790 Naval Air Squadron


790 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy which disbanded in November 1949 at RNAS Culdrose. It initially formed during 1941 as an Air Target Towing Unit, at HMS Landrail, RNAS Macrihanish, in Scotland, from elements of two other Fleet Air Arm squadrons, however, this only lasted for three months and the unit was disbanded, absorbed into 772 Naval Air Squadron. It reformed the following year, in July 1942, tasked as a Fighter Direction Training Unit, at RNAS Charlton Horethorne. It provided support for the Fighter Direction School and had short spells at RAF Culmhead and RNAS Zeals, before reloacting to RNAS Dale in Pembrokeshire, next to the new purpose built Air Direction School, HMS Harrier or RNADC Kete, in 1945. The squadron moved to HMS Seahawk in Cornwall during December 1947.

History

Air Target Towing Unit (1941)

790 Naval Air Squadron formed on the 15 June 1941, as an Air Target Towing Unit, at RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), situated near to Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was made up from parts of both 768 Naval Air Squadron and 772 Naval Air Squadron, equipped with Fairey Swordfish, a biplane torpedo bomber, and Blackburn Roc, a naval turret fighter aircraft. Three months later the squadron disbanded into 772 Naval Air Squadron, on the 30 September.

Fighter Direction Training Unit (1942–1949)

790 Naval Air Squadron reformed on the 27 July 1942, at RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II), situated in the hamlet of Sigwells in Somerset, England, attached to the Fighter Direction School. The squadron was equipped with Airspeed Oxford, a twin-engine trainer aircraft, and Fairey Fulmar, a carrier-borne reconnaissance and fighter aircraft. It used these to support the training of Fighter Direction Officers. The Airspeed Oxford aircraft would act as the 'enemy bombers' and the Fairey Fulmar aircraft would be the 'fighter aircraft' that the trainees would direct to intercept.
In June 1944 the Fairey Fulmar aircraft were withdrawn and were replaced with Fairey Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft. The squadron briefly operated from RAF Culmhead, situated at Churchstanton on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, during August and September of that year, but later moved to RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird), sited to the north of the village of Zeals in Wiltshire, on the 1 April 1945.
On the 30 August 1945, the squadron relocated to RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest), located just outside the village of Dale, Pembrokeshire. The squadron continued to provide live interception flights but now for the new purpose built Air Direction School, which was located 1 mile South of RNAS Dale, at HMS Harrier, also known as R.N. Aircraft Direction Centre Kete. Here the squadron operated the twin-engined Avro Anson multi-role aircraft, the biplane de Havilland Dominie short-haul transport/airliner, Fairey Firefly I, a fighter and anti-submarine aircraft, de Havilland Mosquito FB.6 & B.25, and de Havilland Sea Mosquito TR.33 variants of the twin engine multi-role aircraft, the twin-engined Airspeed Oxford training aircraft, various marks of Supermarine Seafire, a navalised version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, and the Grumman Wildcat an American carrier-based fighter aircraft. 790 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), situated near Helston, on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall, on the 13 December 1947, it operated out of here for the next couple of years before disbanding on the 15 November 1949.

Aircraft operated

The squadron has operated a number of different aircraft types, including:

Naval air stations

790 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, in Scotland, Wales and England:
1941
1942 - 1949

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of 790 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment:
1941
  • - not identified
1942 - 1949
  • Lieutenant Commander C.R. Hodgson, RNVR, from July 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander R.P. Demuth, RNVR, from June 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander G.K. Pridham, RNVR, from November 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander R. Williamson, RNVR, from April 1945
  • Lieutenant Commander M.J.A. O'Sullivan, RN, from November 1945
  • Lieutenant Commander H. Muir-MacKenzie, RN, from June 1947
  • Lieutenant Commander D.W.H. Gardner, RN, from June 1947
  • Lieutenant P.S. Cole,, RN, from October 1947
  • Lieutenant Commander B. Sinclair,, RN, from August 1948
  • Lieutenant P.A. Jordan, RN, from May 1949
  • disbanded - 15 November 1949
Note: Abbreviation signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.