On this day 15 June 1953
Published: 15 Jun 2013
On this day 15 June 1953 Queen’s Coronation Review at Spithead
Four dragonfly helicopters from 705 Sqn lead the Fleet Air Arm flypast over the Coronation Fleet Review. Over three hundred aircraft from 38 squadrons of the Royal Navy, RNVR, and Commonwealth navies, flew past, led by a Sea Venom flown by Flag Officer (Air).
The Queen reviewed her Fleet in HMS Surprise but on HMS Eagle the crew had their own ‘surprise’ when a visitor went into labour prematurely after the guns fired a salute. The baby was named Elizabeth (after the Queen) Aquila (the latin word for eagle)
Images courtesy FAA Museum