736 Naval Air Squadron

736 Naval Air Squadron
Active24 May 1943 - 25 August 1952
26 August 1952 - 26 March 1965
26 March 1965 - 25 February 1972
7 June 2013 - 31 March 2022
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
Role
  • Fighter Combat School
  • Advanced Jet Flying School
  • Jet Strike Training Squadron
  • Fleet Requirements Unit
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Motto(s)Aquila suos educit
(Latin for 'The eagle trains its young') (1962)[1]
AircraftSee Aircraft operated section for full list.
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Rear Admiral Phillip David “Percy” Gick CB, OBE, DSC & Bar, RN
Vice Admiral Sir Michael Frampton Fell, KCB, DSO, DSC & Bar, RN
Rear Admiral Ray Rawbone, CB, AFC, RN[2]
Insignia
Squadron Badge DescriptionBlack, an eagle volant gold surmounting a flash of lightning white (1948)[1]
Identification MarkingsACA+ (All types to 1946)
S3A+ to S6A+ (to 1947)
Y0A+ (B Flight 1945)
100-109 (Seafire/Sea Fury)
201-287 (Harvard/Firefly)
551-553 (Martinet) (from 1947)
100-189 (Seafire)
270-271 (Firefly)
291-296 (Sea Fury) (February 1950)
100-119, 150-158 & 176(Attacker)
180-189 (Seafire)
405-408 (Meteor)
150-156 (Sea Hawk)
211-242 (Sea Vampire) (August 1952)
600-625 (Sea Hawk/Hunter/Scimitar)
630-657 (Buccaneer) (March 1965)
840-850, 860-880 (Hawk)[3][4]
Tail CodesJB (Seafire, Firefly & Sea Fury from 1947)
CW (Seafire, Sea Fury, Harvard & Firefly February 1950)
CW:LM (Attacker & Meteor August 1952)
CW (Seafire August 1952)
LM (Sea Hawk & Sea Vampire August 1952)
LM (Sea Hawk, Hunter & Scimitar from November 1953)[4]
British Aerospace Hawk T1A ‘XX205', '842-CU’ of 736 NAS

736 Naval Air Squadron (736 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was most recently recommissioned at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose in June 2013 to fly the BAE Systems Hawk, mainly in the maritime aggressor role, following the disbandment of the Fleet Requirements and Aircraft Direction Unit (FRADU) and operated up until March 2022. It initially formed as the School of Air Combat in May 1943 at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton. In September 1943 it moved to HMS Vulture, RNAS St Merryn, where it became the Fighter Combat School and it created an independent 'B' Flight for fighter affiliation work between March and September 1945. 736 Naval Air Squadron moved to HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose in February 1950 as the Naval Air Fighter School in the 52nd Training Air Group, but disbanded in August 1952. Immediately the following day, the squadron reformed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose out of 702 Naval Air Squadron as an Advanced Jet Flying School and in November 1953 it moved to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth. 736 Naval Air Squadron disbanded there in March 1965, but what was left became 764 Naval Air Squadron ‘B’ Flight. The squadron reformed the same day at Lossiemouth from 809 Naval Air Squadron as a Jet Strike Training Squadron. 1966. In March 1967, its aircraft were part of the group that bombed and set on fire the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon aground and leaking crude oil on Seven Sisters rocks off Cornwall. The squadron disbanded in February 1972.

  1. ^ a b Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 40.
  2. ^ "FAA 'top gun' who flew 40 types dies". keymilitary.com. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  3. ^ Wragg 2019, p. 120.
  4. ^ a b Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 41.