#846CU 801 NAS Sea Harrier FRS1 & Sea Harrier F/A2
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 846 - Sea Harrier FRS1 XZ493 & Sea harrier F/A2 ZH796, 801 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Yeovilton.
801 Naval Air Squadron first formed in May 1933 and between then and 1944 flew Hawker Nimrod, Hawker Osprey, Blackburn Roc, Blackburn Skua, Sea Hurricane and Seafire aircraft. Although equipped for a variety of tasks, most missions were in the role of fighter or fighter-bomber with the Squadron operating in the East Atlantic and North Sea areas. In 1944, the Squadron sailed in HMS IMPLACABLE for Australia and 801 flew in the Far East for the remainder of World War Two returning home in 1946 to disband. The Squadron re-commissioned in July 1947 and was equipped with Sea Hornets and Firebrands. In 1950, 801 re-equipped with Sea Furies and took part in the Korean War embarked in HMS GLORY. The Squadrons first jet aircraft, the Sea Hawk, arrived in 1955 and these were flown until 1962 when 801 reformed as a two-seater squadron with Buccaneers. These were flown from HMS ARK ROYAL, HMS VICTORIOUS and HMS HERMES prior to disbanding in 1970. The Squadron was inactive until February 1981 when 801 became the first fully operational Sea Harrier FRS1 squadron aboard HMS INVINCIBLE. The normal complement of five aircraft was considerably increased during Operation Corporate (the Falklands conflict) in 1982 when 801 destroyed eight Argentine aircraft and claimed a further two as “probables”. 801’s shore base became RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset. 801 Squadron converted to the Sea Harrier F/A2 in October 1994 taking these aircraft aboard HMS ILLUSTRIOUS to the Adriatic as part of the combined force in Operation Deny Flight over the former Yugoslavia. In recent years the Squadron has been deployed aboard HMS INVINCIBLE and HMS ILLUSTRIOUS most notably to the Gulf as part of Operation Bolton and Sierra Leone in 2000 in support of Operation Palliser. The Squadron flew its last embarked sortie as a Sea Harrier Squadron on HMS ILLUSTRIOUS on 28 February 2006. The Squadron de-commissioned from service on 31 march 2006 and is expected to reform at RAF Cottesmore as a Harrier GR7 squadron on 1 October 2006.