Organisation of British Naval Aviation 1919-39
Post 13 RNAS stays with RN. Thought I actually had it in post 1. Took several read throughs to find it myself.
That sort of makes this redundant, but come along lemming, over the cliff you go.
This is an organisational survey of British Naval Aviation from the early 1920s until 1939. Please can you do one for your RNAS.
In the early 1920s the RAF had 6 Naval Co-operation squadrons, 4 of which operated carrier aircraft. In numerical order they were:
No. 3 Squadron, formed 1st October 1921 (from a flight of No. 205 Squadron)
No. 203 formed on 1st March 1920
No. 205 formed on 15th April 1920
No. 210 formed on 1st February 1920 renumbering No. 186 (Development) Squadron which in turn was formed on 31.12.18
No. 230 formed on 20th August 1918
No. 267 formed on 27th September 1918
On 31st March 1923 the 6 squadrons were disbanded and replaced by 12 flights numbered in the 400-499 Series as follows:
No. 203 squadron became Nos. 401 and 402 (Fleet Fighter) Flights
No. 3 Squadron became Nos. 420, 421 and 422 (Fleet Spotter) Flights
No. 205 Squadron became Nos. 440, 441 and 442 (Fleet Reconnaissance) Flights
No. 210 Squadron became Nos. 460 and 461 (Fleet Torpedo) Flights
No. 230 Squadron became No. 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight
No. 267 Squadron became No. 481 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight
Thus there were 10 flights of carrier aircraft with an establishment of 6 aircraft each. A total of 60 aircraft.
5 more flights were created during the course of the 1923/24 financial year for a total of 15 with 90 aircraft. The new flights were Nos. 403, 404, 423, 443 and 462.
The 400 Series flights became the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force at the begining of the 1924/25 financial year. Another 3 flights were formed during the course of the year bringing it up to 18 flights with 108 aircraft. The new flights were Nos. 405, 406 and 444.
There was no further expansion until the 1927-28 financial year when 5 new flights were formed. They were Nos. 407, 445, 446, 463 and 464. Thus the FAA had 23 flights with 138 aircraft on 31st March 1928.
Only one new flight was formed (No. 408) was formed in the 1928-29 financial year. This brough the FAA up to 24 flights and 144 aircraft on 1st March 1929.
No flights were formed in the 1929-30 financial year, but the Fleet Spotter and Fleet Reconnaissance categories were merged to create a new one called Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance (FSR). The existing FR flights retained their numbers but the 4 FS flights became Nos 447-450 (FSR) Flights.
Nos. 465 and 446 (FT) Flights were formed in the 1930-31 financial year and No. 409 (FF) Flight was formed in the 1931-32 financial year. Therefore the FAA had 27 flights with 162 aircraft on 31st March 1932. However, 6 of the flights became catapult flights operating from battleships and cruisers around about 1930.
Meanwhile the number of Coastal Reconnaissance Flights had been expanded from 2 to 5. In January 1929 they became squadrons numbered in the 200-299 Series but with no increase in strength.
There was a major reorganisation of the FAA on 03.04.33 when 21 of the 27 flights were re-organised into 12 squadrons numbered in the 800-899 series. The new squadrons were Nos 800-803 (FF), Nos 810-812 (FT) and Nos 820-824 (FSR). However, the total strengh of the FAA remained at 162 aircraft (126 in the 12 squadrons and 36 in the 6 catapult flights) on 31.03.34.
There was little expansion over the next 5 years. In 1934-35 two new flights were formed to bring 2 of the squadrons formed the previous finacial year up to full strength and No 824 Squadron was re-numbered No 825 Squadron. No 824 Sqadron was reformed in 1935-36, No 813 Squadron was formed in 1936-37 and No 814 Squadron was reformed in 1938-39.
Thus on 31st March 1939 there were 15 FAA squadrons, which should have had 9 to 12 aircraft each for a total of 174 aircraft. However, under Expansion Scheme F approved in February 1936 there should have been 26 squadrons with 312 aircraft.
Meanwhile No 445 flight was reformed in the 1935-36 financial year to become the seventh catapult flight. On 15th July 1936 they were reorganised into 11 flights numbered in the 701-720 Series. That is one per capital ship squadron, one per cruiser squadron and one for the NZ Division.
