819 Naval Air Squadron
| 819 Naval Air Squadron | |
|---|---|
Squadron badge | |
| Active | 15 January 1940 - 14 January 1941 1 October 1941 -10 March 1945 5 October 1961 -29 January 1971 9 February 1971 - 19 November 2001 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Type | Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron |
| Role |
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| Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
| Home station | See Naval air stations section for full list. |
| Motto(s) | |
| Aircraft | See Aircraft operated section for full list. |
| Engagements | |
| Battle honours |
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| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge Description | Blue, a foot coupled at the ankle in a sandal gold pierced though the heel by an arrow white (1945) |
| Identification Markings |
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| Fin Carrier/Shore Codes | |
819 Naval Air Squadron (819 NAS), also known as 819 Squadron, was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It most recently operated Westland Sea King between February 1971 and November 2001.
Established in January 1940, at HMS Peregrine, the Royal Naval Air Station at Ford, the squadron was sent to Coastal Command to protect the Dunkirk evacuation. In June 1940, the squadron joined HMS Illustrious, serving in the North Atlantic before moving to the Mediterranean Fleet in August and participated in the Taranto attack in November. After HMS Illustrious was severely damaged in January 1941, the squadron was disbanded.
Reformed at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent, in October, the squadron was again assigned to Coastal Command, later. In April 1943 it embarked in HMS Archer and provided anti-submarine protection for North Atlantic convoys. It became the first squadron to sink a U-boat using rockets. The squadron later boarded the escort carrier HMS Activity, destroying another U-boat during an Arctic convoy. It then operated from east coast airfields before the Normandy landings, later moving to Belgium, but returned to the UK and disbanded in March 1945.
In October 1961, the squadron was reformed at HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, serving as the ASW Wessex headquarters squadron. The squadron participated in many exercises with the Joint Anti-Submarine School. The helicopters were used on RFAs and NATO ships until the squadron was disbanded in January 1971.
The following month, the squadron reformed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose. In October, it moved to Prestwick Airport to support submarines based in Clyde and participate in exercises. Here the squadron began offering unofficial search and rescue support for the southwest of Scotland. This became official in April 1975. An autonomous SAR Flight was established in July 1989 and in 2000, it was the busiest search and rescue unit in the UK. However, from mid-2001, the squadron decreased in size and disbanded in November, leaving behind a two-aircraft unit called HMS Gannet Search and Rescue Flight, which operated from Prestwick.