#1260CU Hawk T1A
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1260CU - Hawk T1A, XX301, 736 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Culdrose.
The squadron was first formed at RNAS Yeovilton on 24 May 1943 as an air combat training squadron for naval aviators, before moving to RNAS St Merryn in September that year. Between 1943 and 1952 the squadron operated several piston-engined aircraft including the Supermarine Seafire, Fairey Barracuda, Hawker Sea Fury and Fairey Firefly. The squadron moved to RNAS Culdrose in 1950 where in August 1952, it was eventually disbanded as piston-engined squadron and reformed as the Advanced Jet Flying School; operating Supermarine Attacker and Meteor T.7 jet aircraft. It was recommissioned at RNAS Lossiemouth in June 1953 as a training squadron for Sea Vampire and Hawker Sea Hawk. In 1959 the squadron was equipped with Supermarine Scimitar F.1 aircraft under the command of Lieutenant Commander J.D. Baker, to provide support for operational squadrons. As Scimitars started to be phased out of first line servicing, 736 Squadron was disbanded on 26 March 1965. 736 NAS reformed shortly afterwards with the Blackburn Buccaneer S.2, using aircraft and aircrews from the recently disbanded 700B Flight (the Buccaneer S.2 Intensive Flying Trials Unit) in order to train aircrews for the aircraft. Still based at RNAS Lossiemouth, from 1967 onwards the unit shared a pool of aircraft with 803 NAS, the Buccaneer HQ and weapons trials unit. 736 NAS was finally disbanded in early 1972, and was inactive until it was recommissioned in order to operate the Fleet Air Arm’s Hawk T1s in 2013.