728 Naval Air Squadron
728 NAS badge
Active1 May 1943 - 4 July 1943
14 August 1943 - 31 May 1967[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
RoleFleet Requirement Unit
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Motto(s)Docendo discimus
(Latin for 'We learn by teaching')
Insignia
Squadron BadgeBlue, upon a base wavy white two bars wavy blue chief a Maltese Cross per pale red and white there on a hurt surmounted by a plate surmounted by a torteau pierced by an arrow point downward in bend sinister feathered black (1953)[2]
Tail CodesHF (1946 – 1967)[3]
de Havilland Sea Hornet F Mk 20s of No 728 Fleet Requirements Unit, Hal Far, Malta

728 Naval Air Squadron (728 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed at the beginning of May in 1943, as a Fleet Requirement Unit, at RNAS Gibraltar. It provided detachments at Tafaraoui, in Algeria and later at Oujda in Morocco. Moving to RNAS Dekheila (HMS Grebe), in Egypt, during June, it then merged into 775 Naval Air Squadron during July.

It reformed in August, again as a Fleet Requirement Unit, at RNAS Dekheila (HMS Grebe), moving immediately to RAF Ta Kali. It provided target towing both for the Royal Navys Mediterranean Fleet and the British Army, before later providing a detachment to tow targets for the United States Navy at Naples, Italy.[4] The squadron remained on Malta, alternating between the airbases at Ta Kali, Luqa and Hal Far, until disbanding at the latter, in May 1967.[1]

History of 728 NAS

Fleet Requirements Unit (1943 - 1967)

728 Naval Air Squadron was formed on 1 May 1943 at RN Air Section North Front, Gibraltar, as a Fleet Requirements Unit. The squadron was equipped with Boulton Paul Defiant TT.1, an interceptor aircraft converted for target tug operations and Fairey Swordfish I, a biplane torpedo bomber. Whilst at Gibraltar it operated detachments at RN Air Section Tafaraoui, in Algeria, from 11 May 1943 to 15 June 1943, with Fairey Swordfish aircraft, and also at RAF Oujda, in Morocco, before moving to RNAS Dekheila (HMS Grebe), Alexandria in Egypt, on 15 June 1943.[5]

The squadron was absorbed into 775 Naval Air Squadron at Dekheila on 4 July 1943. However, just over one month later, on the 14 August, 728 Naval Air Squadron reformed at Dekheila.[6] The squadron soon moved to Malta and settled at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), from 5 May 1946, after brief stints at RN Air Section Takali (HMS Goldfinch) and RAF Luqa and just after taking up radar calibration duties from No. 255 Squadron RAF.[3]

Helicopters were added to supplement the squadron's inventory when it started operating the Westland Dragonfly HR.3 at the end of 1952. 728B Flight was the identity given to the new RNAS Hal Far SAR (Search and Rescue) flight, this operated utilising the Westland Whirlwind HAR.3 which arrived in 1957. In March 1963, Westland Whirlwind HAS.22 became available for the SAR flight, which was then amalgamated into 728 NAS.[3]

On 31 May 1967 728 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at RNAS Hal Far.[6]

Aircraft flown

The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions:[7]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 34-35.
  2. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 50.
  3. 1 2 3 "728 NAS Helis". www.Helis.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Wragg 2019, p. 119.
  5. ↑ "RNAS North Front". www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 "728 Naval Air Squadron". www.wings-aviation.ch. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  7. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 51.

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.
  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
  • Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.
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