849 Naval Air Squadron

849 Naval Air Squadron
849 Naval Air Squadron
	Squadron badge
Active	1943–1945; 1952–1978; 1984–2020;
Disbanded	21 April 2020
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron
Role	Carrier-based: anti-submarine warfare (ASW); anti-surface warfare (ASuW); ; Carrier-based Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC);
Size	3 flights
Part of	Fleet Air Arm
Mottos	Primus video; (Latin for 'The first to see')
Aircraft	See Aircraft operated section for full list.
Engagements	World War II European theatre of World War II; Pacific theatre; Suez Crisis Operation Musketeer;
Battle honours	Normandy 1944; East Indies 1945; Palembang 1945; Okinawa 1945; Japan 1945;
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Lieutenant Commander(A) K.G. Sharp, RN; Lieutenant Commander(A) D.R. Foster, DSO, DSC, RNVR; Lieutenant Commander J.D. Treacher, RN;
Insignia
Squadron Badge Description	Blue, in base two bars wavy white a flash of lightning winged in bend sinister gold and charged with an eye proper (1953)
Identification Markings	single letters (Avenger); P1A+ (Avenger by January 1945); 370-385 (Avenger June 1945); 301-326 (Skyraider); 410-454 (Skyraider January 1956); 410-454 (Gannet); 760-777, 260-264, 330-333, 070-074 & 031-040 (Gannet January 1965); 363-370 (Sea King); 180-187 (Sea King September 1985); 180-192 (Sea King January 2007);
Fin Carrier/Shore Codes	P (Avenger June 1945); CW:J:Z:O (Skyraider); CU:E:R:B:A:V (Skyraider January 1956); CU:BY:R:V:H:E:CU (Gannet); BY:LM, V:H, H:BY, E & R (Gannet January 1965); CU:R:N:L (Sea King January 2007);

849 Naval Air Squadron (849 NAS), also referred to as 849 Squadron, is an inactive Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It most recently operated the Merlin HM2 from February until April 2020.

It was formed during the Second World War as an aircraft carrier based torpedo-bomber, unit, flying missions against Japanese targets in the Far East. Its service since the Second World War has been as an airborne early warning squadron, flying fixed winged Douglas Skyraiders and Fairey Gannets from the Royal Navy's fixed wing carriers from 1952 until 1978, and airborne early warning Westland Sea King helicopters from 1982 to 2018.