736 Naval Air Squadron

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736 Naval Air Squadron (736 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy. It existed in several periods: 1943–1952, 1952–1965, 1965–1972, and 2013–2022. It trained fighter pilots and, later, served as an aggressor squadron and jet training unit. Its motto was Aquila suos educit — “The eagle trains its young,” and its badge shows a black eagle with a gold lightning flash.

History in brief
- 1943–1952: Formed as the School of Air Combat at HMS Heron (Yeovilton). It moved to HMS Vulture (St Merryn) to become the Fighter Combat School and created a B Flight for fighter-affiliation work in 1945. Early aircraft included the Seafire, Miles Master, and Barracuda.
- 1950–1952: Became the Naval Air Fighter School at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) and then disbanded in August 1952.
- 1952–1965: Reformed as an Advanced Jet Flying School, using jets such as the Gloster Meteor and Supermarine Attacker. It moved to RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar) in 1953, later flying the de Havilland Sea Vampire and Hawker Sea Hawk, among others. In 1959 the Sea Hawk was moved to another squadron, and in 1965 the squadron adopted the Supermarine Scimitar.
- 1965–1972: Reformed at Lossiemouth as a Jet Strike Training Squadron with the Blackburn Buccaneer (S.1, later S.2). It trained both Royal Navy and Royal Air Force crews and helped support operations such as the Torrey Canyon oil-tloat incident in 1967. The squadron disbanded on 25 February 1972, with its role passing to other units.
- 2013–2022: Reformed on 7 June 2013 at RNAS Culdrose to fly the BAE Hawk T1/T1A as the Royal Navy’s adversary squadron, replacing FRADU. It supported numerous exercises in the UK and abroad (including Joint Warrior, Cougar 14/16, and Deep Blue 2 from Gibraltar). The planned ASDOT aggressor training program was cancelled in 2019. The squadron announced its final disbandment in 2022; its Hawk aircraft flew one last time on 22 March 2022 and the squadron was decommissioned on 31 March 2022.

Aircraft operated (highlights)
- Seafire, Barracuda, Miles Master, Harvard
- Supermarine Attacker, Gloster Meteor
- de Havilland Sea Vampire, Hawker Sea Hawk
- Supermarine Scimitar, Blackburn Buccaneer (S.1 and S.2)
- BAE Systems Hawk T1/T1A

Home stations (illustrative)
- HMS Heron, Yeovilton; HMS Vulture, St Merryn; RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk); RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar); RNAS Brawdy (as a training site at times)

736 NAS’s long history shows its role evolving from frontline fighter training to jet flight instruction, and finally to a modern adversary squadron that helped train and test personnel until its 2022 retirement.