RNAS Fearn (HMS Owl)
Fearn, Scottish Highlands in Scotland
RNAS Fearn is located in Highland
RNAS Fearn
RNAS Fearn
Shown within the Scottish Highlands
RNAS Fearn is located in the United Kingdom
RNAS Fearn
RNAS Fearn
RNAS Fearn (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates57°45′28″N 003°56′54″W / 57.75778°N 3.94833°W / 57.75778; -3.94833
TypeRoyal Naval Air Station
Site information
OwnerAdmiralty
OperatorRoyal Navy
Controlled byFleet Air Arm
Site history
Built1941 (1941)
In useOctober 1942 - July 1946
-1957 (1957)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation8 metres (26 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
05/23 1,348 metres (4,423 ft) Concrete
11/29 1,152 metres (3,780 ft) Concrete
18/36 1,078 metres (3,537 ft) Concrete

Royal Naval Air Station Fearn (RNAS Fearn; or HMS Owl) is a former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm airbase, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) southeast of Tain, Scottish Highlands and 21.9 miles (35.2 km) northeast of Inverness, Scottish Highlands, Scotland. The Tower has now been converted to residential use. See Restoration Man George Clarke.

Situated around 1 mile (2 km) from the north west shore of the Moray Firth, the airfield is 8.5 miles (14 km) north east of the town and port of Invergordon and 1 mile (2 km) south east of the village of Fearn. Notable landmarks include Tarbat Ness and Cromarty Firth.[1]

History

The Royal Navy acquired the airbase when on 15 July 1942 it was transferred from the RAF to the Admiralty and was known as Royal Naval Air Station Fearn (RNAS Fearn). On 11 October it was commissioned as HMS Owl.[1] The airbase had initially opened in late 1941 as a satellite for RAF Tain, known as RAF Fearn, before the Fleet Air Arm took it over.[2] HMS Owl was home to the Royal Navy’s Barracuda Operational Training Unit, No. 1 Barracuda Servicing Unit and No. 3 Barracuda Servicing Unit along with No. 1 Avenger Servicing Unit. There was also No. 2 Torpedo School. The site also included accommodation for disembarked squadrons.[1]

Units

A number of units were here at some point:

Current use

The site is currently used as farmland.[2] On the southeast edge, a new, separate, aerodrome has been created by the name of "Easter Airfield".[27] The control tower is now a private residence owned. It was in a 2015 episode of Channel 4's The Restoration Man.[28] A lot of the original buildings on the other side of the camp are derelict and only have trash from fly-tipping, crows and bugs in them.

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "R.N.A.S. Fearn". Royal Navy Research Archive - Fleet Air Arm Bases 1939 - present day. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Fearn (Clay of Allan) (including Easter)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 31.
  4. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 36.
  5. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 38.
  6. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 40.
  7. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 58.
  8. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 68.
  9. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 168.
  10. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 175.
  11. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 182.
  12. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 187.
  13. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 189.
  14. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 192.
  15. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 194.
  16. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 205.
  17. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 207.
  18. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 209.
  19. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 213.
  20. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 219.
  21. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 223.
  22. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 231.
  23. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 252.
  24. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 254.
  25. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 273.
  26. ↑ Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 294.
  27. ↑ "Locate - www.easterairfield.co.uk". www.easterairfield.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014.
  28. ↑ "HMS Owl Restoration Case Study". British Standard. Retrieved 6 November 2017.

Bibliography

  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
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