701 (Catapult) Flight formed in Jul 1936 at Kalafrana in Malta. After service in WWII when it disbanded at Beirut in Aug 1943, it reformed in Apr 1945 as a communications unit at the old Fairey works at Heath Row - later to become famous as London Heathrow (EGLL/LHR).
It reformed on 31 Oct 1957 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent for Ships Flights, Trials, Fleet Requirements, SAR and Communications duties in the Portsmouth area. It parented at least 6 Ships units: A Flight on HMS Eagle, B Flight on HMS Ark Royal, C Flight on HMS Victorious from Nov 1957, then HMS Albion from Jul 1958, D Flight on HMS Bulwark, P Flight on HMS Protector and V Flight on HMS Vidal.
During its short rotary wing career, 701 Squadron produced a number of firsts: it towed the minesweeper HMS Burnaston (M1116) with its Whirlwind winch gear and also towed a glider aloft. It disbanded on 23 Sep 1958, dispersing its airframes directly to the respective Ships Flights.
During its short rotary wing career, 701 Squadron produced a number of firsts: it towed the minesweeper HMS Burnaston (M1116) with its Whirlwind winch gear and also towed a glider aloft. It disbanded on 23 Sep 1958, dispersing its airframes directly to the respective Ships Flights.
I joined 701 Squadron summer of 1956 we had 2 Hillers, approx 8 Whirlwinds and about the same Dragonflys. The Duke of Edinburgh Whirlwind was based in the 701 hanger painted navy blue, the number was 528. The rescue net was invented by one of our pilots and tested using volonteers as bait getting picked up and flown back to the hardstanding. I moved from Lee to the Dragonfly SAR flight at Brawdy 1957
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701 NAS List of helicopters |
C/N | Version | Built | In this Org | In other Org | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
wa/h/039 w/o 1960 | hr.3 | 1952 | WG669 : 701Sq/719 by Jan 1958; 705Sq/530 by Oct 1958, crashed Predannack 9 Jun 196+ | ||||
wa/h/041 | hr.3 | 1952 | WG671 : to Lee Aug 1957 for conv to HR.5; 701 Sq / 720 by Nov 1957; 705Sq / 531 + | ||||
wa/h/070 | hr.3 | 1953 | WN493 : 701 Sq / 721 by May 1958; 705 Sq Sep 1958, 705 Sq / 532 by Jan 1050; SAR F+ | ||||
wa/h/086 w/o 1959 | hr.3 | 1953 | WP501 : 701 Sq V Flt/705 on HMS Vidal by Feb 1958, ditched on take-off from HMS Vi+ | ||||
wa 1 | har.1 | 1952 | XA862 : f/f 12nov52 as Srs.1 G-AMJT;
f/f 01aug53 as HAR.1;
705 Sq Oct 1954, 705 S+ | ||||
wa 6 Scrapped | har.1 | 1954 | XA866 : to Gosport Aug 1954, to Sembawang for RN and RAF hot weather trials (both + | - XA866 | |||
wa 16 | har.1 | 1954 | XA870 : 701 Sq Protector Flt / 911 by Oct 1955, recoded /991 c Sep 1956 to c May 1+ | XA870 XA870 | |||
wa 72 Scrapped | har3 | 1956 | XG577 : assigned to 701 NAS C Flt on HMS Victorious, late Oct 1957 for short duty. : assigned to 701 NAS B Flt on HMS Ark Royal, mid Nov 1957 until c Jul 1958 | ||||
wa 73 w/o 1961 | har3 | 1956 | XG578 708-V : to 701 NAS C Flt by Nov 1957. | ||||
wa 76 w/o 1958 | har3 | 1955 | XG581 : 21 Jan 1958 while operating from HMS Bulwark with 701 NAS, damaged landing+ | ||||
wa 80 w/o 1965 | har3 | 1956 | XG585 : 845 NAS / T by May 1957; Eagle SAR Flt / 973-J by Sep 1957, became 701 Sq+ | XG585 | |||
wa 63 w/o 1964 | har3 | 1955 | XJ399 : 701 Sq P (HMS Protector) Flt by Sep 1955, until c mid Oct 1955 : 701 Sq C Flt (Lee) by Nov 1957. | ||||
wa 66 Scrapped | har.5 | 1955 | XJ402 : 701 Sq / 723 by Jun 1958; 771Sq / 751-PO Jul 1961 still by Sep 1963, cond+ | XJ402 | |||
wa157 w/o 1960 | has7 | 1957 | XK910 : 845Sq /A by Sep 1957 to Jan 1958; 820Sq /321 /W by Jan 1958 to May 1958;+ | ||||
wa163 | has7 | 1957 | XK936 : to 701 NAS, mid May 1958 and with C Flt for HMS Albion by Jun. | - XK936 |