851 Naval Air Squadron

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History 
1. October 1943 851 NAS formed at NAS Squantum MA, USA
7. October 1945 851 NAS disbanded at RNAS Gourock
3 August 1954  851 NAS reformed at NAS Nowra, Australia
13 January 1958 851 NAS disbanded at NAS Nowra, Australia
2 September 1968 851 NAS reformed at NAS Nowra, Australia
1970 851 NAS redesignated VC-851
31 August 1984 VC-851 disbanded at NAS Nowra, Australia

Planes:
  Oct 1943 - 1945
Avenger I 		 

 

   
  Apr 1944 - Feb 1945
Wildcat V		  

 

   
  Aug 1954 - Jan 1958
Firefly AS.5		    
  Aug 1954 - Jan 1958
Dakota C-47A		  

 

   
  Sep 1968 - 1973
Dakota C-47A		  

 

   
  Sep 1968 - Dec 1983
Tracker S-2E		    
  Jun 1973 - Aug 1984
HS748		  

 

   
  Apr 1977 - Dec 1983
Tracker S-2G		    
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851 NAS Deployments 
         
         
         
         
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851 NAS Commanding Officers 
L/C(A) AM Tuke, DSC, RN  Oct 1943 Sep 1944
L/C(A) MT Fuller, DSC, RNVR Sep 1944 1945
Lt-Cdr D.C. Johns 3 Aug 1954 3 Aug 1956
Lt-Cdr M.E. Scott 3 Aug 1956 12 Aug 1957
Lt-Cdr J.M.Wade-Brown 12 Aug 1957 13 Jan 1958
Lt-Cdr R.R.M. Lea 2 Sep 1968 20 Apr 1970
Lt-Cdr H.C.D. Findlay 20 Apr 1970 9 Dec 1971
Lt-Cdr J.L. Clarke 9 Dec 1971 15 Jan 1973
Lt-Cdr R.V. Morritt 15 Jan 1973 19 Apr 1973
Lt-Cdr J.D. Campbell 19 Apr 1973 15 Jan 1975
Lt-Cdr T.A. Burdorf 15 Jan 1975 19 Jul 1976
Lt-Cdr C.W. Talbot 19 Jul 1976 4 Oct 1976
Lt-Cdr P.O. Hamon 4 Oct 1976 4 Apr 1977
Lt-Cdr A.P. Adams 4 Apr 1977 20 Feb 1978
Lt-Cdr R.E.N. Geale, MBE 20 Feb 1978 20 Jan 1980
Lt-Cdr C.W. Talbot 20 Jan 1980 13 Jul 1981
Lt-Cdr T.A. Peck 13 Jul 1981 14 Jan 1983
Lt-Cdr J.W. Dalgliesh 14 Jan 1983 8 Apr 1984
Lt-Cdr D.R.A. Scott 8 Apr 1984 4 Jun 1984
Lt-Cdr R.P. Scovell 4 Jun 1984 31. Aug 1984
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History 

851 NAS originated as a Royal Navy torpedo/ bomber/ reconnaissance squadron forming in October 1943 at Squantum, USA. The Squadron served aboard HMS Shah in the Indian Ocean adding a fighter flight to its complement in April 1944. Shah returned to Britain with 851 NAS embarked, following the Japanese surrender in September 1945, where the Squadron subsequently disbanded.
851 NAS re-commissioned at Naval Air Station (NAS) Nowra on 3 August 1954 under the command of Lieutenant Commander (later Captain) Digby Johns, a Korean War veteran who had served with 808 Squadron aboard HMAS Sydney. Flying Fairey Firefly AS-5s and Douglas C-47A Dakotas, the Squadron's main responsibilities were training pilots and observers for the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm's (RAN FAA) front-line Firefly squadrons (816 and 817 NAS). The Dakotas were primarily used as observation aircraft but also performed communications and transport duties, and sometimes carried VIPs and dignitaries such as the Duke of Edinburgh and Lord Mountbatten.
The Squadron would lose four of its members in two separate accidents in a relatively short period of time. Sub Lieutenant A. Arundel, RN, and Midshipman Noel Fogarty were killed on 27 November 1956 when their Firefly collided with another 851 Squadron Firefly near Jervis Bay. The crew of the other aircraft were uninjured. Just four months later on 19 March 1957, Sub Lieutenant Warren Brown and Midshipman Ian Caird were killed while conducting navigational exercises when their Firefly crashed into Saddle Back Mountain in NSW.
In spite of its allotted training role, 851 NAS embarked in Sydney for two weeks in March 1956 travelling to Brisbane. However, with the decision to operate just one carrier instead of two as originally planned, the need for 851 Squadron declined and the unit de-commissioned at NAS Nowra on 13 January 1958.

  

- Has anyone more Informations about this Squadron -

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last update 1. Februay 2013

written 1. March 2011

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