| Unit Name: | 786 Naval Air Squadron |
| Dates: | 4 November 1940 - 21 December 1945 |
| Type: | Fleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron |
| Role: | Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron |
| Size: | Squadron |
| Command Structure: | Fleet Air Arm |
| Garrison: | RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw) |
| Identification Symbol: | initially individual letters C1A+ to C7A+ (1943 - 1945) |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Identification Markings |
| Aircraft Attack: | Fairey Albacore Fairey Swordfish Fairey Barracuda |
| Aircraft Trainer: | Avro Anson |
786 Naval Air Squadron (786 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which last disbanded in late 1945, absorbed by 785 Naval Air Squadron. 786 NAS formed at HMS Jackdaw, RNAS Crail, in November 1940, as a Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron. It operated a few different types of torpedo bomber aircraft, initially equipped with Fairey Albacore and shortly afterwards joined by Fairey Swordfish, these aircraft were replaced by Fairey Barracuda at the of 1942.
786 Naval Air Squadron formed as a Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron at RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw), in Fife, Scotland, on 4 November 1940, out of the naval element of the Torpedo Training Unit RAF, from RAF Abbotsinch, in Renfrewshire. It was initially equipped with nine Fairey Albacore, a British biplane torpedo bomber, which was later augmented with Fairey Swordfish, also a British biplane torpedo bomber. In December 1942 the squadron started to receive Fairey Barracuda, a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber, and over the next month these replaced the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore aircraft. At the end of summer during 1944 the squadron received a number of Avro Anson, a multirole aircraft, which were fitted out as air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar ‘classroom’ trainer aircraft. 786 Naval Air Squadron disbanded into 785 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw), on 21 December 1945.
The squadron operated a number of different aircraft types, including:
786 Naval Air Squadron operated from a single naval air station of the Royal Navy, in Scotland:
List of commanding officers of 786 Naval Air Squadron with day, month and year of appointment: