipped with replacement Fulmars, which were joined by Sea Hurricanes, after which the squadron joined . In June 1942 the squadron flew off the carriers HMS Argus and to cover Operation Harpoon

Operation Harpoon (1942)

Not to be confused with Operation Harpoon Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. One convoy, Operation Vigorous, left Alexandria. The other, Operation Harpoon, travelled...

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807 Squadron received Supermarine Seafire

Supermarine Seafire

The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.-Origins of the Seafire:...

s in June 1942, and rejoined HMS Furious in August. They took part in Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

, the North African landings, and by March 1943 were back in the UK. By May 1943 the squadron had been assigned to and provided cover for the Allied invasion of Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

. Indomitable was damaged by a torpedo in July, causing 807 Squadron to transfer to , from which they supported the Allied invasion of Italy

Allied invasion of Italy

The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...

. The squadron returned to Britain aboard , subsequently joining the 4th Naval Fighter Wing.

Elements of the squadron were lent to the Desert Air Force

Desert Air Force

The Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...

 serving in Italy for several weeks in April 1944, with the entire squadron flying off HMS Hunter to support Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...

, the landings in the South of France in August 1944. In March 1945 the squadron joined the Eastern Fleet aboard HMS Hunter and provided cover during the re-occupation of Rangoon, and attacks on enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea

Andaman Sea

The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....

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Recommissioning

The squadron was recommissioned on 1 October 1958 at RNAS Lossiemouth under the command of Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 Keith Leppard. 807 NAS immediately began a hectic work up period and participated in a major exercise 15 days after commissioning. 807 remained at Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that...

 throughout 1959, working up and taking part in exercises and trials.

Aerobatic displays

In September 1959 the squadron performed in front of thousands of spectators at Farnborough Airshow with a display of formation aerobatics

Aerobatics

Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...

. The naval aviators began their display with a six stream takeoff to form a four aircraft aerobatic team and two soloists. One of the singletons performed a target banner pick up using an extension fitted to its deck arrestor hook

Tailhook

A tailhook, also arresting hook or arrester hook, is a device attached to the empennage of some military fixed wing aircraft...

. Meanwhile the four aircraft formation returned for a transonic

Transonic

Transonic speed is an aeronautics term referring to the condition of flight in which a range of velocities of airflow exist surrounding and flowing past an air vehicle or an airfoil that are concurrently below, at, and above the speed of sound in the range of Mach 0.8 to 1.2, i.e. 600–900 mph...

 pass at 700 mph followed by a short aerobatic display. Included in this sequence was what the Naval commentator described as an 'original manoeuvre', a fast pass in open box formation with a rapid individual roll by each Supermarine Scimitar

Supermarine Scimitar

-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914. London: Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-800-3.* Birtles, Philip. Supermarine Attacker, Swift and Scimitar . London: Ian Allan, 1992. ISBN 0-7110-2034-5.* Buttler, Tony. "Database: Supermarine Scimitar"....

; the Twinkle Roll was created. The two singletons touched down from the left and immediately folded their wings whilst one aircraft from the other four detached and approached from the right, landing head on between them.

Ship-based service

On 10 November 1959 Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 N. Grier-Rees RN carried out a successful ejection from a Scimitar when his flying controls locked. The squadron finally embarked on HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (R09)

HMS Ark Royal was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1978, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier...

 on 3 March 1960 where it remained for the next year, taking part in major exercises and carrying out cold weather trials in the Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

. In March 1961, 807 transferred from Ark Royal to HMS Centaur

HMS Centaur (R06)

HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to retain the original configuration with a straight axial flight deck rather than the angled flight decks of her three sister ships...

. Scimitar operations from this ship proved difficult due to her small size and slower speed than Ark Royal, resulting in restrictions on launch and recovery weights. This prevented them from being used to their limits; problems that became more acute in tropical climates with little or no natural wind. Before leaving for the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

 in October 1961 the aircraft were modified to carry AIM-9 Sidewinder

AIM-9 Sidewinder

The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...

 air to air missiles and AGM-12 Bullpup

AGM-12 Bullpup

The AGM-12 Bullpup is an air-to-ground missile which was used on the A-4 Skyhawk, A-6 Intruder, F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom among others...

 air to ground missiles. The latter were command guided by a joystick in the cockpit of the launching aircraft. Flight refuelling capability was also added at this time. On 21 October 1961 Lieutenant P.M. Hessey fired the first successful live Sidewinder from a British aircraft when he destroyed a meteor target aircraft over the Aberporth Ranges. After 7 months in the Middle and Far East 807 NAS disbanded aboard Centaur in Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

on 17 May 1962.