Every war the Royal Thai Naval Air Division has faced
No combat sortie by Thai naval aircraft is recorded in the sources for this page. At Ko Chang in January 1941 the navy lost ships but the aircraft overhead were the air force’s. The Manhattan Rebellion of 1951, a navy coup attempt, ended with air force AT-6s bombing the navy’s flagship and all naval combat aircraft handed to the air force. In the 2025 border conflict the Royal Thai Navy reported fighting in Trat Province, an account Cambodia disputes, but no naval air role was published. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Franco-Thai War of 1940–1941 to the Cambodian border conflict of 2025.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franco-Thai WarBattle of Ko ChangRoyal Thai Navy seaplane squadron | 1940–1941 | France (Vichy) | Nakajima E8N and Watanabe WS-103S floatplanes (in service at the time) | |||
|
No combat role for naval aircraft is recorded in the sources reached. The navy had owned floatplanes since 1938, and the Franco-Thai War of 1940–1941 was the first war in which it could have used them. Wikipedia’s account of the decisive naval action, at Ko Chang on 17 January 1941, records no Thai naval aircraft: a French squadron caught the Thai ships at anchor, and the Thai aircraft that appeared at about 08:40 and dropped bombs close to the French cruiser Lamotte-Picquet as she withdrew belonged to the Royal Thai Air Force. French Loire 130 seaplanes flew reconnaissance. The Royal Thai Air Force’s own part in the war is covered on its page. Whether the navy’s seaplanes flew patrols or reconnaissance during the war could not be confirmed, and it is listed here so that the absence is explicit rather than assumed. Outcome A Japanese-mediated settlement in 1941; at sea the French won at Ko Chang. No source reached describes Thai naval air operations in this war; Thai and French casualty figures for Ko Chang differ widely.
|
||||||
| Manhattan Rebellionthe 1951 navy coup attemptRoyal Thai Navy (naval aviation) | 1951 | Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Air Force (government forces) | ||||
|
The navy’s coup attempt failed; the air force bombed the navy’s flagship, and the navy lost its combat aircraft afterwards. On 29 June 1951 navy officers seized the prime minister, Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, at a ceremony aboard the American dredger Manhattan and took him to the flagship HTMS Sri Ayudhya. The army, police and air force fought back. Wikipedia records that the disabled flagship was shelled from the shore and, by the afternoon, bombed by North American AT-6 trainers of the air force; Phibunsongkhram swam ashore and the ship sank on 1 July. The official toll was 17 military personnel, eight police and 103 civilians killed and more than 500 wounded, while the New York Times reported 68 dead. For naval aviation the consequences outlasted the fighting: Wikipedia says all naval combat aircraft were handed over to the air force. The Fireflies and Helldivers delivered that year were among the last combat types the navy flew until the Harriers and Corsairs of the 1990s. Outcome Government victory; all naval combat aircraft were handed over to the air force, the marines were cut and placed under army command, and the navy’s bases were moved out of Bangkok. Casualty figures differ between the official count and the New York Times. Which naval aircraft were transferred, and when, was not detailed in the sources reached.
|
||||||
| Cambodian–Thai border conflict2025 border crisisRoyal Thai Navy (Chanthaburi and Trat front) | 2025 | Cambodia | ||||
|
No naval aviation role was published; the navy reported ship and ground operations in Trat. The navy fought the 2025 border war on its own coastal flank. According to Wikipedia’s compilation, the Royal Thai Navy reported on 26 July 2025 that Cambodian troops had attacked three points along the border at Ban Chamrak in Trat Province; it said it had repelled them by 05:40 in Operation Trat Phikhat Phairi 1 and had deployed a task force of four vessels, including fast attack craft and patrol gunboats, near Ko Kut and Ban Hat Lek at 08:20. Cambodia’s government said its forces acted in self-defence against Thai incursions. The air strikes Thailand acknowledged were flown by the air force’s F-16s and Gripens. Whether the Naval Air Division’s helicopters, Cessna 337 forward air controllers or drones from Chanthaburi flew in support was not published in the sources reached. Outcome Ceasefire of 28 July 2025; renewed fighting in December and a ceasefire from 27 December 2025. Claims about the fighting in Trat are the Royal Thai Navy’s, as reported by Wikipedia; Cambodia disputes Thailand’s account of who attacked first.
|
||||||
Nothing matches that search.
Every figure, checked
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Royal Thai Naval Air Division.