RAN VF-805
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Patch
- Above patches provided by Phil Thompson, except for bottom middle provided by Gary Verver.
- Moto is "Over Sea and Sand"
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Handle
Heritage
- NOV 1940: Royal Navy establishes 805 Squadron at RAF Abukir in Egypt.
- 28 AUG 1948: WWII British Navy 805 Squadron transferred to the Australian Fleet Air Arm.
- 26 MAR 1958: RAN 805 Squadron disestablished.
- 31 MAR 1958: 805 Squadron reestablished.
- 30 JUN 1963: 805 Squadron disestablished.
- 10 JAN 1968: VF-805 reestablished.
- 02 JUL 1982: VF-805 disestablished.
- 24 NOV 2000: 805 Squadron reestablished.
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Home Ports
- NOV 1940: RAF Aerodrome at Abukir, Egypt.
- JAN 1941: Crete
- Post Crete: Egypt
- Prior to 28 AUG 1948: HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland
- 31 March 1958: NAS Nowra
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Air Wings
Deployments
- 28 DEC 1951: HMAS Sydney - Hawker Sea Fury - - Korean War
- 15 JAN 1952: HMAS Sydney
- 11 JAN 1953: HMAS Sydney
- 02 JUL 1953: HMAS Vengeance
- 05 NOV 1953: HMAS Sydney
- 25 MAY 1954: HMAS Sydney
- 27 AUG 1954: HMAS Sydney
- 30 JAN 1956: HMAS Sydney
- 20 NOV 1958: RANAS Mowra
- 09 FEB 1959: HMAS Melbourne
- 11 OCT 1959: HMAS Melbourne
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Aircraft
- 1940: Fairey Fulmars
- 1941: Brewster Bufflao
- JUN 1941: Grumman Martlett III
- Date Unknown: Seafires
- 1948: Hawker Sea Fury Mark11.
- 1958: De Havilland Sea Venoms Mark FAW53.
- 1968: A-4G Skyhawk
- 1968: TA-4G Skyhawk
- 2000: Kaman Super Sea Sprite Helicopter.
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Commanding Officers
- 28 AUG 1948: LCDR P.E. Bailey
- 11 NOV 1949: LCDR C.J. Cunnungham
- 23 OCT 1950: LCDR W.G. Bowles
- 28 JAN 1952: LCDR G. McJude
- 08 APR 1952: LCDR D.R. Hare
- 21 AUG 1952: LCDR G.F. Brown
- 18 APR 1953: LCDR N.R. Williams
- 18 MAY 1953: LCDR A.J. Gould
- 26 JUN 1954: LCDR F.T. Sherbourne
- 26 JUN 1955: LCDR R.E. Bourke
- 26 NOV 1956: LCDR J.G. Campbell
- 28 FEB 1958: LCDR B.H. Stock
- 20 JUL 1959: LCDR M.W. McBarron
- 10 JAN 1968: LCDR J.A. Da Costa
- 02 DEC 1968: LCDR W.E. Callan
- 20 DEC 1968: LCDR F.T. Lane
- 28 JUL 1969: LCDR J.A. Da Costa
- 20 JUL 1970: LCDR C.J. Patterson
- 05 JUN 1972: LCDR W.E. Callan
- 23 JAN 1974: LCDR G.S. King
- 22 JAN 1976: LCDR B.J. Diamond
- 16 JAN 1978: LCDR D. Collingridge
- 11 DEC 1978: LCDR E.M. Kavanagh
- 14 JAN 1980: LCDR C.C. Blennerhassett
- 19 JAN 1981: LCDR G.W. Northern
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Events
- Nov 1940:
The 805 Squadron was established during WWII as a Royal Navy unit. After WWII it was disetablished, and then reestablished as a part of the 20th Carrier Air Group for HMAS SYDNEY.
- 28 AUG 1948:
On this date, the 805 Squadron became part of the Royal Australian Navy, flying the Hawker Sea Fury Mark 11 Fighter.
- 1951-52:
805 Squadron embarked aboard HMAS Sydney participated in the Korean War.
- 26 MAR 1958:
Disestablished.
- 31 MAR 1958:
Reestablished "805" flew the De Havilland Sea Venoms Mark FAW53 aircraft out of NAS Nowra and off HMAS Melbourne.
