1st Carrier Air Group
White Ensign
Active30 June 1945 - 8 September 1945
October 1947 - May 1951[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeCarrier Air Group
SizeOne Illustrious-class aircraft carrier plus support ships
Part ofFleet Air Arm
EngagementsWorld War II

The 1st Carrier Air Group (1st CAG) was an aircraft carrier air group of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed in June 1945, for service in the British Pacific Fleet, until disbanding later that year, in the September. The group was embarked on HMS Victorious (R38).[2]

The 1st CAG reformed in October 1947, for embarkation on HMS Implacable (R86). In late 1950 the group was transferred onto HMS Indomitable (92). The 1st Carrier Air Group disbanded in May 1951.[1]

The 1st Carrier Air Group consisted of a number of squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.[1]

SquadronFromToAircraft
849 Naval Air SquadronJun 1945Sep 1945Grumman TBF Avenger
1834 Naval Air SquadronJun 1945Sep 1945Vought F4U Corsair
1836 Naval Air SquadronJun 1945Sep 1945Vought F4U Corsair
801 Naval Air SquadronOct 1947May 1951de Havilland Sea Hornet
813 Naval Air SquadronOct 1947May 1951Blackburn Firebrand

History

1945

The 1st Carrier Air Group was formed on the 30 June 1945, for the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, HMS Victorious (R38), as part of the British Pacific Fleet.[2] During July and August 1945, the latter part of the Second World War, it saw active service over Japan.[3] The 1st Carrier Air Group contained 849 Naval Air Squadron, which operated the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber aircraft, 1834 Naval Air Squadron and 1836 Naval Air Squadron, which were both equipped with Vought F4U Corsair, an American Carrier-based fighter-bomber aircraft,[2] the latter two squadrons previously made up the Fleet Air Arm's 47th Naval Fighter Wing which was absorbed into the 1st Carrier Air Group on its formation.[4]

The group embarked on Victorious in July 1945 for strikes against the Japanese mainland, near Tokyo, up until VJ-Day. Notably, an 849 NAS Avenger, from Victorious, located and scored the first bomb hit on the Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo, which resulted in severe damage, at Beppu Bay, in Kyūshū, on 24 July 1945, that kept the ship out of the remainder of the war.[5]

The 1st Carrier Air Group was disbanded on HMS Victorious’ and the group's return to the United Kingdom, on the 8 September 1945.[2]

1947–1951

The 1st Carrier Air Group reformed in October 1947, for the name ship of her class, HMS Implacable. The 1st CAG was made up of 801 Naval Air Squadron, which operated the Sea Hornet, twin engine, fighter aircraft, and 813 Naval Air Squadron, which was equipped with Firebrand, a British single-engine strike fighter aircraft. On the 12 September 1950, the 1st CAG transferred to the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, HMS Indomitable. The 1st Carrier Air Group disbanded on the 31 May 1951.[1]

Aircraft used

Aircraft used by the naval air squadrons that formed the 1st Carrier Air Group 1945 and 1947-51:

Air Group Commanders

List of commanding officers of the 1st Carrier Air Group, with date of appointment:[2]

1945

  • Cdr J. C. N. Shrubsole, RN, 30 June 1945
  • disbandment, 8 September 1945

1947–1951

  • Lt Cdr D. B. Law, MBE, DSC, RN, 3 November 1948[1]
  • Lt Cdr S. G. Orr, DSC, AFC, RN, 21 November 1949[1]
  • disbandment, 31 May 1951

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ballance 2016, p. 306.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wragg 2019, p. 203.
  3. ↑ Ballance 2016, p. 305.
  4. ↑ Wragg 2019, p. 202.
  5. ↑ "849 Squadron". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 2000–2001. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Bibliography

  • Ballance, Theo (2016). The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm. Air-Britain. ISBN 978-0-85130-489-2.
  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
  • Wragg, David (2019). The Fleet Air Arm Handbook 1939-1945. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9303-6.
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