Editing Fleet Air Arm (section)

===Beginnings===
{{main|Royal Naval Air Service}}

British naval flying started in 1909, with the construction of an [[airship]] for naval duties.<ref name=FAAA>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/History/Index.htm |title=Naval Aviation history and the Fleet Air Arm Origins |work=fleetairarmarchive.net |access-date=8 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519005147/http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/History/Index.htm |archive-date=19 May 2015 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> In 1911 the Royal Navy graduated its first aeroplane pilots at the [[Royal Aero Club]] [[RAF Eastchurch|flying ground near Eastchurch]], [[Isle of Sheppey]] under the tutelage of pioneer aviator [[George Bertram Cockburn]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200418.html?search=cockburn |title=Training of Naval Officers at Eastchurch |issue=124 |volume=III |page=420 |journal=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=13 May 1911 |access-date=8 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525013959/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200418.html?search=cockburn |archive-date=25 May 2015 |url-status=live  }}</ref> In May 1912, naval and army aviation were combined to become the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC). The Naval Wing of the RFC lasted until July 1914 when the Royal Navy reformed its air branch, under the [[Air Department]] of the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]], naming it the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).{{sfn|Roskill|1969|p=156}} By the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, the RNAS had more aircraft under its control than the remaining RFC.{{sfn|Bradbeer|2014|p=}}{{page needed|date=March 2020}} The roles of the RNAS were fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy ships and submarines, attacking enemy coastal territory and defending Britain from enemy air raids, along with deployment along the Western Front. In April 1918 the RNAS, which at this time had 67,000 officers and men, 2,949 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations, merged with the RFC to form the [[Royal Air Force]].{{sfn|Boyne|2003|p=70}}