- 30 JUN 1963:
805 Squadron is disestablished.
- 10 JAN 1968:
"805" was reestablished as VF-805 and was equipped with the McDonnel Douglas A-4G Skyhawk flying out of NAS Nowra and from HMAS Melbourne. With wiring modifications the A-4G was capable of carrying four AIM-9B Sidewinder Missles, one on each of the four wing stations. "VF"-805 was thus better equipped to provide Fleet Air Defense.
- Although photos show a/c with different squadron markings (as well as variations to them), there was only ONE ‘frontline’ or seagoing Skyhawk squadron in the RAN, and it was VF-805. For one reason or another, we ‘borrowed’ a/c from our shore based squadron VC-724 and as we didn’t have the resources to mark them up as belonging to us, we simply left them ‘as is’.
VF-805 was known as ‘The Checkmates’ and our unit markings (initially) included:
- Red & white checkerboard pattern on the rudder.
- Last 2 digits of a/c side number (e.g., 87) high on the vertical fin, immediately in front of the rudder, and
- Small squadron crest immediately aft of the 3 digit a/c side number (e.g., 883) on the fwd f’lage
(under the cockpit).
After a number of the squadron crests (which were decals) ended-up being digested by the engine,
they were moved to high on the vertical fin, immediately in front of the rudder flutter damper access panel.
Still later, they ended-up high on the f’lage sides, approx mid-way along the length of the a/c.
VF-805’s practice of painting the a/c flight controls (rudder) in a colour other than the USN specified
Gloss Insignia White was frowned upon by the RAN’s higher authority and hence we reverted them to
plain white. (This example matt dove grey scheme exactly matches the first batch of A-4G
Skyhawks for the RAN until they started to change to gloss colour scheme.) At the same time we considerably enlarged the red & white checkerboard pattern and
moved it forward onto the vertical fin, taking up the whole of the fin upwards from the lower edge of
the rudder. The squadron crest was moved to high on the f’lage sides, approx midway along the a/c’s length.
This scheme, when applied over the standard Gloss Gull Grey (all fuselage & upper surfaces) and Gloss Insignia
White (undersides & flight controls) made for quite a colourful little a/c !
Still later, our a/c went to a so-called ‘air superiority’ camouflage scheme (Aircraft Grey BS 381C-693 Matt
and Light Admiralty Grey BS 381C-697 Matt) and the bright red & white checkerboard on the vertical
fin was lost forever. In its place was a Matt Black horse’s head (the ‘Rook’ in chess) with the slightly
inclined (to the rear) horse’s head facing forward. At the same time, the national insignia (still full colour)
was considerably reduced in size and deleted from the underwing surfaces.
At one stage, while our a/c still ‘wore’ the Gloss Gull Grey over Gloss Insignia White scheme, we tried
various representations of the horse’s head, sometimes on a circular red & white checkerboard background.
We never ‘settled’ on this scheme for all our a/c however (much to the chagrin of our corrosion control team,
who were carrying out all these paint & re-paint evolutions !) and at no stage did ALL our a/c appear thus.
Similarly, when we ran out of Matt Black paint (probably because of the above carrying on !), several
of our a/c ended-up with dark grey anti-glare panels in front of the cockpit ! So much for ‘standardisation’.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the dates all these changes took place (we seemed to be forever changing something
in the paintwork on our a/c !) and probably don’t have detailed photos of them, either, but I do know most of
what happened over time.
Laurie Hillier
(downunder ‘Scooterholic’)
- 23 MAY 1979:
Loss of BuNo154909, 888.
PDF version of loss.
370kb wmv file of mishap.
- Sept 1979:
BuNo 154907, #886 rolled off the deck of the HMAS Melbourne in a storm 355km off east Australian coast.
- 02 JUL 1982:
VF-805 was disestablished and HMAS Melbourne (Australia's only carrier) was retired.
- Australian Aircraft Serial Numbers
- A-4G Histories
- 24 NOV 2000:
805 Squadron was restablished to fly Kaman Super Sea Sprite Helicopters from ANZAC Frigates. The unit is stationed at HMAS Albatross.
- VF-805 hosted several US Navy Skyhawk Flyers as exchange pilots:
LCDR Finan
John Bartells
Bob Stumpf
Lt. Mike Gump USMC
LCDR John Park
LT Mike Nordeen (who much later visited Sydney aboard a carrier as the Air Boss with Captain rank).
Capt. White USMC
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Awards
Sources
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