702 Naval Air Squadron

702 Naval Air Squadron 702 (Catapult) Flight FAA
702 NAS Badge
Active	Royal Air Force 15 July 1936 - 24 May 1939 Royal Navy 24 May 1939 - 21 January 1940 27 December 1940 - July 1943 1 June 1945 10 September 1946 4 April 1949 - 26 August 1952 30 September 1957 - 11 August 1958 3 January 1978 - 1 August 2014
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role	Catapult Flights Long Range Catapult Squadron Instrument Flying Training and Checking Unit Naval Jet Evaluation Training Unit Junior Officers Air Course Lynx Headquarters and Training Squadron
Size	Squadron
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Motto(s)	Cave Ungues Felis (Latin for 'Beware the Claws of the Cat')

Westland Lynx HMA.8, 702 Squadron, flies near the US Sixth Fleet flagship Blue Ridge Class Amphibious Command Ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) on the Mediterranean Sea during Exercise DESTINED GLORY (Loyal Midas) 2005.

702 Naval Air Squadron (702 NAS) was a naval squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset and earlier at RNAS Portland in Dorset. As a training Squadron it trained all ground and air crew for the sister front-line maritime Lynx squadron, 815 NAS

It merged with 700(W) NAS to form 825 NAS. 702 NAS disbanded on 1 August 2014.

History

Formation and WWII (1936 - 1945)

702 NAS was founded on 15 July 1936 to operate aircraft from the ships of the 2nd Battle Squadron. Operating Supermarine Walrus, an amphibious maritime patrol aircraft, and Fairey Seal, a carrier-borne spotter-reconnaissance biplane, from its base at the Royal Air Force station and flying boat base RAF Mount Batten, located in Plymouth Sound, Devon, initially, later these were replaced by the biplane torpedo bomber Fairey Swordfish float-plane variant. Aircraft were attached to the name ship of her class HMS Nelson, sister ship HMS Rodney and the Revenge-class battleship HMS Resolution. Granted Squadron status in 1939, and briefly disbanded in 1940.

Ships' Flights

702 (Catapult) Flight operated a number of ships’ flights between 1936 and 1940 whilst based out of RAF Mount Batten, including the name ship of her class HMS Nelson between 1936-39, the Revenge-class battleship HMS Ramillies during 1937, the Revenge-class battleship HMS Resolution between 1939-40, the Nelson-class battleship HMS Rodney between 1939-40, and the Revenge-class battleship HMS Royal Oak between 1937-38.

702 Naval Air Squadron reformed as a Long Range Catapult squadron equipped with the biplane Fairey Seafox, a ship-borne reconnaissance seaplane, for duty in Armed Merchant Cruisers for much of the Second World War. It was based out of RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), Hampshire, England. The initial ship was RMS Alcantara (1926), followed by HMS Pretoria Castle (F61), HMS Canton, SS Queen of Bermuda and RMS Asturias (1925). On 10 May 1942 a Sea Hurricane flight was formed and used on the CAM ship HMS Maplin. The squadron disbanded in July 1943.

AMC Ships' Flights

702 Long Range Catapult squadron operated a number of armed merchant cruisers ships’ flights between 1941 and 1943: the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara between 1941-42, her sister ship HMS Asturias during 1942-43, HMS Canton 1941-42, the auxiliary cruiser HMS Carnarvon Castle (6) between 1941-42, the converted ocean liner HMS Pretoria Castle between 1941-42, and the converted ocean liner HMS Queen of Bermuda between 1941-42.

On 1 June 1945 702 Naval Air Squadron reformed as an offshoot of 758 Naval Air Squadron, equipped with Airspeed Oxford, a training aircraft, and North American Harvard, an advanced training aircraft, as an Instrument Flying Training & Checking Squadron. Seven weeks later the squadron personnel took passage to RNAS Schofields in Australia.

It arrived at the airbase on 4 September. The airfield was on loan from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and was the chosen location for Mobile Operational Naval Air Base III (MONAB III) logistical unit, which was already equipped with a mobile Beam Approach Beacon System (BABS) van, however, the squadron’s training equipment did not materialise so it focused on the instrument flying training until 702 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded at RNAS Schofields in September 1946.

Naval Jet Evaluation Training Unit

In 1949 the squadron reformed at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk, Cornwall, England, as the Naval Jet Evaluation Training Unit. Equipped initially with four de Havilland Sea Vampire single-seat jet fighter, it also became the first unit of either the RAF or FAA to fly the Gloster Meteor T.7 jet trainer and was the first unit to achieve jet landings at night on an aircraft carrier, embarked in HMS Implacable and later HMS Theseus. The squadron received Supermarine Attacker F.l, a British single-seat naval jet fighter, in March 1952, and proceeded converting piston engined pilots to jets, but in August 1952 the squadron was renumbered as 736 Naval Air Squadron in August 1952.

Aircrew and Maintainer training squadron (1978 - 2014)

702 was reformed in 1978 and has since operated the Westland Lynx HAS2, HAS3 and HMA8. The squadron is tasked to provide aircrew training and maintenance personnel for the Maritime Lynx, ready for ship's flights. It has a complement of around 160 aircrew and maintainers with approximately a further 20 aircrew and 115 maintainers in training per annum also providing refresher training for an additional 30 aircrew.

In 1981 these roles were split and the parenting duty became the charge of 815 Naval Air Squadron. The following year both squadrons relocated to RNAS Portland for a period of eighteen years before returning to its current location of RNAS Yeovilton in 1999.

702 NAS disbanded at a ceremony held at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton on 1 August 2014. Its aircraft transferred to 815 NAS and its personnel transferred to either 815 NAS or 825 NAS.

Commanding Officers

List of commanding officers of 702 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:

1936 - 1940

• Lieutenant S.W.D. Colls, RN, (Flight Lieutenant RAF), from 15 July 1936
• none, from 18 July 1937
• Lieutenant P.E. O'Brien, RN, (Flight Lieutenant RAF), from 14 August 1938
• not identified, from 14 November 1938
• Lieutenant Commander R.A.B. Phillimore, RN, from 24 May 1939
• disbanded - 21 January 1940

1940 - 1943

• not identified, from 27 December 1940
• disbanded - July 1943

1945 - 1946

• Lieutenant Commander(A) G.T. Bertholdt, RNVR, from 1 June 1945
• Lieutenant J.E.G. Essery, RNVR, from 4 September 1945
• disbanded - 10 September 1946

References

Bibliography

• Ballance, Theo; Howard, Lee; Sturtivant, Ray (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain Historians Limited. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.
• Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.

External links

• Official website