829 Naval Air Squadron 829 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm . It operates the AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin HM1 helicopter . History . 1940 – 1942 . 829 Naval Air Squadron first formed on 15 June 1940 as a torpedo and reconnaissance squadron at Royal Naval Air Station ( RNAS ) Ford , Sussex ( UK ) and equipped with nine Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers . In October , it began nightly bombing attacks from St . Eval , Cornwall , on German shipping and docks at Brest , France . During these attacks , the commanding officer of 829 NAS L / C OS Stevinson and crew was lost on 9 October 1940 . In the next month , the squadron was assigned to the aircraft carrier , which then sailed to escort the convoy WS - 5A to West Africa and Cape Town . Part of the convoy came into contact with the German heavy cruiser , but the aircraft of 829 NAS failed to sight her . Leaving Cape Town in January 1941 , HMS " Formidable " sailed for the Red Sea , where her aircraft carried out attacks on the Italian - held cities of Mogadishu and Massawa in February . After a passage through the Suez Canal , the squadron had to be partially re - equipped with Fairey Swordfish due to losses . During the Battle of Matapan , late in March , one of the squadron ' s Albacores scored a hit on the Italian battleship , where the squadron CO L / C LCB Ashburner was shot down and killed . Further activities in the Mediterranean involved an attack on an Italian airfield on Karpathos , the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands , at the end of May , after which the aircraft operated from Lod for some time , attacking Vichy French shipping during the Syria - Lebanon campaign . However , on 26 May 1941 , HMS " Formidable " received serious damage while transporting aircraft to Malta , being hit by two German bombs that put her out of action for six months . 829 NAS was stationed in June on Cyprus where all Albacores were left when the carrier sailed for repairs at Norfolk Naval Shipyard ( U . S . ) in July 1941 . Six of the squadron ' s Swordfish provided anti - submarine patrols whilst the carrier was " en route " for repairs in the U . S . , by way of Cape Town . After being put ashore in Jamaica , 829 NAS joined for passage to Norfolk , Virginia ( U . S . ) , before rejoining the repaired HMS " Formidable " to return to Great Britain . There the squadron received 12 new ASV - equipped Swordfish Mk . II , with which it rejoined HMS " Illustrious " in March 1942 . Sailing by way of Cape Town , 829 NAS took part in an attack on Diego - Suarez during the invasion of Madagascar In May . Successful attacks were carried out on the Vichy French submarines " Bėvėziers " and " Le Hėros " , and also a sloop and an escort ship , for the loss of five aircraft . Airborne support was provided in September for attacks on the remaining Vichy troops in south Madagascar . Following this , HMS " Illustrious " sailed to Durban for a refit , and whilst there 829 NAS was amalgamated with 810 Naval Air Squadron at Stamford Hill airfield ( near Durban ) on 7 October 1942 . 1943 – 1944 . On 1 October 1943 , 829 NAS was reformed as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance squadron at RNAS Lee - on - the - Solent , flying twelve Fairey Barracuda MK . II as part of the 52nd Naval TBR Wing . These embarked in in February 1944 , and on 3 April took part in Operation Tungsten , a successful attack on the German battleship in the Kåfjord , Norway for the loss of two aircraft . After an abortive attempt to carry out a similar attack in May , attacks were made on shipping off Norway , but on 9 July 1944 829 NAS was amalgamated with 831 Naval Air Squadron on HMS " Victorious " and ceased to exist . 1964 – 1994 . 829 was reformed at RNAS Culdrose , Cornwall ( UK ) , on 4 March 1964 . The squadron was formed from a nucleus of No . 700W Flight , which was the training unit for Westland Wasp helicopter crews . Its task was to provide helicopter detachments to operate from small ships and survey vessels , the Wasp HAS1 performing in the role of a medium range anti - submarine torpedo carrying helicopter . The first four such flights were allocated to the frigates , , , and . The squadron also took over the responsibility for the Westland Wessex HAS1 helicopters operating from County class destroyer s . In 1969 , the HAS1 was replaced by the Wessex HAS3 . In December 1964 , 829 NAS handed over the task of Wasp conversion to 706 Naval Air Squadron , and was relocated to RNAS Portland , Dorset . Until the Wasp was retired in 1988 , the squadron remained responsible for all Wasp - equipped Ship ' s Flights . This led to several Wasps from the squadron , re - painted as a fictional " HMS Hero Flight " , being used in the popular 1970s BBC television drama series " Warship " . When 771 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded in January 1965 , 829 NAS also received Westland Whirlwind helicopters returning them when 771 NAS reformed in June 1967 . In 1966 , 829 NAS also received two Wessex HU5s for operation from the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries " Regent " and " Resource " . Responsibility for the ice patrol ship was also taken over in 1966 , initially using Whirlwind HAR1s . These were soon replaced by Whirlwind HAR9s , which transferred to in 1968 , and were eventually replaced by Wasp helicopters in 1976 . In June 1970 , responsibility for small ships ' Wessex helicopters was transferred to 737 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Portland . A further restructuring took place in January 1972 when 703 Naval Air Squadron was established at RNAS Portland to take over the Wasp conversion and operational flying training role . This task was re - assigned to 829 NAS in January 1981 . In August 1982 , the operation of Wessex HAS3 anti - submarine detachments was returned to 737 NAS . Falklands War . Eleven Westland Wasp HAS1 helicopters of 829 NAS participated in the Falklands War in 1982 . They were embarked in the Type 21 frigate , the " Rothesay " - class frigate s and , the ice patrol ship HMS " Endurance " , the MV " Contender Bezant " and the survey ships , , and . On 25 April 1982 , the Argentinian submarine " Santa Fe " was spotted by a Wessex HAS3 from . The Wessex then attacked it with depth charge s . launched a Wasp HAS1 helicopter , and launched a Westland Lynx HAS2 . The Lynx attacked the submarine with a MK 46 torpedo , and also strafed it with its pintle - mounted GPMG ; the Wessex also fired on the " Santa Fe " with its GPMG . The Wasp from HMS " Plymouth " as well as two other Wasps launched from HMS " Endurance " fired AS . 12 antiship missiles at the submarine , scoring hits . " Santa Fe " was damaged badly enough to prevent her from submerging . The crew abandoned the submarine at the jetty at King Edward Point on South Georgia and surrendered to the British forces , thus becoming the first casualty of the sea war , as well as the first direct engagement by the Royal Navy Task Force . The last Wasp was finally withdrawn from service in 1988 when the last of the Type 12 " Rothesay " class frigates was decommissioned . Starting in September 1986 829 NAS had already received a number of Westland Lynx HAS2 detachments transferred from 815 Naval Air Squadron . In 1988 the squadron eventually had up to 30 Lynx . Flights were regularly deployed on the Armilla patrol in the Persian Gulf . The squadron was awarded the " Boyd Trophy " jointly with 815 NAS for their service in the Persian Gulf . Persian Gulf War . Between August 1990 and February 1991 , several flights of 829 NAS participated in the Persian Gulf War . Six Lynx helicopters armed with Sea Skua missiles were sent from 829 NAS to the Gulf on four Royal Navy frigates . The first success came when Lynx 335 from — together with an American Seahawk — came across and destroyed a minesweeper or landing vessel . Lynx 335 — along with s Lynx and U . S . forces — subsequently also destroyed two Iraqi anti - aircraft artillery batteries mounted on offshore oil rigs off Kuwait . On 24 January 1991 , Lynx 335 attacked three Iraqi vessels off the island of Quarah , sinking two minesweepers . Lynx 335 also attempted to capture a minelayer , but she was scuttled by her Iraqi crew . Quarah was later captured by coalition forces , becoming the first Iraqi territory to be liberated . On 29 January , Royal Navy helicopters spotted a flotilla of 17 Iraqi landing craft , part of an attempted amphibious assault in support of the Iraqi forces engaged in the Battle of Khafji . Lynxes from , " Gloucester " and " Cardiff " sank two , while the rest were either damaged , sunk or dispersed by U . S . carrier - borne aircraft and Royal Navy Westland Sea King helicopters . On 30 January , a convoy consisting of three " Polnochny " - class landing ships , three TNC - 45 fast - attack craft and a single Type 43 minelayer was attacked . HMS " Gloucester " > s Lynx destroyed a TNC - 45 , while " Cardiff " and " Brazen " s Lynxes attacked the Type 43 . Other units were also damaged , including a Polnochny that was later destroyed by RAF SEPECAT Jaguar s . On 8 February , Lynx 335 attacked a " Zhuk " - class patrol boat , and on 11 February , the same helicopter sank another Zhuk . In total , Lynx helicopters from 829 NAS were responsible for 15 Iraqi ships sunk in the war , at least five of which were sunk by a single helicopter , Lynx 335 . The Squadron was disbanded on 26 March 1993 , when all its Lynx Flights were absorbed by 815 NAS . 2004 – present . The squadron recommissioned in its current role on 21 October 2004 and is currently located at RNAS Culdrose , Cornwall . The current Commanding Officer is Lt Cdr Ben Franklin RN . 829 NAS provides six detachments ( " flights " ) for the following Type 23 frigate s : , , , , , , , , and . The remaining four Type 23 Frigates operate Westland Lynx of 815 NAS .