| 881 Naval Air Squadron VS 881 | |
|---|---|
  VS 881 badge (top) and 881 NAS badge (bottom) | |
| Active | Royal Navy 1 June 1941 – 27 October 1945 Royal Canadian Navy 1 May 1951 - 7 July 1959 |
| Country |  United Kingdom Canada |
| Branch |  Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy |
| Type | Single-seat fighter squadron |
| Role | Carrier-basedfighter squadron |
| Part of | Fleet Air Arm |
| Mottos | Ense constantor alato (Latin for 'Steadfastly with winged sword') |
| Aircraft | SeeAircraft operated section for full list. |
| Battle honours |
|
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge Description (RN) | Blue, a base water barry wavy of four white and blue a sword in pale white winged gold (1944)[1] |
| Squadron Badge Description (RCN) | Blue, in base two barulets wavy white over all a sword in pale point downwards of the second, pommel and hilt gold enfiling a coronet of Canada of the last and issuing in the base from behind the sword blade wings conjoined white (1955)[2] |
881 Naval Air Squadron (881 NAS) was aFleet Air Arm (FAA)naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’sRoyal Navy (RN), formed in June 1941. It served as a fighter squadron in theSecond World War, taking part in the Britishinvasion of Madagascar in 1942, in the Allied invasions ofNorthern France andSouthern France in 1944, also taking part in operations in theAegean Sea and off Norway before disbanding in October 1945.
The squadron was reformed within theRoyal Canadian Navy (RCN) as a carrier-based anti-submarine warfare squadron, when 826 Squadron RCN was renumbered 881 Squadron RCN in May 1951. It was later re designatedVS 881[a] in 1952 and subsequently disbanded in 1959 when it was merged with VS 880.
881 Naval Air Squadron was first formed atRNAS Lee-on-Solent on 1 June 1941 as a fleet fighter squadron equipped with sixGrumman Martlet I and IIs.[b] The squadron was intended to deploy aboard theaircraft carrierArk Royal, butArk Royal was sunk before the squadron could embark, and 880 Squadron was instead allocated toIllustrious. In March 1942, its strength now increased to nine aircraft, the squadron first embarked aboardIllustrious as the carrier set out for theIndian Ocean.[5] In May 1942, the squadron took part in theinvasion of Madagascar, providing fighter cover and carrying out during the initial attacks onDiego Suarez, shooting down twoPotez 63-11 reconnaissance bombers on 6 May and threeMorane-Saulnier MS 406 fighters on 7 May (for the loss of one Martlet) in the only air-to-air combats of the campaign.[6][7] On 19 May 1942,882 Naval Air Squadron, the other Martlet-equipped squadron aboardIllustrious, merged with 881 Squadron.[8] While the important port of Diego Suarez and environs were captured in May, the rest of Madagascar remained under Vichy French control, and on 10 September 1942, anoffensive to take the rest of the island, with an amphibious landing atMajunga.Illustrious' air wing, including 881 Squadron, covered the landings at Majunga on 10 September andTamatave on 17 September.[9]
881 Squadron disembarked fromIllustrious when the carrier returned to British waters in February 1943.[5] The squadron embarked on the carrierFurious in July 1943 as the carrier took part inHome Fleet sweeps off the coast of Norway to distract German attention from theAllied invasion of Sicily. The squadron claimed one German reconnaissance aircraft shot down during these operations.[6][10] The squadron re-equipped with Wildcat V fighters in August 1943 and embarked on theEscort carrierPursuer in November as the carrier worked up. In FebruaryPursuer escorted convoys between Britain andGibraltar, shooting down two German aircraft.[6][11] On 3 April 1944, 881 Squadron took part inOperation Tungsten, a carrier strike against the German battleshipTirpitz atKaafjord in the far north of Norway. 881 Squadron's Wildcats, together with those of 882,896 and898 Squadrons, theHellcats of800 and804 Squadrons and theCorsairs of1834 and1836 Squadrons, escorted the strike againstTirpitz.[12] Later that month,Pursuer, with 881 Squadron aboard, took parts in raids against shipping off the coast of Norway.[11][13][14]
In June 1944,Pursuer, with an airwing of 881 and 896 Squadrons, was deployed as part of the forces patrolling to protect the invasion forces during theInvasion of Normandy.[11][15] The squadron then deployed aboard the escort carrierFencer for Operation Wanderer, an anti-submarine sweep off the coast of Norway designed to make the Germans believe that an invasion of Norway was immanent, to discourage them from withdrawing troops to Normandy.[16] In July, the squadron re-embarked onPursuer which departed for the Mediterranean, taking part inOperation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France, in August 1944. The squadron's Wildcats were used for reconnaissance andartillery spotting, as well as fordive bombing andcombat air patrol duties during the invasion.[11] The squadron flew 180sorties over Southern France,[17] with three Wildcats being lost as a result of enemy fire, two due to running out of fuel and two as a result of landing accidents.[11] In September that year,Pursuer took part in Operation Outing, an offensive by the Royal Navy against German forces in theAegean Sea. 881 Squadron carried out attack and reconnaissance missions, sinking a number ofCaïques.[11]
Pursuer returned to Britain in October with 881 Squadron, and in November, 881 Squadron, operating fromPursuer, took part in a number of operations against German shipping in Norwegian waters, sinking the GermanVorpostenboot (patrol boat)V6413 offTrondheim on 14 November and escortingGrumman Avengers from the carrierPremier on amine-laying mission on 20 November.[18] From December 1944 to January 1945, detachments of the squadron operated from the carriersPremier andTrumpeter,[14] taking part in Operation Urbane, another carrier operation off Norway, in December, where they escorted minelaying and anti-shipping missions.[19] Operations off Norway continued through January and February.[14][20]
In March 1945, the squadron took passage onPursuer toCape Town, arriving in April. where it replaced its Wildcats withGrumman Hellcat fighters in preparation for joining the British Pacific Fleet. The end of the year interrupted the squadron's work-up with its new aircraft, and it was disbanded on 27 October 1945.[14]
The squadron was re-formed as an anti-submarine squadron of theRoyal Canadian Navy on 1 May 1951, when, as part of a renumbering ofCommonwealth Naval Air Squadrons,826 Squadron was renumbered 881 Squadron. The squadron, equipped withGrumman TBM-3E Avengers, had a shore base ofHCMSShearwater, a Canadian Naval airbase atDartmouth, Nova Scotia, and regularly deployed aboard the Canadian aircraft carrierMagnificent. In November 1952, the squadron adopted the US Navy-like styling of VS 881 for its designation.[14] In March 1955, a flight of four Avengers equipped forAirborne Early Warning was added, but in practice, the AEW Avengers were used to locate surface targets for the squadron's regular anti-submarine aircraft.[14][21] The squadron re-equipped withGrumman CS2F-1 Trackers in February–March 1957, starting operations on Canada's new carrier,Bonaventure, later that year. On 7 July 1959, VS 881 was disbanded when it was merged withVS 880, with the combined unit operating under the VS 880 designation.[14][22]
The squadron has operated a number of different aircraft types when under the command of the Royal Navy, then subsequently the Royal Canadian Navy, including:[2]
The followingBattle Honours have been awarded to 881 Naval Air Squadron.[23]
List ofcommanding officers of 881 Naval Air Squadron.[2]
Note: Abbreviation (A) signifies Air Branch of the RN or RNVR.[25]
List of commanding officers of 881 Squadron RCN, VS 881:[2]
