Airgroup information

I've started a new section on my site for airgroups in the pacific theater. It's an outgrowth of a book on Essex class carriers I'm working on and research I did for Dragon's 1/350th CVL-22 kit, but it's not complete. I have mostly weekly reports for the war the Navy issued with locations of their aircraft, and a whole library of books I've collected over the years as a model builder and WWII enthusiast, and, of course, google.

My first iteration was CV-9 Essex's page. I'll go back and upgrade it later, but I'm pressing on with newer pages when as well so it doesn't have some of the features of the CVL-22 Independence page, which contains notes about aircraft changes, operations, etc. (but is only for 1943 at this point... I'm working on extending it).

However, I have one problem in continuity. For the majority of the way the reports list squadron, aircraft, and type, such as what you see on those pages. For a couple of months though they went with a "streamlined" report that condensed it down to something like "40 VF" instead of listing how many photo-recon, radar-equipped planes, etc., were attached to a ship.

A case in point is CVL-22 Independence in the fall of 1944 when CVLGN-41 (a night "fighter" group consisting of VF(N)-41 and VT(N)-41 was operating on board. The reports are of no help, but the book Dark sky, black sea: aircraft carrier night and all-weather operations does help. However, there are still questions, as there was apparently some transition before the ship left and it is unclear exactly how many of what type they had, and when. There was a split of regular F6F-5s and radar-equipped -5Ns, but the book states that at some point she received more -5Ns from another ship. It just doesn't say when so I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to present this information.

So, to put it succinctly, is there a good source for aircraft assigned, etc., overall in book form? I have squadron and aircraft type histories, which are a big help at times, but at others leave much to be desired.

Also, any formatting feedback you want to give is welcome; I'm doing these as a test for the books when they come out, trying to figure the best way to visually present a lot of information. The camouflage colors are off, but that's a worry for later, once I've got a couple of the ship entries done.

 

On the swap you can figure it out another way. Find out what other carriers were with the Independence around the time the swap was made that carried these aircraft then find which one(s) departed the combat area for refit, or other reasons. That would be the choice(s) for where the planes came from. It isn't uncommon for carrier airwings to swap aircraft between deploying ships and ones coming off deployment.

 

I will say I like the format. It's simple and pretty clear. I'd be interested in seeing it for the early war carriers and airgroups. (I have some good information from books like First Team, but I'm always eager to have a handy condensed version for reference. Ambitious project. I look forward to seeing more of it. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the suggestion T.A., but that's not going to help as that's just guessing. I'm trying to eliminate the guessing. You also had CASUs they would get aircraft from and a host of other variables.

Symphonic: the hope is to have every thing from at least December 7th 1941 to August 1945, but in some cases I might be able to go back earlier and will include that information if I can.

 

Early air groups bore the same number distinction as the hull numbers of the ships they were assigned to. Later as more piolets and squadrons came on line It was decided that squadron adhesion was more important to ship loyalty. Many squads like VF11 on GuadalCanal so ver little ship board action.Wit6h more ships andnor squadrons special tail markings were developed to that air guops could gather with other planes from their squadron with minimal radio communication. On the Essex class ships the large fighter squadrons were often broken in to fighter (VF squadrons and VBF fighter-bomber squadrons). These VBF Squadrons had to first deliver ordinance as VBF94 off the Lexington "Thee Blue Ghost" a name giver for her somewhat disihguihing color pattern. In late July 1945 the rolled in on the Ise and my Uncle LtCdr Lester Walln parked a 1000 lgs bomb down her stack that exploded her boilers, broke her keil and she settled into the mud of Kure harbor never to fire another shot.

 

Not quite that simple.

At the start of the war, US carrier air groups were not numbered at all. They were referred to as Lexington Air Group (LAG), Saratoga Air Group (SAG), Ranger Air Group (RAG) and so on up through Hornet Air Group (HAG). While at the start, except for YAG, squadron numbers tended to match ship numbers, e.g. Enterprise (CV-6) carried VB-6, VF-6, VS-6 and VT-6, this system quickly broke down based on squadron availability. Yorktown was an early example, heading off to war with a nominal Ranger fighter squadron, VF-42, aboard vice the usual VF-5 which was still transitioning to the F4F and, hence, unavailable. VF-42 stayed aboard Yorktown through Coral Sea when most of its pilots were TAD’d into VF-3 for the Midway deployment. There was only one true “Yorktown” squadron aboard the ship at Midway, VB-5, which, even then, was leavened with pilots TAD from VS-3. The other three squadrons making up the YAG for Midway were the aforementioned VF-3, plus VB-3 and VT-3, all from the SAG.

After Midway, the concept of matching squadron numbers with carrier numbers, in the Pacific anyway, pretty much went out the window as evidenced by air group complements in the carrier actions in the Solomons. One really needs a scorecard to keep track of which squadron was aboard which carrier. On the east coast, the field was left pretty much to Ranger whose RAG squadrons kept their relatively consistent numbering: VS-41, VS-42, VF-41, and VT-4. One might note, however, that for Operation TORCH the RAG also included VF-9, drafted from the air group scheduled to go aboard USS Essex (CV-9).

Speaking of VF-9, we find that numbered air groups start to crop up in the late winter - early spring of 1942 with the establishment of CVLG-25 (CVLG=Carrier Air Group, Small; CVG = Carrier Air Group) on 15 Feb 1942 and CVG-9 on 1 Mar at NAS Norfolk. On the west coast, CVG-10 stood up at NAS San Diego on 16 April.

By the end of the summer CVG-11 (including the above post’s noted VF-11) was forming at NAS San Diego. While some histories will cite an October 1942 establishment date for CVG-11, the navy’s own aircraft location reports show it as existing in July; my father reported to VF-11 in August 1942 following his survivor’s leave after the Battle of Midway. Other CVG-11 squadrons were VB-11, VS-11 (which was redesignated VB-21 when carrier VS squadrons were eliminated as a designation on 1 March 1943) and VT-11. Other air groups forming in 1942 were CVLG-22, CVLG-23, CVG-16, and CVLG-24. The early CVLGs generally started with a VF squadron and a VC squadron, the VC squadron originally equipped with both TBFs and SBDs. Over time, the CVLG VC squadrons became VT squadrons, losing their SBDs in the process and sticking to TBFs. Later CVLGs stood up with a VF and a VT squadron, skipping the VC transition process.

While, true, a goodly number of numbered air groups went out with a carrier of the same hull number, it can easily be said that there were quite a bit more than just a few which did not. CVG-10 went west aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) in October 1942. CVG-11 was scheduled to go out on Hornet (CV-8), but that ship’s loss threw a big wrench in that plan and after camping out at Maui for a couple of months the entire air group ended up on Guadalcanal in April 1943, flying combat until mid-July before rotating stateside. CVG-11 later went out for a combat tour aboard the new Hornet (CV-12). It is not at all a difficult task to find carriers with an numbered air group where the air group number does not the carrier's hull number.

VBF squadrons started to appear in CVG complements in January 1945. In most cases it was a relatively simple matter of splitting off about half the group’s existing VF squadron and then augmenting the old VF and the new VBF with a smattering of pilots from the group VB squadron which lost about 6 pilot billets at the same time. In many cases, all six of the VB types went to the VBF squadron. The factors behind the creation of VBF squadrons were that the need for additional fighters in combat operations had resulted in fighter squadrons with up to 70 planes and 90 pilots. It was recognized that this size unit created administrative nightmares so the obvious solution was to split it into two units. At the same time it was also recognized that the nature of the war had changed to where a fighter type aircraft carrying bombs was just about as effective as a built-for-purpose dive bomber such as the SB2C. So, VB squadrons were reduced in size, VF squadrons became split into VF and VBF squadrons and the individual aircraft complements of both slightly increased vice the reduced VB aircraft with the now extraneous VB pilots going to one or the other, or both, the VF and the VBF squadrons. Some, not necessarily amongst this august forum, like to believe that the standard practice was for the VF squadron to operate F6Fs and the VBF squadron to operate F4Us and this was certainly a common practice, however it was not a hard and fast doctrine. There were CVGs where the VF and VBF squadrons both operated F6Fs and still other CVGs where the VF and VBF squadrons both operated F4Us. VBF squadrons were only found on CVs and CVBs (CVB = Aircraft Carrier, Large; the Midway class), they did not serve aboard CVLs or CVEs. With the end of the war, the VBF designation went away and those squadrons not disestablished in the end of war draw down were re-desginated as VFs and usually renumbered.

Anyway, the whole business of numbering air groups revolved around the very simple concept that there was a need for more air groups than carrier decks. This allowed for the rotation of complete groups, into combat, back stateside for reforming, and back into combat. Thus a carrier remained available for combat operations while air groups, the pointy end of the stick, were rotated on and off. A very few air groups completed as many as three combat tours, the remainder were pretty evenly split between completing two tours or completing only one. The rotation of air groups was standard amongst CVGs, CVLGs, and CVEGs (certain Carrier Air Group, Escort; which served aboard Sangamon class CVEs and in some cases aboard CVLs). In the CVE community, rotation of the single ship/single squadron assigned VC squadrons was also a standardized practice, though in the Atlantic such rotations were generally a shorter duration than those in the Pacific.


Regards

 

Yes and no. Administratively, yes, but the crews and airframes had been around for a bit before them. Yorktown comes out of refit in October of 1944 with Air Group Three attached. VF-3 has 47 Hellcats assigned (36 is normal. She has 41 "Straight" hellcats, four night fighters, and two photo-recon hellcats.) By December VF-3 is operating 54 Hellcats, January hits a peak of 73, and February falls slightly to about 67. In March, VF-3 is split, with half of the pilots going to VBF-3. It's the same aircraft and pilots, just under a new squadron to help administration. The numbers stay the same - between the two squadrons there are 73 aircraft reported (37 for VF-3 and 36 for VBF-3).

