RAF Maydown

RAF Maydown, on the east bank of the Foyle near Londonderry in Northern Ireland, opened in 1942 and is best remembered for its naval role. Taken over by the Fleet Air Arm — as HMS Shrike and later HMS Gannet — it was the base where the Fairey Swordfish flights for merchant aircraft carriers were formed and worked up, and it housed a combined anti-submarine tactical school for the Battle of the Atlantic. Many naval squadrons passed through, alongside RAF and American units. The station closed after the war and the site is now an industrial estate.