| 794 Naval Air Squadron | |
|---|---|
 794 NAS badge | |
| Active | 1 August 1940 - 30 June 1944 2 January 1945 - 26 March 1947[1] |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Type | Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron |
| Role |
|
| Size | Squadron |
| Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
| Home station | See Naval air stations section for full list. |
| Motto(s) | Fungar vice cotis (Latin for 'I will do duty as a whetstone'); or Patimur ut discant alii (Latin for 'We suffer that others may learn')[2] |
| Aircraft | See Aircraft flown section for full list. |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge | White, a lion rampant red armed and langued blue holding in his forepaws a target in military colours (1945)[2] |
| Identification Markings | P2A+ & P8A+ Target Tugs (from August 1943) Y8A+ then BY8A+ (from December 1943) S1A+ (from January 1945) J1A+ Corsair, J2A+ Seafire, J3A+ Martlet & J4A+ Martinet (from August 1945) A4A+ & A5A+ (from 1946) 100-116/A (1947)[2][3] |
794 Naval Air Squadron (794 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded in March 1947. The squadron formed as an Air Target Towing Squadron, at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton, during August 1940, although operated target tug aircraft out of the satellite, RNAS Haldon. In April 1943 it provided a detachment at RAF Warmwell as an air firing unit and three months later the squadron relocated to RNAS Angle and became the Naval Air Firing Unit. Further moves followed in quick succession, to HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Dale, in September, HMS Dipper, RNAS Henstridge, in November and HMS Heron II, RNAS Charlton Horethorne in December and by which time the squadron was designated No. 1 Naval Air Firing Unit, but disbanded in June 1944. The squadron reformed at HMS Vulture, RNAS St Merryn, in January 1945, as the School of Air Firing and later in the year was tasked to support the newly formed Ground Attack School. It moved to HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, during August, and at this point had three flights providing courses for aerial warfare, airstrike and aerial reconnaissance.
- ^ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 118.
- ^ a b c Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 95.
- ^ Wragg 2019, p. 138.