RNAS Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk)

RNAS Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk)
Next to the town of Kirkwall, on the Mainland of Orkney in Scotland
Fairey Swordfish taxi along the tarmac to take off for an exercise with dummy torpedoes from HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station, Hatston
HMS Sparrowhawk
RNAS Hatston Shown within the Orkney Islands Show map of Orkney Islands RNAS Hatston RNAS Hatston (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	58°59′39″N 002°58′35″W / 58.99417°N 2.97639°W / 58.99417; -2.97639
Grid reference	HY435125
Type	Naval Air Station
Code	H
Site information
Owner	Admiralty
Operator	Royal Navy
Controlled by	Fleet Air Arm
Condition	Disused
Site history
Built	1934 (1934)
In use	October 1939 - 1948 (1948)
Fate	Closed
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Garrison information
Garrison	Fleet Air Arm
Occupants	Accommodation for disembarked Front-Line squadrons H.Q. 700 Squadron (Accommodation for disembarked Ship's Flight Aircraft) 771 squadron (Home Fleet Fleet Requirements Unit)
Airfield information
Elevation	7 metres (23 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 15/33 914 metres (2,999 ft) Asphalt concrete 07/25 741 metres (2,431 ft) Asphalt concrete 12/30 722 metres (2,369 ft) Asphalt concrete 01/19 713 metres (2,339 ft) Asphalt concrete

Royal Naval Air Station Hatston (RNAS Hatston, also called HMS Sparrowhawk), was a military airfield located one mile to the north west of Kirkwall, on the island of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland, built as a Royal Naval Air Station. It was located near the strategically vital naval base of Scapa Flow, which for most of the twentieth century formed the main base of the ships of the Home Fleet. The airbase was designed to provide accommodation for disembarked Front-Line squadrons and accommodation for disembarked Ship's Flight Aircraft and was home to the Home Fleet Fleet Requirements Unit, 771 Naval Air Squadron.

The airbase was situated near two notable landmarks, it was located next to the town and port of Kirkwall, with Scapa Flow 2.5 miles (4 km) south. The airfield was sited on the south bank of the Bay of Kirkwall, 1 mile (2 km) north east of the town of Kirkwall, and the road from Kirkwall to Finstown forms the southern boundary of the airfield.^[1]

It was purpose built by the Admiralty and commissioned on 2 October 1939 as HMS Sparrowhawk, the airbase remained operational for almost six years, before It was ‘paid off’ on 1 August 1945. It immediately re-commissioned on the same day as HMS Tern II. Six weeks later it decommissioned for a second time, on 15 September and the airbase was reduced to care and maintenance.^[1]