Grumman Hellcats of 1840 Naval Air Squadron
No. 1840 NAS formed on March 1st 1944 at RNAS Burscough as a single seater fighter squadron equipped with 10 Hellcat Is. A large proportion of the squadron pilots were Dutch, mainly from the Royal Netherlands Navy Air Service.
1840 NAS operated from HMS Furious for Operation Mascot, a strike on the German battleship Tirpitz on July 17 1944.
After training on HMS Formidable, the squadron then moved to HMS Indefatigable. During August 1944, raids were conducted along the Norwegian coast, followed by additional strikes on Tirpitz. One of 1840s Hellcats scored a hit on “Bruno” turret, which destroyed the 20mm anti-aircraft gun sited there, but no damage to the turret.
In December 1944, 1840 NAS relocated to HMS Speaker for transport to the Pacific, arriving in Sydney on23 February 1945. HMS Speaker provided CAP fighters for the fleet train supply the British Pacific fleet until May 1945. At this point HMS Speaker was used as a replenishment ship and 1840 NAS was disbanded, with aircraft and pilots reallocated to 1839 NAS on HMS Indomitable and to HMS Ruler.
