811 Naval Air Squadron

811 Naval Air Squadron
A Grumman Martlet fighter of 811 Squadron lands on HMS Biter after a successful action against a German Junkers Ju 290, February 1944.
Active	1933–1939 1941–1944 1945–1947 1955–1956
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
Role	Torpedo-bomber / fighter squadron
Motto(s)	Ventre à mer
Aircraft flown	Blackburn Ripon Blackburn Baffin Fairey Swordfish Hawker Sea Hurricane Vought Chesapeake Avro 652 Grumman Martlet de Havilland Sea Mosquito Hawker Sea Hawk
Battle honours	English Channel 1942 North Sea 1942 Atlantic 1943–44 Arctic 1944

811 Naval Air Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was first founded in 1933, and served during World War II, seeing action in the battle of the Atlantic and on Russian convoys, and was eventually disbanded in 1956.

The squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 by amalgamating No. 465 and No. 466 Fleet Torpedo Flights, and served aboard the aircraft carrier Furious in the Home Fleet. Initially equipped with the Blackburn Ripon Mk.II, these were replaced in January 1935 with the Blackburn Baffin, which were in turn replaced by the Fairey Swordfish Mk.I in October 1936. In December 1938 the Furious was paid off, and the next year 811 Squadron was assigned to her sister ship Courageous. The squadron lost much of its personnel and all of its aircraft when Courageous was sunk by a U-boat on 17 September 1939, and the survivors of 811 and 812 squadrons were reformed into 815 Naval Air Squadron.

811 Squadron was reformed in July 1941 at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), near Portsmouth, as a torpedo-bomber reconnaissance squadron, and was equipped with two Sea Hurricanes and fourteen American Vought SB2U Vindicators, which the British called the "Chesapeake". The squadron also received two former civilian Avro 652s (the precursor to the Avro Anson) which they operated until March 1942. The Chesapeake's were part of an order originally placed by the French Navy in March 1940, but after the fall of France the order was taken over by the British. The aircraft were fitted with an additional fuel tank and armour, and the single French 7.5 mm Darne machine gun was replaced by four British machine guns. It was intended that they be used as anti-submarine patrol aircraft operating from the escort carrier Archer, but it was soon realised that the Chesapeake lacked the power to fly from such a small vessel while carrying a useful load, and they were reassigned to training squadrons in November 1941, and the squadron received Swordfish Mk.2's as replacements.