| Unit Name: | 711 Naval Air Squadron |
| Dates: | Royal Air Force 15 July 1936 - 24 May 1939 Royal Navy 24 May 1939 - 21 January 1940 9 September 1944 - 11 December 1945 |
| Type: | Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron |
| Role: |
|
| Size: | Squadron |
| Command Structure: | Fleet Air Arm |
| Garrison: | RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw) |
| Identification Symbol: | 067-071 (Osprey & Walrus) UM-UX (Walrus 1936) 067-071 (Walrus 1937) F9A+ (Walrus from May 1939) C5A+ & C6A+ (Barracuda) C1A+ (Avenger) C6A+ (Avenger) |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Identification Markings |
| Aircraft Attack: | Fairey Barracuda Grumman Avenger |
| Aircraft Bomber: | Hawker Osprey |
| Aircraft Patrol: | Supermarine Walrus |
| Aircraft Trainer: | Avro Anson |
711 Naval Air Squadron (711 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded in December 1945. It was first formed from 447 (Catapult) Flight in 1936 and operated out of the Island of Malta, providing flights for the Royal Navy’s 1st Cruiser Squadron. By the beginning of World War II it had become a Squadron and was based in Egypt, but disbanded in 1940 when the Fleet Air Arm centralised the operations of the 700 series "Catapult" flights attached to catapult units. It reformed in September 1944 to provide torpedo bomber reconnaissance (TBR) training. Based at HMS Jackdaw in Fife, Scotland, it was operational for just over one year before it was absorbed by 785 Naval Air Squadron.
711 Naval Air Squadron originally formed as711 (Catapult) Flight, out of 447 (Catapult) Flight in 1936. It was based at RAF Kalafrana, Malta, and tasked with supporting ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, specifically the 1st Cruiser Squadron. It was equipped initially with Hawker Osprey, a navalised version of the Hawker Hart biplane light bomber aircraft, which were embarked in the heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy. The Flight had achieved Squadron status by the beginning of World War Two and had replaced the Hawker Osprey with Supermarine Walrus, a British single-engine amphibious biplane and had moved to Aboukir, in Egypt. It was absorbed into 700 Naval Air Squadron in 1940.
711 (Catapult) Flight operated a number of ships’ flights between 1936 and 1940 whilst based out of Malta, including between 1936 and 1940, between 1936 and 1938, between 1936 and 1940 and between 1936 and 1939.
711 Naval Air Squadron reformed on 9 September 1944, as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance (TBR) training squadron, based at RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw), in Fife, Scotland and operating with Fairey Barracuda, which was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber. During August 1945 some of the Fairey Barracuda aircraft were replaced with Grumman TBF Avenger, an American torpedo bomber operated by the Fleet Air Arm. This part of the squadron was an Avenger Operational Training Unit. In December 1945, 711 Naval Air Squadron disbanded at HMS Jackdaw. The need for the type of training the squadron provided had decreased with the end of the Second World War and the remainder of the squadron became ‘C’ Flight of 785 Naval Air Squadron.
711 Naval Air Squadron operated a number of different aircraft types:
711 Naval Air Squadron operated from a naval air station of the Royal Navy in the UK and a number of airbases overseas:
List of commanding officers of 711 Naval Air Squadron with month and year of appointment: