1790 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy was formed on 1 January 1945 at RNAS Burscough as a night fighter squadron. It was initially equipped with the Fairey Firefly I, replaced in May 1945 by the Firefly INF, which was fitted with a US-derived ASV radar. The squadron joined HMS Vindex on 24 June, bound for Australia, with the ship arriving at HMS Nabthorpe (the Mobile Naval Air Base at RAAF Station Schofields) 2 days before the war in the Far East ended. The squadron was disbanded on 3 June 1946 at Devonport.
Famous quotes containing the words naval, air and/or squadron:
“It is now time to stop and to ask ourselves the question which my last commanding officer, Admiral Hyman Rickover, asked me and every other young naval officer who serves or has served in an atomic submarine. For our Nation M for all of us M that question is, “Why not the best?””
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out “Olivia!” O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.”
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“Well gentlemen, this is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for. Tonight your target is Tokyo. And you’re gonna play ‘em the Star Spangled Banner with two-ton bombs. All you’ve got to do is to remember what you’ve learned and follow your squadron leaders. They’ll get you in, and they’ll get you out. Any questions? All right that’s all. Good luck to you. Give ‘em hell.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)