880 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft carrier-based squadron formed in January 1941. The squadron served throughout the Second World War being embarked in the carriers HMS Furious, Indomitable, Argus and Implacable serving off East Africa, in the Mediterranean, off Norway and in the Far East. It was disbanded on 11 September 1945 at Schofields, Sydney, Australia.
Seafires of 880 and 801 Squadrons aboard HMS Implacable in 1945. Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers are ranged at the aft end of the ship's flight deck
A VS 880 Tracker aboard HMCS Bonaventure in 1966
HMS Argus was a British aircraft carrier that served in the Royal Navy from 1918 to 1944. She was converted from an ocean liner that was under construction when the First World War began and became the first aircraft carrier with a full-length flight deck that allowed wheeled aircraft to take off and land. After commissioning, the ship was involved for several years in the development of the optimum design for other aircraft carriers. Argus also evaluated various types of arresting gear, general procedures needed to operate a number of aircraft in concert and fleet tactics. The ship was too top-heavy as originally built, and had to be modified to improve her stability in the mid-1920s. She spent one brief deployment on the China Station in the late 1920s before being placed in reserve for budgetary reasons.
Argus in harbour in 1918, painted in dazzle camouflage
Argus in the late 1920s
Five Sea Hurricanes and a single Seafire lined up in the hangar, c. 1942–1944
Argus at sea during Operation Torch in late 1942