702 Naval Air Squadron
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Squadron / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
702 Naval Air Squadron (702 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which last disbanded in August 2014. It was last based at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset and earlier at HMS Osprey, RNAS Portland, Dorset. As a training squadron it trained all ground and air crew for the sister front-line maritime Lynx unit, 815 Naval Air Squadron.[3] It initially formed during July 1936 as a Catapult Flight for the 2nd Battle Squadron based at RAF Mount Batten and routinely embarking in RN ships such as, HMS Nelson, HMS Rodney and HMS Resolution. By 1939 it was known as 702 Naval Air Squadron but disbanded in January 1940.
702 Naval Air Squadron | |
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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 |
|
Size | Squadron |
Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
Motto(s) | Cave Ungues Felis (Latin for 'Beware the Claws of the Cat') |
Insignia | |
Squadron Badge | White, in front of a roundel gyronny blue and white a demi-lynx erased gold armed and langued red (1978)[1] |
Identification Markings | E8A+ (Swordfish) individual letters (Seafox) 190–199 (Sea Vampire / Attacker) 400–404 (Meteor) 750–756 (Sea Balliol / Sea Vampire / Sea Prince) 740–747 (Lynx, January 1978 – September 1982) 321-480/parent ship letters (Ships' Flights in series, January 1978 – December 1980) 630–637, 640–647 (September 1982) 670–673, to 630–644 (March 1999)[2] |
It was active twice more during the Second World War, between December 1940 and July 1943 as a Long Range Catapult Squadron and then between June 1945 and September 1946 as an Instrument Flying Training and Checking Unit. A Naval Jet Evaluation Training Unit was the squadron’s next role between April 1949 and August 1952, followed by a Junior Officers Air Course between September 1957 and August 1958. It last reformed as the Lynx Headquarters and Training Squadron at HMS Heron, during January 1978.