RAF Castletown
| RAF Castletown | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Castletown, Caithness, Scotland | |
 RAF Castletown
|
|
| Coordinates | 58°34′59″N 3°20′28″W / 58.583°N 3.341°W |
| Type | Royal Air Force station |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Air Ministry |
| Controlled by |
 Royal Air Force
|
| Site history | |
| Built | 1939 |
| In use | 1940-1945 |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
| Events | Battle of Britain & Defence of Scapa Flow |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison |
RAF Fighter Command RAF Coastal Command |
| Occupants |
No. 13 Group RAF No. 18 Group RAF |
Royal Air Force station Castletown or more simply RAF Castletown is a former Royal Air Force station that operated during the Second World War. Built near to Castletown in Caithness, Scotland the station opened in 1940 and closed in 1945. Initially built to provide a base for fighter cover for the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, it later became an air-sea rescue base as well, before closing just after the end of the war in Europe.
At the outbreak of war, the only base available for local air defence of the hugely important Royal navy base at Scapa Flow was the naval airfield, RNAS Hatston. Hatston had no permanent aircraft allocation and was used by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) squadrons from the Home fleet aircraft carriers when they were at Scapa Flow. There were no RAF stations nearby and the Air Ministry took immediate steps to remedy this by requisitioning Wick Airport which became RAF Wick and by the end of September 1939 Blackburn Skua aircraft of 803 Squadron FAA were patrolling over Scapa. At the same time a site was sought for a second airfield. A site was chosen at Thurdistoft near Castletown and work began immediately on the construction of a new station, RAF Castletown.
Castletown officially opened on 28 May 1940 as a satellite of RAF Wick. Wick was then a station in 18 Group, Coastal Command though also serving as a sector headquarters for 13 Group in Fighter Command. On 7 June 1940, Castletown ceased to be a satellite of Wick and became an operational station of 13 Group. The new station itself had its own satellite at RAF Skitten, which opened in December 1940.
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