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Commissioned into UIS Naval Service on April 15, 1943, UIS
Naval Air Station Brunswick was primarily used as a base for
the formation and training of training of British and
Commonwealth aircrew for Fleet Air Arm squadrons equipped
with Lend-Lease American aircraft. Five auxiliary landing
fields were used in support of this facility, at Bar
Harbour, Casco Bay, Lewiston, Rockland, and Sanford.
The air
stations secondary mission was that of Anti-submarine
warfare conducted by the USN; the first U. S. squadron to
arrive was a heavier than air Scouting Squadron (VS1D1),
under the command of Lieutenant John G. Shelley, at the time
of their arrival the station was still under construction.
The first
Royal Navy squadron to arrive was 846 with Avengers, they
moved here from USNAS Norfolk June 1st 1943, moving on to USNAS
Quonset Point on the 31st. Two weeks later a second Avenger
squadron arrived, 848 moved here from USNAS
Quonset Point on
July 15th., they stayed for only two weeks before they moved
to USNAS Squantum on the 31st.
From August
1943 the station began receiving Corsair squadrons for
working up; the squadrons had been formed at USNAS
Quonset Point and initially received 10 aircraft per squadron. The
first to arrive was 1831 NAS on August 23rd, followed by
1833 on the 25th, 1834 on the 27th and 1835 on the 30th.
After only
six weeks of training the 1831 & 1834 squadrons moved to
USNAS
Norfolk on October 4th, 1833 departed for USNAS
Floyd Bennett
Field ten days later. 1835 squadron was retained at
Brunswick, it had been decided to form a second-line
Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Brunswick and 1835 was
disbanded on November 23rd to form the nucleus of No. 732
Corsair OTU which was formed on that date.
The next
squadron, 1836, arrived from Quonset Point on September 1st
and was followed by two more, 1837 & 1939 on October 1st.
The training time was increased for this second wave of
squadrons, 1836 departed for USNAS
Norfolk (to embark in
H.M.S. ATHELING for passage to the UK) on December 18th.
1837 & 1838 departed for USNAS Norfolk on January 8th 1944.
The next squadrons to arrive on the station were 882 and 898
Wildcat Squadrons which flew ashore from
H.M.S. SEARCHER on
January 10th; 882 stayed until February 4th before moving
to USNAS
Norfolk. 898 re-embarked in
SEARCHER on February 8th.
There was a
two month gap before the next Corsair squadrons arrived, and
these were larger units, equipped with 18 aircraft. 1041 &
1842 moved here from USNAS Quonset Point on March 1st 1944;
these were the last new squadrons to be formed at
Quonset Point, form May 1944 all new Corsair squadrons formed at
Brunswick with 18 aircraft.
On April
1st a new Dive Bomber squadron was formed, No. 1820 squadron
formed with 9 Curtis SBC-4 Helldivers; the squadron moved to
USNAS Squantum on May 1st. On the same day 1843 formed with
18 Corsairs. It was a month later that the next squadron was
formed. 1845 came into being on June 1st. The following day
1841 moved to USNAS
Norfolk (to embark in
H.M.S. SMITER);1842 moved to USNAS
Norfolk (to embark in
H.M.S. RAJAH) on
the 27th.
The start
of July saw two squadrons form and one disband at Brunswick,
1846 1848 each formed with 18 x Corsairs, While 732 OTU
having completed its work was dispersed. August 1st saw two
more Corsair squadrons form, 1849 & 1850; 1843 embarked
in
H.M.S. TROUNCER on the 2nd and 1845 embarked in
H.M.S. PUNCHER 3on the 3oth. The last squadron to form
during 1944 was 1851 on September 1st; there was a five
month gap before the next new squadrons would form.
1846 & 1848
both departed to USNAS
Norfolk (to embark in
H.M.S. RANEE)
on October 15th, 1849 & 1850 moved to USNAS
Floyd Bennett
Field one month later, followed by 1851 on December 23rd.
This left no squadrons on the station by Christmas 1944. In
the New Year only two more Corsair squadrons were to form,
1852 on February 1st and 1853 on March 1st, again, both
receiving 18 aircraft. On February 14th 1945 738 Pilot
Training Squadron relocated here from USNAS Lewiston
bringing with it a selection of the US aircraft types in use
by the RN, including Avenger, Corsair, Wildcat, Harvard and
at least 1 Grumman Gosse.
At the end
of March 1852 moved to USNAS
Norfolk (to embark in
H.M.S. PATROLLER), while the last Corsair squadron, 1853, left for
USNAS
Floyd Bennett
Field on July 13th. The RN presence at
Brunswick had begun to run down during July 1945 and on the
31st both 738 squadron and R.N. Air Station Brunswick were
paid Off. and the station returned to US Navy control.
The U.S.
Navy deactivated Brunswick Naval Air Station in October
1946,
Click here for a list of
Primary sources
Additional sources:
"Patrol
Squadron Shore Establishments". United States Navy.
Acrobat document. Retrieved 14-07-2014.
www.airfieldsdatabase.com
http://www.airfieldsdatabase.com/ww2/WW2 R27e ID-NH.htm
Accessed 01-00-2015
www.history.navy.mil
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/buildbaseswwii/bbwwii1.htm#page235
Accessed 14-07-2014
Content revised:
09 June 2020
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