706 Naval Air Squadron

706 Naval Air Squadron
Active	1945–1946 1953–1954 1962–1998
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
Role	Fighter/torpedo-bomber and helicopter training squadron
Motto	Montez
Aircraft flown	Grumman TBF Avenger Fairey Barracuda Vought F4U Corsair Fairey Firefly Grumman F6F Hellcat Supermarine Seafire Westland Whirlwind Hiller HT Westland Wessex Westland Wasp Westland Sea King

706 Naval Air Squadron (706 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Established as a fighter and torpedo-bomber training unit in Australia at the end of World War Two, it was briefly reformed as a helicopter squadron in the early 1950s, before becoming a helicopter training unit in 1962, and operating until 1998.

First formation

The squadron was formed in the UK in January 1945 and sailed for Australia where it was officially commissioned on 10 April 1945 at RNAS Schofields (HMS Nabthorpe) near Schofields, New South Wales. It operated as a refresher training and conversion unit for the British Pacific Fleet, flying the Avenger, Barracuda, Corsair, Firefly, Hellcat and Seafire. In late August, following the surrender of Japan, the unit was transferred to a base at Maryborough, Queensland, and in October moved again to HMS Nabbington at Nowra, New South Wales. In January 1946 the unit returned to Schofields, and was disbanded on 31 May 1946.^[1]

Second formation

The squadron was reformed at RNAS Gosport on 7 September 1953 flying the Whirlwind HAS.22 ASW helicopter and the Hiller HT Mk.1. In October 1953 it moved to Northern Ireland, firstly to RNAS Sydenham near Belfast, then in February 1954 to RNAS Eglinton, being occasionally based aboard HMS Perseus (R51). The squadron was disbanded on 1 March 1954, and its aircraft were transferred to 845 Naval Air Squadron.^[2]

Third formation

In January 1962 the squadron was reformed for a second time as a helicopter training unit at RNAS Culdrose flying the Wessex HAS.1. 706 Squadron's B Flight was formed at Culdrose on 7 January 1964 and equipped with the Wessex and Hiller HT Mk.2 to operate in the Commando Assault role, but was incorporated into 845 Squadron when it arrived in Borneo to take part in the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. In November 1964 the squadron received Westland Wasps for advanced training. In January 1970 it converted to the Sea King HAS.1, and in February 1975 Wasp training was transferred to 703 Squadron. From February 1978 until April 1993 it was administrative host for the Royal Air Force's Sea King Training Unit. The squadron continued with Sea King flying training, with sea training conducted aboard RFA Engadine (K08), until disbanded in February 1998.^[2]

References

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons Currently active squadrons 700 703 705 727 736 750 771 814 815 820 824 825 829 845 846 847 849 Inactive squadrons 701 702 704 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 728 728B 728C 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 816 817 818 819 821 822 823 826 827 828 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 840 841 842 848 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 860 861 870 871 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 1700 1701 1702 1703 1770 1771 1772 1790 1791 1792 1820 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 Display teams Fred's Five Simon's Sircus Blue Herons Sharks Black Cats Other units HMS Gannet SAR Flight Royal Navy Historic Flight Units in bold subsequently commissioned into Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm