The British Carrier Strike Fleet. David Hobbs

      A cocooned Sea Fury FB 11, VX 758, shortly after being delivered in Australia for the RAN. Note the dates when the aircraft was inhibited and then ‘embalmed’ written on the coating so that it could be removed at the due date at the latest. (RAN)

      RARA’s sub-command included the allotment control organisation to meet the demands of the Admiralty, FO Air (Home) and the Fleets. A total of 1900 aircraft and 1500 engines were allotted during 1950 and the despatch of aircraft, engines and equipment to foreign stations formed a significant part of the sub-commands work. In the UK aircraft were ferried from contractors to Receipt & Despatch Units (RDU), at two of the AHUs; from RDUs to other AHUs if necessary and from them to operational and training naval air stations and repair yards. They were also ferried from air yards to AHUs. The work was carried out by a civilian contractor who employed sixteen pilots for the task and their movement about the country to pick up aircraft was facilitated by the use of two light transport aircraft lent by the Admiralty for the purpose. In an average year there were some 1500 ferry flights, all co-ordinated by a central ferry control office in RARA’s headquarters. The civilian ferry pilots flew under naval regulations except those covering familiarisation on new types.

      Aircraft that could not be flown were moved by one of three Naval Aircraft Transport & Salvage Units (NATSU). One of these was based at RNAS Abbotsinch, another at RNAS Worthy Down and a third, slightly smaller than the first two, at RNAS Eglinton in Northern Ireland. Their transport was the responsibility of civilian drivers but naval air mechanics dismantled aircraft and prepared them for movement. Salvaging crashed aircraft was a particularly specialised operation that often required considerable initiative since no two crash-sites were the same. The majority of aircraft for overseas shipment were embarked in the Glasgow area and there was some sensitivity caused by the berths needing to be used for commercial shipping. In one instance seventy-two aircraft were embarked in a carrier in 3 hours 30 minutes after close co-operation between drivers, handling and sling-fitting parties and the crane drivers. Disembarkation was usually carried out in Portsmouth, with aircraft being placed onto lighters. During 1950, the NATSUs moved 832 aircraft, 1823 aircraft engines and 1186 miscellaneous loads. They loaded 155 aircraft onto aircraft carriers and off-loaded 232 aircraft from them. NATSU vehicles travelled a total of 1,074,746 miles.