Air Sea Rescue (1945-1946) 1701 Naval Air Squadron formed on 1 August 1945 as an Air Sea Rescue (ASR) squadron at
RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus),
Hampshire, England. It was initially equipped with six
Supermarine Sea Otter, an
amphibious maritime patrol and
air sea rescue aircraft, planned for operations in the
Pacific. The squadron personnel consisted
commanding officer Lieutenant(
A) L.F. Plant,
RNVR, six
pilots and six Telegraphist Air Gunners. In late March the initial six Supermarine Sea Otter were withdrawn and replaced with eight new ones, before the squadron travelled to
RNAS Belfast (HMS Gadwall),
Belfast, Northern Ireland, where it prepared for embarking on the , for passage to the Pacific for operations with the
British Pacific Fleet. 1701 Naval Air Squadron personnel and aircraft all embarked in HMS
Begum on 17 April, and sailed from the
Clyde, via
Gibraltar,
Suez Canal,
Colombo and arrived at
Manus Island in the
Admiralty Islands. which was home to
Mobile Naval Air Base No. IV (MONAB IV) to which the Flight became attached to providing air sea rescue duties. On 15 June, ’A’ flight disembarked from HMS
Begum to
RNAS Maryborough (HMS Nabstock),
Maryborough, Queensland Australia, which was where Mobile Naval Air Base No. VI (MONAB VI) was situated. Here the flight provided air sea rescue operations and also provided a detachment of two aircraft to
RNAS Bankstown (HMS Nabberley),
Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia. On 1 November 'A' Flight left RNAS Maryborough for the final time, relocating to Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No. 1 (TAMY 1) at
RNAMY Archerfield (HMS Nabsford),
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, to prepare for redeployment to
Hong Kong. Following the
surrender of Japan, RNAS Ponum, on Manus, was beginning to rundown to closure with everything preparing to move to Australia. On 3 October 1945 ‘B’ flight was embarked in the
Ruler-class escort carrier for Hong Kong. On 4 November 'A' Flight left Australia for Hong Kong to rejoin the rest of the squadron, embarked in the . The airfield at Kai Tak was a joint Royal Navy /
Royal Air Force (RAF) station, the RN (West) side of the station housed Mobile Naval Air Base No. VIII (MONAB VIII). Here the squadron reverted to second-line duties. Between 17 - 31 December it provided a detachment in the
Attacker-class escort carrier . In April the following year the squadron received an
Airspeed Oxford, a twin-engine multi-role
training aircraft, and this was joined by a
de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainer aircraft, in July. 1701 Naval Air Squadron disbanded on 27 August 1946, its Supermarine Sea Otter aircraft were absorbed into
721 Naval Air Squadron, the resident Fleet Requirements Unit, as an ASR flight. == Aircraft flown ==