Royal Navy Fleet fighter squadron (1940-1941) 808 Naval Air Squadron was formed at
RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), Hampshire, on 1 July 1940, flying twelve
Fairey Fulmar reconnaissance/fighter aircraft, in the role of a Fleet Fighter squadron, under the command of Lieutenant H.E.R. Torin, RN.
Battle of Britain They were initially assigned to the
Isle of Man to carry out patrols over the
Irish Sea, but were soon transferred to
Wick for the defence of the dockyards, the safeguarding the Royal Navy's primary operational base during wartime at
Scapa Flow. Following this, the squadron was reassigned to
RAF Fighter Command and was one of only two Allied naval aviation squadrons to take part in the
Battle of Britain, the other being
804 Naval Air Squadron.
Ark Royal In September 1940, the squadron was assigned to the
aircraft carrier, , which was part of the Royal Navy formation,
Force H, operating in the
Mediterranean. The squadron shot down two enemy aircraft in an attack on
Sardinia in November, followed by another two in operations over
Sicily in January 1941, and a fifth while defending
Malta in May. The carrier was reassigned to the
Atlantic in late May, as part of the hunt for the . Following the successful
sinking of the Bismarck, the carrier returned to the Mediterranean, with
807 and 808 Squadrons claiming fifteen aerial kills during July and August. 808 Squadron was embarked when
Ark Royal was
torpedoed and sunk by the on 13 November 1941. Although all of the squadron personnel survived the sinking, many of the aircraft were lost in the attack: the surviving aircraft were flown from
Ark Royal before the carrier sank and on arrival in
Gibraltar were merged with the survivors of 807 Naval Air Squadron, which had also been embarked.
Fleet fighter squadron (1942-1945) 808 Naval Air Squadron reformed at
RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin),
Fife, on 1 January 1942, with six Fairey Fulmar Mk II aircraft, the squadron rapidly relocated to
RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture), Cornwall,
RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), Somerset and
RNAS Belfast (HMS Gadwall), County Antrim, before boarding the
escort carrier in September, subsequently disembarking at
RNAS Stretton (HMS Blackcap), Cheshire.
Convoy protection In December 1942, nine
Supermarine Seafire L Mk.IIc fighter aircraft were introduced, followed by a series of relocations to various shore bases, including
RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II), Somerset,
RAF Peterhead, Aberdeenshire,
RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail), Argyll and Bute and RNAS St Merryn (HMS
Vulture), before briefly operating from the , in April 1943. Between May and June 1943, while stationed at RNAS Yeovilton and later
RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh, a detachment of four aircraft was deployed aboard HMS
Battler as 'A' Flight to escort a
convoy to Gibraltar. The purpose was to offer protection for convoy OS.49/KMS.16, which departed from
Liverpool on 4 June. On 10 June, two Supermarine Seafire aircraft from 808 'A' Flight were lost. During the return journey to the United Kingdom, HMS
Battler served as an extra escort for convoy XK.9, which left Gibraltar on 22 June. This convoy attracted increased attention from the
Luftwaffe, resulting in two Supermarine Seafire fighters from 808 'A' Flight downing a
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor on 22 June. The entire squadron was then deployed on the carrier for operations in the Mediterranean in July 1943, supporting the
Salerno landings. Upon returning home in
sister ship , the squadron integrated into the
3rd Naval Fighter Wing, focusing on training for close support operations at
RNAS Burscough (HMS Ringtail),
Lancashire.
D-Day The Squadron was re-equipped in May 1944 at
RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) with 20
Supermarine Seafire L Mk.III. At the same time, they were attached to No. 345 Reconnaissance Wing of the Royal Air Force
Second Tactical Air Force. While part of this wing, 808 Naval Air Squadron, along with three other
FAA squadrons (
885,
886 and
897 Naval Air Squadrons) and also two RAF squadrons (
26 and
63 Squadrons), plus the
United States Navy (USN) artillery observation aircraft squadron
VCS-7, flying
Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb fighters, provided valuable target coordinates and fire control for RN and USN
battleships and
cruisers, during 20 days of operations during the
Normandy Landings. On D-Day, "pooling" of the spotting units' aircraft meant that all units flew either Spitfires or Seafires. This role of "spotters" lasted until 26 June, by which time the fighting was too far inland to be covered by the ship's guns.
East Indies fleet The squadron relocated to
RNAS Ballyhalbert,
County Down, where it underwent re-equipment with twenty-four
Grumman Hellcat fighter aircraft in October. An American
carrier-based fighter aircraft, these were the F6F-3, which had the
Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine and the F6F-5 with the R-2800-10W engine, designated Hellcat F. Mk. I and F. Mk. II respectively by the Fleet Air Arm. In January 1945, it embarked in the , and proceeded to integrate into the
East Indies Fleet, with the squadron disembarking to
RNAS Katukurunda (HMS Ukussa),
Ceylon, on the 7 February. In April, aerial patrols, reconnaissance, and maritime assaults were conducted during operations near
Malaya and
Sumatra, with four aircraft temporarily deployed on sister ship for a strike mission. During
Operation Sunfish, 808 Naval Air Squadron, operating from HMS
Khedive, accomplished a total of one hundred and thirteen sorties, of which eighty-two were expedited, accumulating a total of 203 hours and 49 minutes of flight time. The detachment aboard HMS
Emperor logged 52 hours and 35 minutes of flight time. The squadron experienced losses of four Grumman Hellcats due to deck mishaps, resulting in the fatalities of two pilots. In terms of enemy losses, four aircraft were destroyed in aerial engagements, with one additional aircraft classified as probable and two others sustaining damage. Furthermore, five enemy aircraft were reported damaged on the ground. The squadron was formally recommissioned on 11 July 2013. In April 2022, the RAN ceased flying the MRH90 and the fleet was placed into storage. After the MRH90 were retired, 808 Squadron was re-rolled to operate MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. == Aircraft flown ==