Every war the Fleet Air Arm has fought
The Fleet Air Arm’s war in Korea was flown from a single carrier, HMAS Sydney: the Australian War Memorial records more than 2,000 sorties, 13 aircraft lost and three aircrew killed, while Wikipedia, citing the official histories, gives 2,366 combat sorties, and both figures are shown. In Vietnam the navy’s helicopter crews served inside a US Army assault helicopter company, so the aircraft lost belonged to the US Army unit and are not given here. The later deployments, from the Gulf in 1990–1991 to Iraq in 2003, were flown by ships’ helicopter flights, and some rest on Wikipedia alone. 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 HMAS Sydney off Korea in 1951 to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
| Conflict | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| Koreaanse OorlogHMAS Sydney off KoreaFleet Air Arm (805, 808 and 817 Squadrons, 21st Carrier Air Group) | 1951–1952 | Noord-Korea en China | Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, Fairey Firefly AS.5 | 2,366 | 13 | |
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Ground attack, armed reconnaissance, artillery spotting, escort and combat air patrol from HMAS Sydney. Sydney operated off Korea from 31 August 1951 to 25 January 1952. Her air group of about 38 aircraft flew operations on roughly 43 days of the 122-day deployment. Sea Furies attacked bridges, rail lines and troops; Fireflies did the same and spotted for ships’ guns. Typhoon Ruth hit the ship on 14 October 1951, and a Firefly, a motor boat and a forklift went overboard while six aircraft on deck were destroyed. Resultaat Sydney returned to Australia in January 1952. Sortie and loss figures are rounded differently by the AWM and the official histories cited by Wikipedia; the AWM figure is used for losses.
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| VietnamoorlogRAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam (EMU)RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam, integrated in the US Army’s 135th Assault Helicopter Company | 1967–1971 | Noord-Vietnam en de Viet Cong | Bell UH-1D/H Iroquois (US Army), Bell UH-1C gunships (US Army) | |||
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Troop lift, gunship escort, resupply and medical evacuation as part of a US Army assault helicopter company. Formation of the flight was announced on 14 July 1967, and the Australian War Memorial dates the navy detachment’s operations with the US Army from October 1967. Each of the four contingents had about 46 people: eight pilots, four observers, four aircrew, 24 maintainers and six administrative staff (Wikipedia). The combined unit called itself the Experimental Military Unit, EMU, and its gunships were nicknamed Taipans. HMAS Sydney, no longer a carrier, made 25 transport voyages to Vietnam between 1965 and 1972, and HMAS Melbourne escorted some of them. A proposal to send navy Skyhawk pilots was dropped in February 1969. Resultaat Withdrawn in June 1971; Unit Citation for Gallantry awarded in 2018. The navy’s own history page on the flight could not be reached; casualty and award figures are from Wikipedia citing navy histories and the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal.
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| GolfoorlogOperation DamaskFleet Air Arm ship’s flights (Seahawk and Squirrel) | 1990–1991 | Irak | Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk, Eurocopter AS350BA Squirrel | 0 | ||
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Ship’s flights for the maritime interception force and the coalition fleet: surface search and forward mine search. In Damask I (September–December 1990) HMAS Adelaide and Darwin each carried a Seahawk of the Seahawk Introduction and Transition Unit and a 723 Squadron Squirrel, and the replenishment ship HMAS Success carried a Squirrel. HMAS Brisbane and Sydney carried Seahawk and Squirrel flights in Damask II during the war itself, and HMAS Darwin returned with an 816 Squadron Seahawk in mid-1991. The helicopters flew ahead of the ships searching for mines and supported boarding operations. Resultaat Flights served in three rotations from September 1990 to September 1991. Drawn from Wikipedia, which cites AWM and navy histories; boarding and sortie numbers not given.
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| Bougainville peace conference supportOperation Lagoon817 Squadron (Sea King) | 1994 | Westland Sea King HAS.50 | 0 | |||
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Helicopter support for operations on Bougainville in 1994. The Bougainville conflict (1988–1998) between the Papua New Guinea government and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army is the background. Wikipedia’s 817 Squadron article records that the squadron supported operations in Bougainville in 1994 and that one aircraft was hit by ground fire. The operation name Lagoon is the one commonly used for the 1994 South Pacific peacekeeping force and is not given in the source read; casualty and conduct claims about the wider conflict are not repeated because they could not be attributed to sources read for this page. Resultaat Short peacekeeping support mission. Single-source (Wikipedia); details not confirmed on a navy page.
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| East Timor interventionINTERFET817 Squadron (Sea King) and ship’s flights | 1999–2000 | Westland Sea King HAS.50 | 0 | |||
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Helicopter transport and logistics from ships for the Australian-led International Force East Timor. 817 Squadron’s Sea Kings served in East Timor in 1999–2000 according to Wikipedia. Details of other navy flights in the force were not found in the sources reached. Resultaat Supported the UN-mandated Australian-led force. Single-source; navy pages could not be reached.
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| Irak-oorlogOperation Falconer816 Squadron (Seahawk) and 817 Squadron (Sea King) flights | 2003 | Irak | Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk, Westland Sea King HAS.50 | 0 | ||
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Ship’s flights for interception, surveillance and support during the invasion of Iraq. HMAS Anzac and HMAS Darwin each carried one 816 Squadron Seahawk, and the amphibious ship HMAS Kanimbla carried one 817 Squadron Sea King. Anzac gave gunfire support to Royal Marines on the Al-Faw peninsula, and on 20 March boarding parties from Kanimbla seized an Iraqi ship carrying 86 naval mines. Resultaat Ships and flights returned after the invasion phase. Drawn from Wikipedia citing the Defence official account.
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Elk cijfer, gecontroleerd
- Australisch oorlogsmonument: Koreaanse Oorlog 1950-1953HMAS Sydney with 805 and 808 (Sea Fury) and 817 (Firefly) Squadrons; over 2,000 sorties; three aircrew and 13 aircraft lost; 340 Australians killed in the war.
- Australisch oorlogsmonument: Vietnamoorlog 1962-1975RAN contributed a helicopter detachment that operated with the US Army from October 1967; 523 Australians died as a result of the war.
Cijfers geverifieerd op 1 oktober 2026. Back to the Fleet Air Arm (Royal Australian Navy).