The book follows the unusual organization needed to support aircraft dispersed among merchant aircraft carriers. Each No. 836 Naval Air Squadron shipboard flight received a letter suffix, allowing one large squadron to be divided across many MAC ships. At its peak the squadron controlled 92 aircraft, a naval aviation record that exceeded the 63 seaplanes administered by No. 700 Naval Air Squadron. Unlike No. 700, however, No. 836 had its own commanding officer, and the lieutenant commander's rank looked modest beside RAF practice for a force with that many three-person aircrews. The smaller No. 860 squadron supplied Dutch personnel for two Dutch MAC ships. Their Swordfish flew 4,177 patrols during repeated North Atlantic crossings, showing sustained coverage rather than occasional emergency sorties. Although no MAC-launched Swordfish was recorded making a successful attack on a U-boat, no ship was lost from a convoy while a MAC ship was present.
Chapter · 11:17-12:29
MAC squadrons and their Atlantic convoy record
The scale and results of MAC-ship aviation show how continuous Swordfish patrols protected Atlantic convoys even without a recorded successful attack on a U-boat.