847 Naval Air Squadron


 * "3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron" redirects here

847 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It operates the Westland Lynx AH7 helicopter and provides armed reconnaissance and light assault support to 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. The squadron was previously known as 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron, from which it re-formed on 1 September 1995.

The squadron is based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset, a Royal Naval establishment, with helicopters drawn from an Army Air Corps pool and flown by Royal Marines and Royal Navy pilots.

Operations in the Far East in the 1960s
The squadron served with distinction in support of the Royal Marines during 1960s in the Far East initially (1963) with the Whirlwind HAS.7 and later with the Wessex HU5. For some time the squadron was based ashore at HMS Simbang, at Sembawang in Singapore.

Falklands War
847 Naval Air Squadron was reformed to take part in the Falklands campaign on 4 May 1982, operating 24 Westland Wessex HU.5 helicopters with Royal Naval personnel recruited mainly from RNAS Yeovilton. The aircraft were transported from the United Kingdom to the South Atlantic aboard RFA Engadine and the container vessel Atlantic Causeway.

Atlantic Causeway disembarked 12 Wessexes of 847 NAS on 1 June 1982, with the detachment from Engadine arriving on 9 June. The squadron's Wessexes, together with those of 845 NAS initially operated from San Carlos and provided much needed transport support to the advance of British forces on Port Stanley, with forward operating bases being set up at Teal Inlet and Fitzroy. After the surrender of Argentine forces on the Falklands on 14 June, 847 NAS relocated to Navy Point, a headland directly north of Port Stanley. 847 NAS remained in the Falklands until September 1982, providing air support to UK Forces.

847 NAS was one of the longest serving units to see action in the Falklands war, spending some 4 months on the islands in total, and leading some members of the squadron to refer to the unit as "84-who?" The squadron was disbanded on 24 September 1982.

1995 to the present
847 NAS reformed at RNAS Yeovilton with Royal Marines pilots and REME engineers on 1 September 1995, from 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron, as a tactical support unit for the Royal Marines Commandos with Lynx AH.7 and Gazelle AH.1 helicopters (the Gazelles have since been withdrawn from use). The squadron has been active in Sierra Leone and in Kosovo. The most significant delpoyment of recent years was to Operation Telic in Iraq. In May 2006, one of the squadron's Lynxes was shot down over Basra in Iraq, killing 5 service personnel onboard including 847's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman. Along with 845, 846 and 848 naval air squadrons, the squadron forms part of the Commando Helicopter Force.

It is stated that several of its Lynx Helicopters are part of the Response Force Task Group.

In lates 2013, it became one of the first FAA front-line squadrons to receive the Lynx Wildcat.