Formed in March 1943, No. 490 Squadron was based at Jui, near Freetown, in West Africa and initially flew the Consolidated Catalina flying boat. Becoming operational in July, its work mainly consisted of escorting convoys, carrying out maritime patrols, and search and rescue missions along the coast of West Africa. It began using the Short Sunderland flying boat in 1944 but by this time the threat that U-boats posed to convoys in the area was largely non-existent and the squadron saw little enemy action. It was disbanded in August 1945.
