History
Wasp XT788 entered service with the Royal Navy in March 1967 and, according
to your records, was allocated to the ship's flight attached to HMS Zulu from
circa mid-1967 to mid-1969. It was then returned to RNAY Fleetlands where it
was upgraded to carry the AS12 air-to-surface missile and the 600MC depth bomb.
I first came across XT788 when it was re-delivered to 829 Squadron at Portland
in September/October 1969 to replace Wasp XT424 as the ship's flight aircraft
attached to the Leander class frigate HMS Minerva (F45).
After sea acceptance trials in mid-November 1969, XT788 finally
embarked in HMS Minerva in early January 1970 for a two month stint in the western
Mediterranean. We spent some of this time shadowing Russian warships (which
included some memorable close formation flying with a Hormone from the helicopter
cruiser Moskva) before joining the Western Fleet for combined air and anti-submarine
exercises. Then, after a short work-up back at Portland Minerva, sailed for
the Arctic and a so-called fishery protection patrol in the Barents Sea, which
attracted the close attention of both the Russian North Seas fleet (a formidable
sight I can tell you!) and the Soviet Air Force.
Minerva returned to the UK in April 1970 at which point my 18
month posting as Flight Commander came to an end. I left the ship with one of
XT788's (unserviceable) tail rotor blades as a trophy and it still serves as
a reminder of the 100 or so hours I flew in the aircraft. Lt RF Bryant took
over from me as pilot and he, Minerva, XT788 and the Flight went on to visit
South Africa (and a spell on Beira Patrol), the Far East, Australia, New Zealand
and India before returning to the UK in February 1971 when the ship - and its
Flight - decommissioned.
I don't know where XT788 went to after February 1971 but I did
see it again at an open day at RNAY Fleetlands in Gosport in 1986/87. It was
being used as an apprentice aircraft artificers' 'test piece'; they took it
to bits, put it back together and then repeated the process over and over again
- a sort of Groundhog Day for helicopters!
Operational Role
The Wasp HAS 1 was designed as a medium range anti-submarine torpedo carrying
helicopter (MATCH) and as such it was the major element of an anti-submarine
frigate's armament. Its original weaponry consisted of either Mk 44 homing torpedoes
or the (fairly primitive) Mk 11 depth charge. When a hostile submarine was detected
by the sonar of the mother ship - or another surface vessel - or by the 'dunking'
sonar of a radar-equipped Wessex 3 or Sea King helicopter, the Wasp was launched
and vectored to its target by the ship or helicopter concerned. The Wasp would
then be directed to attack the submarine with whatever weapons it carried -
usually two Mk 44 torpedoes in deep water or depth charges in shallow water:
the choice of weapons was made prior to launch.
In the 1960's the Russians built a considerable fleet of small
OSA class fast attack vessels fitted with Styx anti-ship missiles, some of which
were used by Egypt against Israel during the Six Day war in 1967. To counter
this threat the Wasp was modified to carry the French Nord AS12M air-to-surface
wire-guided missile and - at the same time - the 600MC, an anti-submarine version
of the UK's standard tactical nuclear bomb. This was how XT788 came to join
829 Minerva Flight in late 1969.
Being wire-guided the AS12 required an aimer and it was the
Wasp aircrewmen who were re-trained in this role. The missile was fired by the
pilot (in the right-hand seat) and then directed to its target by the aimer
(in the left-hand seat). The aimer controlled the missile via a small joystick
while following its progress through a high-powered, movement stabilised sight
mounted in the cockpit roof. The missile had a range of several miles and, when
it reached its target, the aimer jettisoned the guide wires by activating wire-cutters
in the launcher.
Wasps were deployed on many of the Royal Navy's Tribal (7),
Leander (26), Rothesay (9) and Amazon (8) class anti-submarine frigates. They
were also carried by the Navy's four 'H' class hydrographic survey vessels and
the ice patrol ship HMS Endurance, which had two Wasps onboard.
In addition to its primary role as a weapons delivery system, the Wasp was also
a very useful maid of all work and served as the ship's mail van, shopping trolley,
ambulance, flag waver and taxi. No wonder it was referred to as the 'pony' (after
Pony Express)!
Organisation
In the late 1960's the Small Ships' Flights were based at HMS Osprey, the Royal
Naval Air Station at Portland. They were parented by 829 Squadron, which consisted
of a Headquarters Squadron and the Flights themselves. The HQ unit acted as
the Wasp AFT (advanced flying training unit) and provided operational support
to the 30 or more Ships' Flights, which were otherwise more or less autonomous
when afloat. When not embarked Flights returned to 829 Squadron to continue
an ongoing programme of operational training and FRU (Fleet Requirements Unit)
work with ships in work-up at Portland.
In the late 1960s a Small Ships' Flight typically consisted
of seven people: Flight Commander/pilot, Flight Chief, two airframe/engine mechanics,
two electrical/electronic mechanics and one radio/electrical technician. In
late 1969 Minerva's flight consisted of (respectively): Lt NA Dark, AA1 PJ Warne,
AA1 DL Wynn, NAM RM Little, EM1 J Haigh, LEM NJ Stevens and POREL MA Thomas.
The Naval Air Mechanic (NAM) was also a trained aircrewman and (latterly) missile
aimer and as such flew regularly and received flying pay.
Side numbers
Wasp side numbers were unique to their mother ships and if an aircraft was permanently
moved from one Flight to another its side number would change. When we had XT788
its side number was 424. This identified it as Minerva's Wasp. The side number
you mention - 442 - links XT788 to another ship - presumably Zulu. It was also
common practice for an aircraft to have the identification code of its parent
ship painted on its tail (this ID code was also painted in large letters on
the flight deck so that individual ships could be identified from the air).
For example: Ark Royal (R), Minerva (MV), Gurkha (GU), and Endurance (ED).
Other sources of information
- Aircraft Procurement Unit, Ministry of Defence (Navy), Whitehall, London
- Fleet Air Museum, Yeovilton (they may have information about XT788 or they
may be able to put you in touch with a naval historian with relevant knowledge)
- GKN Westland, Yeovil
- Photographic Section, RNAS Yeovilton (latterly the parent air station for
Small Ships' Flights)
Another good source of information is a book called 'Flashing
Blades over the Sea" (ISBN 0 950 6323 25), which was published by Maritime
Books, Duloe, Liskeard, PL14 4PX sometime in the 1970s. It was written by Lt
Cdr Jim Milne, who was Staff Officer of 829 Squadron in my time, and it contains
a useful chapter on Small Ships' Flights as well as several photographs of Wasps.
According to the blurb Jim lived in Penryn, Cornwall at the time. He may still
be there in which case it might be worth asking Maritime Books for his address.
Nigel Dark
Pilot XT788 (October 1969 - April 1970)
23 January 2002
