Fleet Air Arm SAR 60^th Anniversary – the Fleet Air Arm marked six decades of lifesaving, officially since 1953.    In the three decades since records were kept, upwards of 10,000 people have been helped by the two remaining RN Search and Rescue units, HMS Gannet at Prestwick and 771 Naval Air Squadron at Culdrose.  Notable in this record were the rescues were the 1979 Fastnet Race, the 2004 Boscastle floods the foundering of the MSC NAPOLI in 2007 and the RIVERDANCE which ran aground at Blackpool during  2008.   Further back in history in 1953 some 840 souls were rescued in a single night that year during the terrible floods which struck eastern England.    Nine other Royal Naval Air Stations have been involved in Search and Rescue over the past 60 years. They were:

            Eglinton (near Londonderry)         Ford (near Littlehampton)            Brawdy (near Haverfordwest)

            Gosport                                            Lee-on-Solent (HMS DAEDALUS) Portland

            Yeovilton                                          Lossiemouth                                    Anthorn (Cumbria)