On this day 15 December 1978
Published: 15 Dec 2012
The last squadron flying Gannets (AEW.3 version) was 849 B Flight which disembarked HMS Ark Royal 15 December 1978 at which time the flight, its headquarters and the aircraft ceased to exist in the Fleet Air Arm.
Derived from earlier ASW versions, the Gannet AEW.3 (Airborne Early Warning) had a distinctive ventral radome, a new fin and rudder, and a more powerful engine than its ASW predecssors.
849 A Flight at RNAS Culdrose began replacing its Sky Raiders with Gannets on 1 February 1960, deploying with them for the first time in HMS Ark Royal on 3 March 1960.