RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet)

Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station (RAF Eglinton) in 1941, before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm in May 1943.

RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet)
Station AAF-344
Eglinton, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland
RNAS Eglinton is located in Northern Ireland
RNAS Eglinton
RNAS Eglinton
Shown within Northern Ireland
RNAS Eglinton is located in the United Kingdom
RNAS Eglinton
RNAS Eglinton
RNAS Eglinton (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates55°02′35″N 007°09′34″W
TypeParent Station
CodeQN
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Navy
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command 1941-42
* No. 13 Group RAF
USAAF 1942-43
Fleet Air Arm
Site history
Built1940 (1940)/41
Built byStewart Partners Ltd
In useApril 1941 - September 1966 (1966)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
Cold War
Airfield information
Elevation8 metres (26 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
00/00  Tarmac
00/00  Tarmac
00/00  Tarmac

The airfield was operational between 1941 and 1966.

History

RAF Eglinton use

The Royal Naval Air Station has its origins in the early Second World War when in 1941 RAF Eglinton was established as the home to No. 133 Squadron RAF which flew Hawker Hurricane fighters in defence of Londonderry. In 1942 the airfield was occupied by No. 41 Squadron RAF when it moved in on 22 September flying the Supermarine Spitfire VB before moving to RAF Llanbedr on 20 September 1942. The station was briefly used by the United States Army Air Forces between 1942 and 1943, it was then allocated to the Royal Navy and the airfield became a Fleet Air Arm airfield called RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) and was home to the 1847 Naval Air Squadron which provided convoy air cover as part of the Battle of the Atlantic.

RNAS Eglinton use

RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) was the name assigned to RNAS Eglinton, a Fleet Air Arm airfield in Northern Ireland. A number of ships have borne the name HMS Gannet.

The air station's main function was to work up fighter squadrons' pilots before joining the attacks on Japan. RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) with Fairey Swordfish aircraft next door to Eglinton received Battle Honours for its role in the Battle of the Atlantic from 1943 until 1945. Its commanding officer was Commander Thomas Jameson.[2]

April 1959 saw RNAS Eglinton close and the squadrons moved to RAF Ballyhalbert and RAF Ballykelly. In 1989 the married quarter estate comprising 78 houses located in Fraser Avenue and Mill Path in the nearby village of Eglinton were sold to a Roger Byron-Collins company who also acquired the officers married quarters in nearby RAF Ballykelly in 2009.

Posted units

A number of units were here at some point:[3][4]

Carrier Air Groups

Training Air Groups

A number of RAF squadrons were here at some point:[5]

A number of units were here at some point:[3]

Current use

The current RNAS Eglinton site is now used by the City of Derry Airport in County Londonderry with HMS Gannet a Fleet Air Arm base established in 1971 at RNAS Prestwick in Ayrshire.[3]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Falconer 2012, p. 89.
  2. "News things". Londonderry Sentinel. 20 May 1958. p. 2. Retrieved 29 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Eglinton (Derry City) (Londonderry)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  4. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 1.
  5. Jefford 1988, p. 159.
  6. Lake 1999, p. 91.

Bibliography
  • Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
  • Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
  • Lake, A (1999). Flying units of the RAF. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
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