HMAS Albatross (NAS Nowra)
| HMAS Albatross (NAS Nowra) |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | YSNW |
| IATA code | NOA |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 122 m (400 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 10 km southwest of Nowra |
| Street | 5 km to the A1 |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1941 |
| operator | Royal Australian Navy |
| Runways | |
| 03/21 | 2046 m × 45 m asphalt |
| 08/26 | 2094 m × 45 m asphalt |
HMAS Albatross , or Naval Air Station Nowra ( NAS Nowra ) is the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) only military airfield . It is located 160 kilometers south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales and ten kilometers southwest of the town of Nowra of the same name .
The site is also home to the Fleet Air Arm Museum , the Museum of Australian Naval Aviation .
history
The airfield was opened in 1941 after a two-year construction period for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which it designated as RAAF Nowra. The operational use took place from 1942 initially by Australian Bristol Beaufighters . In addition, B-26s of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) came to the base for torpedo training in 1942/1943 . In 1944, due to its proximity to Jervis Bay, it was transferred to the Royal Navy and designated by it as HMS Nabbington and operated until the end of 1945. In particular, it served the carrier aircraft of the Fleet Air Arms during the port stays and lay days of British aircraft carriers in Sydney.
In March 1946 the British returned the airfield to the RAAF.
After the establishment of the Australian Fleet Air Arms in 1947, the base was handed over to the RAN in August 1948 and named after the former seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross . It has served as the main base for the FAA's on-board aircraft since May 1949 and was gradually expanded after commissioning, especially after the beginning of the jet age in 1955 in the form of the Sea Vampire and Sea Venom , the latter still flying until 1972, and later in the 1960s for the operation of A. -4 and S-2 . These machines flew until 1982 when the last Australian carrier, HMAS Melbourne , was decommissioned. Operational squadrons were the 805th , 808th , 817th and 850th Squadron and the 723rd , 724th and 725th Squadron served for flight training .
In addition to the on-board aircraft, the RAN also operated some land aircraft for flight training and transport. These were operated by the 851st Squadron between 1954 and 1984, with a ten-year break from 1958 . Their aircraft fleet in the 1950s included the C-47 and Firefly . After the interruption, the Fireflys were replaced by the S-2 while the Dakotas were replaced by the HS 748 in 1973 .
Since the early 1980s, the NAS Nowra nurmehr base of helicopters of questions, with the exception only in 2000 after more than 25 years of service out of service and from 1984 to 723. Squadron belonging HS 748 .
The RAN's first helicopter was the Sycamore HR.50 for twelve years from 1953 . In the early 1960s, Wessex HAS.31 of the 817th Squadron , UH-1B and Scout AH-1 were added. The latter were only operated until 1973 and replaced by OH-58 . The Wessex of the 817th Squadron were replaced by Sea King Mk.50 in 1976 . During their long service life, the latter were also used overland in various floods and bush fires and as a rescue helicopter, for example in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race , in which six sailors were killed.
The UH-1B was replaced by the AS350BA between 1984 and 1989 and the last Wessex were also decommissioned in 1989. Flight operations began five years later with the S-70B-2 Seahawk . The OH-58 were also retired in 2000.
Between 2001 and 2008 the station also housed the SH-2G (A) operated by the 805th Squadron .
In 2005, nine people were killed in the crash of a Sea King from Nowra during an earthquake mission in Nias, and six years later the Sea Kings were finally retired.
The first MRH-90 Taipan arrived at the end of 2010 , but the 808th Squadron's flight operations did not begin until the end of 2013. The last expansion and modernization of the Naval Air Station also began in late 2013 in advance of the arrival of the “Romeo” version of the Seahawk ; the first MH-60R arrived in Australia in October 2014 and the last predecessors of the S-70B-2 version left the fleet in December 2017.
The first H135T2 + also arrived in Nowra in July 2015 . The H135s form the flying component of the basic flying training provided by Boeing for future helicopter crews for the Navy and the Australian Army as part of the Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS). Their predecessors, the AS350BA, left the Navy on the same day as the last S-70.
Military use
The naval airfield currently (2018) houses the Navy Aviation Group and five flying squadrons that report to it.
- 723rd Squadron , squadron with Bell 429 (since 2012) and EC135T2 + (since 2016), is now used for training as part of the Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS)
- 725th Squadron , Umschulstaffel for MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine - board helicopter , in June, 2015.
- 808th Squadron , use season of the MRH-90 Taipan multipurpose shipboard helicopters, since November 2010 - the 808th squadron belonged in the Second World War, the Royal Navy and served as a carrier season of HMS Ark Royal to the sinking of the Bismarck involved
- 816th Squadron , operational unit of the MH-60R anti-submarine helicopter
- 822X. Squadron , operational unit for the unmanned aerial vehicles of the Boeing ScanEagle and Camcopter S-100 types , until 2018 referred to as the Naval Unmanned Aircraft Squadron Unit (NUASU)
The submarine hunt helicopters are mostly embarked on frigates and destroyers , the multi-purpose helicopters mostly operate from landing ships .
In addition, other non-flying facilities of the Australian military use the base as well as civilian chartered target display aircraft of the type Learjet 35 .
Civil use
There is a small civilian terminal on the edge of the military area, which was sometimes also served by regional air traffic.
Individual evidence
- ↑ RAN retires S-70B-2, AS350BA helicopters, Janes, December 1, 2017 ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Boeing signs off on final six H135 helicopters for Australia, Flightglobal, November 22, 2016
- ^ RAN commissions training squadron for MH-60R helicopters, Janes, June 12, 2015
- ^ Australia commissions unmanned naval aircraft squadron, Janes, October 25, 2018
