Long Live the ‘King
If all goes to plan on Wednesday 26 September, the last Westland Sea King helicopters in UK military service will make a farewell flight around the Devon-Cornwall peninsula, where the […]
Tag Archives: naval aviators
New series of blogs on Global Maritime History
The first of a series of new blogposts by Naval Air History author Matthew Willis was published today on the Global Maritime History site. The series takes a look at […]
The Fleet Air Arm in the Battle of Britain
The involvement of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm is relatively little known and while numerically small, had a significant impact on the Battle. Two squadrons of the Royal Navy’s […]
Two (and a bit) new blogs on ‘Hush Kit’
Naval Air History has recently contributed to two pieces on Hush Kit, ‘the alternative aviation magazine’ The 11 Worst X-Planes When music is terrible the artist will often describe it […]
Captain Eric Brown – a personal reflection
There’s very little I can add to the many tributes to the incomparable Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, written by those far better placed than me to assess the great man’s […]
Sopwith Pup book available!
I’m delighted to announce that my book on the Sopwith Pup WW1 biplane fighter is available. The Sopwith Pup, as it is unofficially but universally known, was one of the […]
The Hawker Sea Fury and HMS Illustrious
My thanks are again due to Dave Bull for sharing his collection of classic photographs with Naval Air History. These photographs date from the immediate postwar period when the battered […]
Fairey Swordfish – fluke victor?
An acquaintance who has no small knowledge of military matters put the following to me recently: ‘We all have different perspectives and experiences and mine lead me to say this: […]
HMS Caroline – a naval aviation pioneer
The veteran WW1 cruiser HMS Caroline, now subject to preservation as a museum ship, is a little-known pioneer of naval aviation. As restoration work is now underway, much attention will […]
USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71
Last month, the US Navy supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt visited the UK. This provided an excellent opportunity for UK naval aviation enthusiasts to see at first-hand what the largest and […]
Postwar Fireflies and Seafires, HMS Illustrious
I am once again indebted to Dave Bull for sharing his fantastic collection of images of HMS Illustrious with Naval Air History. These photographs date from the immediate postwar period […]
The Rarest Seabird – FAAM Grumman Martlet
During the early part of 1940, Britain and France were scrambling to acquire sources of modern fighting aircraft from wherever they could. At that time there were serious fears that […]
USS Ranger – a supercarrier at risk
Sixty year ago, on 2 August 1954, the first truly modern aircraft carrier from the keel to the truck was laid down. The Forrestal-class supercarrier USS Ranger (CV-61) was the […]
Farewell HMS Illustrious
HMS Illustrious, the Royal Navy’s flagship, returned to her home port of Portsmouth on 22 July 2014, for the last time. Earlier that day she had handed over her duties […]
Fleet Air Arm twins, HMS Illustrious
The following series of photographs from the Dave Bull collection (see previous post for images of prototype naval aircraft) depicting postwar naval aircraft landing on aircraft carriers, believed to be […]
