Active 1942-1945 Allegiance Canada | Country Canada Role Bomber Reconnaissance | |
Branch Royal Canadian Air Force Part of Eastern Air Command, RAF Coastal Command | ||
No. 162 Squadron RCAF was a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Formed as a bomber reconnaissance squadron at RCAF Station Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada on 19 May 1942 with Canso A aircraft, the squadron spent an uneventful eighteen months on east coast anti-submarine duty. In January 1944 it was seconded to RAF Coastal Command and stationed at RAF Reykjavik, Iceland to cover the mid-ocean portion of the North Atlantic shipping route.
In May 1944, the squadron moved east to RAF Wick, Scotland to support the invasion of Normandy. Their task was to intercept U-boats operating from Norwegian ports. No. 162 sank four German submarines, and shared in the sinking of a fifth that tried to break through the North Transit Area to attack the Allied D-Day invasion fleet. These engagements took place in the Norwegian Sea roughly 200 miles north of the Shetland Islands, for example at 63°28′00″N 000°43′00″W.
On 24 June 1944 Flight Lieutenant (F/L) D.E. Hornell won the Victoria Cross for attacking and sinking U-1225 despite withering anti-aircraft fire from the U-boat.
No. 162 returned to Camp Maple Leaf at RAF Reykjavik later in the summer of 1944, and remained there until it returned to Canada in June 1945.
No. 162 Squadron was one of the few squadrons that was not renumbered in the 400-series for overseas deployment as were most RCAF units. It was the RCAF's most successful anti-submarine squadron during the Second World War with five U-boats destroyed, one shared sinking and one U-boat damaged.
The squadron flew the Canso during its entire operational lifetime. From the beginning of operations until the end of the war, the squadron flew 2100 sorties and lost 6 aircraft and 34 crew on operations, with a further 3 aircraft and 8 crew lost non-operationally.
The squadron was disbanded at Sydney, Nova Scotia on 7 August 1945.
A Canso at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is restored in the markings and colors of No. 162 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force The museum is located in Hamilton, Ontario.