836 Naval Air Squadron

836 Naval Air Squadron
Active	March 1942 - July 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Battle honours	Atlantic, 1943-45

836 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

History

836 Naval Air Squadron officially formed for the first time at Palisadoes, Jamaica in March 1942 as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance squadron flying the Fairey Swordfish. It operated from HMS Buzzard at Palisadoes, Jamaica in spring 1942 and it subsequently embarked on HMS Biter in June 1942 for the UK, where it joined RAF Coastal Command in January 1943 for operations in the English Channel from RAF Thorney Island. 836 returned aboard the Woolworth-class carrier HMS Biter to be re-formed to provide personnel and aircraft for the MAC ships, 836 was later based at Maydown, known as HMS Shrike, in Northern Ireland, not far from Lough Foyle, and commanded by Acting Lieutenant Commander Ransford Slater. He took command in July 1942 and worked up the squadron at Thorney Island until March 1943 when it was based at Machrihanish.

Lieutenant Commander Slater

Slater had personally led the squadron's 'A' flight in the first attachment to MV Empire MacAlpine in April 1943 and he was the only regular Royal Navy officer in the unit, all others being wartime RNVR. Slater had recognised from the outset that successful operations required the aircrew and ships crew to work together as a team. That was potentially a problem since the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy had widely differing working practices and traditions.

"During the weeks of training, Slater was in his element. His leadership was evident in every aspect. His skill in unlocking the secrets of how to land on a floating postage-stamp were passed on to his pilots, while, at the same time, he made the team feel that their contribution to the success of the enterprise was vital.."

One thing he arranged was that the air party on the ships signed ships articles and hence placed themselves under the orders of the Ship's Master. For this they were supposed to receive one shilling per month and a bottle of beer per day. They got the beer - seven bottles every Sunday. It also entitled them to wear the small silver 'MN' lapel badge on their uniforms, which caused not a little upset with more traditional senior RN officers. Another of Slater's rules for the squadron was that flight commanders must have completed a full round trip under another flight commander before being eligible to take over.

The squadron operated the Fairey Swordfish Mark II and they were painted all white (apparently the best camouflage for daylight flight over water). Some flights got carried away and replaced the Royal Navy legend on the rear fuselage with Merchant Navy - to the consternation of some observers. With a flight for each of 19 ships, plus a few spare flights for training and relief, the squadron eventually grew to a strength of 91 aircraft, certainly a Fleet Air Arm record and probably a world one. Slater was awarded the military OBE for his efforts, particularly for landing on a MAC ship carrying 2 depth-charges after his arrester hook had been torn away. He was killed by flying into powerlines near Derry on 28th June 1944.

Some of the crews and aircraft were lent to 816 Naval Air Squadron during the middle of 1944. 816 NAS were based at Perranporth Airfield and carried out anti-submarine patrols under the control of Coastal Command. The loan was due to the expected increase of U-Boat activity in the Channel area as a result of the D-Day landings.

After VE-Day, 836 squadron was disbanded in July 1945.

Aircraft operated

Commanding Officers

See also

• List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

Bibliography

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