Fighter All Weather (FAW) of the Fleet Air Arm.

Correlation of 890 Squadron to Ark Royal Sept 12th 1961 to December 1963

  • 12th September 1961. Commissioning ceremony at Devonport. Captain D.C.E.F. Gibson DSC. RN. in command
  • 7th October 1961 leave Dockyard for shakedown trials
  • 27th October 1961 Enter Devonport for pre foreign service leave.
  • 13th November 1961 depart Devonport. Embark the Air Group. 800, 815, 849C and 890 Squadrons
  • 890 Squadron under command of Lt. Cdr. D. Monsell. RN.
  • Passage to Gibraltar and flying stations en route.
  • 17th to 20th November 1961 Gibraltar
  • 23rd November 1961 Malta areas to begin 1st phase of workup.
  • 1st to 5th December 1961 visit Naples
  • 5th to 8th December 1961 second phase of workup
  • 8th to 10th December 1961 Grand Harbour Malta
  • 10th to 16th December 1961 continue second phase of workup
  • 16th December 1961 Grand Harbour Malta for three weeks SMP and Christmas
  • 5th January 1962 Leave Malta and commence Phase 3 of workup
  • Finish ex Arkex2 (52 hours continuous flying stations)
  • 12th January 1962 enter Gibraltar for six hours
  • 16th January 1962 enter Devonport. Leave and Dry dock DMP.
  • 2nd March 1962. Out of dry dock and sail 9th March 1962
  • 10th March 1962 embark the air group including 890 Squadron
  • 15th to 19th March 1962 flyex in Malta areas and passage to Port Said 22nd March.
  • 23rd March 1962 transit Suez Canal
  • 27th March 1962 anchor off Aden. (Start LOA)
  • 27th to 31st March 1962 flyex off Aden (Khormaksar as Diversion) and passage to Penang Malaysia arriving 9th March 1962
  • 9th to 12th April 1962 flyex off RAAF Butterworth and enter Singapore No 8 berth 12th April after 34 days at sea
  • 24th April 1962 sail Singapore for ex Fantail and Sea Devil
  • 5th to 9th May enter Subic Bay Philippines
  • 9th May 1962 sail Subic Bay for exercises
  • 12th May 1962 Sea Vixen Lost. Crew safe.
  • 17th May 1963 anchored Green Island Hong Kong
  • 26th May 1962 Leave Hong Kong for exercises
  • Early June enter Hong Kong and sail 5rh June 1962 for exercises and passage to Okinawa
  • 9th June 1962 enter Okinawa and sail 16th June 1962 for ex Potluck
  • 21st June 1962 Buckner Bay, Okinawa, sail 23rd June 1962.
  • Fast passage to Subic Bay arriving 24th June 1962
  • 29th June 1962 enter Singapore
  • 16th July sail Singapore, flyex and 21st to 22nd July at Pulau Tioman
  • 24th to 26th July 1962 exercise Fotex 62
  • 27th July 1962 enter Singapore , sail 6th August, flyex.
  • 10th August 1962 depart Singapore waters for Australia
  • 19th to 30th August, Fremantle Australia
  • 1st to 14th September 1962 passage to Singapore. Flying cancelled due heavy swell
  • 28th September 1962 leave Singapore for ex Pintail
  • 5th October 1962 enter Hong Kong. Night flying cancelled en route due Typhoon Dinah
  • 12th October 1962 depart Hong Kong ex Fantail2
  • 19th October 1962 enter Singapore
  • 25th October 1962, depart Singapore with the complete 11th Sphinx Battery of the Royal Artillery on the Flight Deck
  • 1st November 1962, arrive Aden and disembark RA.
  • 5th to 9th November 1962 flyex
  • 11th to 13th November 1962 Aden
  • 13th November 1962, sail Aden for ex Hollow Laugh and Longshot
  • 16th to 21st November 1962 passage to Mombasa
  • 22nd November 1962 arrive Kilidini Harbour, Mombasa
  • 26th November 1962 depart Mombasa
  • 29th November 1962. Sea Vixen Lost at night. Crew ejected safely.
  • 10th December 1962 arrive Gibraltar
  • 15th December 1962 arrive Plymouth Sound
  • 23rd January 1963, change of Command from Captain D.C.E.F. Gibson DSC. RN. to Captain M.P. Pollock MVO. DSC. RN.
  • 4th February 1963, leave Devonport for Lyme Bay exercise areas
  • 4th to 9th February 1963, Deck Trials for Buccaneer Mk1 and VSTOL experimental P 1127
  • 9th to 12th February 1963 at anchor Weymouth Bay and to Portsmouth
  • 19th February 1963 leave Portsmouth and embark airgroup including 890 Squadron.
  • 24th to 26th February 1963 at anchor Weymouth Bay
  • 29th February 1963 alongside Devonport
  • 4th March 1963 sail for flyex and ex Dawn Breeze.
  • 16th March 1963 alongside Devonport
  • 19th to 21st March 1963 passage to Gibraltar and to Dry Dock No1.
  • 3rd May 1963 sail Gibraltar. Service held over grave of the third HMS Ark Royal
  • 4th May 1963 embark air group including 890 Squadron off the Balearic Islands
  • 6th May 1963, brief anchor off Marsaxllok, Malta then sail for Suez Canal
  • 10th May 1963, transit Suez Canal arrive Aden 13th May
  • 14th to 18th May 1963, ex Brown Trout
  • 19th to 21st May 1963 at Aden sail 21st May
  • 22nd May 1963, flyex
  • 3rd June 1963 passage to Mombasa 7th to 19th June
  • 19th June 1963 to 25th June flyex and passage to Gan
  • 6th July 1963 ORI and 7th July anchor Lankawi, West Malaysia
  • 8th and 9th July 1963 ex Birdbarge and to Singapore 11th July
  • 25th July 1963 leave Singapore for ex Fotex 63 and anchor Pulau Tioman, East Malaysia 28th July to 3rd August 1963
  • 6th August 1963 arrive Singapore sailing for exercise off Singapore 27th August, returning Singapore 28th August
  • 29th August 1963 sailed Singapore for flyex East Malaysia
  • Sea Vixen Lost. Crew ejected safely
  • 2nd to 5th September 1963 passage to Hong Kong and anchor Junk Bay
  • 14th September 1963 depart Hong Kong for ex Dovetail 17th to 19th September and to Singapore 20th September
  • 23rd September 1063 leave Singapore for flyex off RAAF Butterworth and passage to Gulf of Oman 27th September
  • 5th October at Khor al Fakkan
  • 7th October 1963 enter Persian Gulf for ex Biltong
  • 18th to 31st October 1963 at Mombasa
  • Returned to Plymouth late November/December via Suez Canal and Gibraltar.
  • Accident Summary for 4th Commission. Three Sea Vixens Lost. All aircrew safe.

Gun Salute. HMS Ark Royal enters French Navy Base Toulon. May 1960.
Lt Mike King of 890 Sqn manning aircraft. Usually crewed with Lt John Harvey.
HMS Ark Royal at Hong Kong
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