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820 Naval Air Squadron
Organisation / Units & Squadrons

820 Naval Air Squadron

820 Naval Air Squadron is the airborne unit dedicated to protecting the carrier strike groups of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales: the Royal Navy’s awe-inspiring new breed of aircraft carrier.

Role

The squadron is led by Commander Karen Snel and operates the Merlin Mk2 helicopter in two roles, for anti-submarine warfare or for airborne surveillance and control. It means the aircraft can protect the carriers and their support ships from threats in the air, on the surface, and below the water. 

The anti-submarine warfare aircraft are armed with torpedoes and the crews use sonobuoys and dipping sonar to locate and track potentially hostile submarines. The surveillance aircraft fly high above the strike group and use powerful radars to look ‘beyond the horizon’ for possible threats.

Based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, 820 Naval Air squadron is one of the most prestigious and the oldest serving squadron in the Fleet Air Arm.

Merlin helicopter

Unit history

1933

Inception

820 NAS was formed in 1933, when the RAF transferred several Fairey III aircraft from its 405 Flight to the Royal Navy.
1934

Early years

Originally attached to HMS Courageous on reconnaissance duties, 820 NAS was reassigned to HMS Ark Royal IV which would be its home for much of the legendary carrier’s three-year career.
1940

Battle honours

820 NAS bombed German airfields in the Norway Campaign 1940-41 and Spartivento 1940.
1941

Battle honours

Most famously, 820 was responsible for crippling the pride of Hitler’s Kriegsmarine in the famous engagement with the Bismarck (nemesis of the Hood) in 1941.
1943

Battle honours

Re-equipped with Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers, the squadron supported the Allied landings in North Africa (sinking the U-boat which had destroyed HMS Barham), Sicily and Salerno.
1945

Battle honours

In the final months of the War, 820's Avengers struck at the oil refineries of Palembang and the heart of the Japanese Empire before HMS Indefatigable brought the unit home in 1946. 820 NAS was disbanded in the same year.
1951

Reformation and revolution

The squadron re-formed five years later, first with fixed-wing aircraft (Fireflies, Avengers and Gannets) before the decision was taken to convert to helicopters.
1957

Anti-submarine warfare

In December 1957, 820’s association with anti-submarine warfare began. Whirlwinds, Wessex and Sea Kings formed the cutting edge in the war against the underwater threat.
1982

Battle honours

The squadron’s most recent battle honour was earned in the Falklands, where its aircrew flew more than 4,700 hours during the campaign to re-take the South Atlantic islands.
2003

The era of the Merlin

820 welcomed the Merlin Mk 2 helicopter which is the mainstay of Britain’s anti-submarine defence.

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