No. 270 Squadron RAF

No. 270 Squadron RAF
Short Sunderland
Active 1919
1942–1945
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force

No. 270 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that operated both in the First and Second World Wars mainly as an anti-shipping and anti-submarine squadron.

First World War

No. 270 Squadron was formed in April 1919 from three flights (354, 355 and 356) of the Royal Naval Air Service based at Alexandria with floatplanes and flying boats. The main role was coastal reconnaissance which it continued to do until it was disbanded on 15 September 1919 when it was absorbed into 269 Squadron.

Second World War

The squadron was re-formed on 12 November 1942 at RAF Jui, in Sierra Leone, with the Consolidated Catalina flying boat.[1] It flew sorties into the mid-Atlantic on anti-submarine patrols, sinking a U-boat in January 1943. It was also tasked with finding ships trying to break the blockade on Vichy France ports. The squadron had detachments at RAF Bathurst, Gambia, and Fisherman's Lake, Liberia.[1]

In July 1943 the squadron moved to Lagos, Nigeria to be based at RAF Apapa, at the end of that year it re-equipped with the four-engined Short Sunderland.[1] The squadron operated detachments at RAF Jui, Abidjan and Libreville.[1] The squadron was disbanded, after the war in the Atlantic had ended, on 30 June 1945 at Apapa, Nigeria.[1]

Aircraft operated

Dates Aircraft Variant Notes
1918 Short 184 Single-engined torpedo seaplane
1918 Felixstowe F.3 Twin-engined reconnaissance flying boat
1918 Sopwith Baby Single-engined seaplane
1942–1944 Consolidated Catalina IB Twin-engined flying boat
1943–1945 Short Sunderland III Four-engined flying boat

[2]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jefford 1988, pp. 81-82
  2. ↑ Jefford 2001, p. 84.

Bibliography

  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing. 1985.
  • Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-85310-053-6
  • Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
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