809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) disbanded in December of 1982, 9 months after a Squadron of Sea Harriers had been formed to fly from HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes at the height of the Falklands conflict. In early August of 1982 the Squadron sailed on the newly commissioned HMS Illustrious providing air defence for Port Stanley while the airport was upgraded to accept RAF Phantoms. Fast forward 41 years and we see will see 809 NAS re-commissioned as the second frontline F-35B Lightning Squadron based at RAF Marham. A commissioning ceremony will take place at the end of this week to officially stand-up the Squadron.
809 NAS was originally formed in 1941 at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) St Merryn flying Fairey Fulmars embarking in HMS Victorious in July of that year. 809 NAS were retrained on the Supermarine Seafire and went on to fly in Italy, North Africa, France, Burma, Malaya and Sumatra before being disbanded in 1946.
In 1949 they re-formed at RNAS Culdrose equipped with the De Havilland Sea Hornet. The unit was briefly seconded to RAF Coltishall, in Norfolk, before a posting to RAF Hal Far on Malta where is transitioned form the Sea Hornet to the De Havilland Sea Venom. 809 NAS disbanded again in 1959.
The Squadron briefly reformed in 1963 as the second frontline Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 Squadron, disbanding again just 2 years later with its role taken over by 736 NAS as RNAS Lossiemouth in Scotland.
Returning a year later in 1966 with the now Rolls-Royce Spey powered Buccaneer S.2, the squadron deployed on HMS Hermes for the next 2 years. In 1972, HMS Ark Royal and 809 NAS were dispatched to the North Atlantic to ‘show presence’ over British Honduras, now Belize, in the face of threats to invade Belize from neighbouring Guatemala. The Squadron disbanded in 1978.
In 1982, 8 Sea Harrier aircraft were brought together from storage, training and trials duties and pilots were called back from exchange programmes or found in the RAF Harrier Force to support the Falklands conflict. The Sea Harriers and their pilots were split between 800 and 801 Squadron’s but 809 NAS continued to work up to full operational status.
809 NAS will now fly the F-35B Lightning aircraft as the second frontline Squadron alongside 617 Squadron and will be jointly manned by Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel operating from its home base at RAF Marham in Norfolk.