If we look at Air Group 11 on Hornet, at the beginning of December VF-11 reports 50 hellcats (ten -3s, one -3P, thirty-five -5s, and four -5Ns); by the end they're up to 59 (ten -3s, forty-five -5s, and four -5Ns). The weekly logs are a little confusing after this. VBF-11 starts showing up in the January 2nd log with a note "ordered to commission January 2," but with no aircraft assigned, and VF-11's numbers keep climbing. 79 at the end of January and 74 in the middle of February when Air Group 17 takes over. VBF-11 never has aircraft officially assigned according to the weekly logs for the locations of Naval Aircraft. The same thing happens to VBF-17 while on Hornet, so I'm not sure if this is an oddity with how Hornet reports aircraft or what.

This whole shift, however, was largely a response to the increased air threat (kamikaze) and was an evolution over time. First the put more fighters on deck, then they start using them as part of the strikes more often while also having a lot more paperwork headaches for the VF staff, so eventually they administratively split the squadrons up, but they were already in place as a force. Another technique you see is the addition of USMC Corsair Squadrons, such as what Essex and Franklin had.

One other little tweak for you, the Air Groups also went through designation changes, from CAG to CVG. So your comment about a score cards is pretty spot on, and that's what I've been trying to do, albeit not so much recently as I'd like.

 

Not the way I learned it. Called in the vernacular, Carrier Air Group, the designation was CVG for fleet carriers, CVLG for light carriers and CVEG for escort carriers operating more than one squadron (Sangamon class CVEs, normally, but not exclusively).

A "CAG" is the Commander Air Group. Even today with Carrier Air Wings (CVW), the commander of the air wing is called the “CAG”.

When one says or writes, for example, “CAG-14” to the cognoscenti this translates to “Commander, Air Group Fourteen,” it does not translate to “Air Group Fourteen.” In the US naval service a commander acquires the name of his command. For example, when the captain of the USS Enterprise departs the ship, he is piped over the side and announced “Enterprise Departing.” When the rear admiral commanding the carrier division comes aboard, he is piped aboard and the announcement made: “CarDiv14 arriving” and as he salutes the colors, then the OOD, his flag breaks at the peak indicating his presence aboard (timing of same is a fine art). CAG whatever is the commander of the whatever air group, it is not the designation of the air group. Using "CAG" as a designation is an incorrect application in those rare instances when found amongst practitioners and an anachronism when employed by non-practitioners.

Effective 2 January 1945, 33 VBF squadrons were ordered to commission in active CVGs. Not included were CVGs 4, 5, 81, 82, and 84, each of which had Marine VMFs already assigned. VBFs do not appear in squadron tables before 2 January 1945. VBFs were ordered formed regardless of whether or not the CVG was actively engaged in combat operations or in a reforming/training status stateside. Some, not all, VBFs ordered to commission for CVGs at sea were administratively established ashore in anticipation of an impending rotation out of combat. VBFs ordered established on this date were: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 80, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99 and 100.

The location reports are certainly a treasure trove of information, but you have to remember that what is being reported is just the number of aircraft in inventory. VBF-17 certainly did exist as a combat organization, regardless of aircraft being reported as belonging to VF-17. VBF-17 pilots were credited with 123 victories in their time aboard Hornet; in the same period VF-17 drivers were credited with 163.5.

In CVG-11 they managed to avoid actually forming a VBF-11 even though BuAer seemed to think they did. The avoidance was largely due to the air group’s imminent rotation from combat. The CVG returned to the states, went through a 30 day stand down and was reformed at NAS Alameda near the end of March, 1945. The difference of opinion between BuAer and CVG-11 on the very existence of aVBF-11 was rectified in early April 1945 when VBF-11 was again ordered formed and starts to show up with inventory, occurring while the air group was still reforming at NAS Alameda and later while assigned to NAAS Fallon to the end of the war.

 

There's a little bit more going on... I don't profess to be a master of naval organization. When the CVLs were first launched, they were designated CV (Google "CV-22 USS" for example) and weren't designated CVL until July of 1943. Escort Carriers were originally ACVs and not CVEs until the same month. So when CVL-22's original airgroup was formed it shows up as "Carrier Air Group 22." If you look at the below collection of screen shots, you can see some of the evolution of names - at the beginning of the war they're not listed as "air groups," but by April of 1943 they are. You see this exact notation for the next year, until the April 4, 1944 report, where they replace the "long form" with "CAG." I'll grant you that it's actually "C A G" and not CAG if you want to be pedantic, but there's no denying that they were using CAG as a shortened form of Carrier Air Group.
View attachment 15617

From a quick (i.e., non-exhaustive; there may be exceptions and ones I missed) examination, this notation stayed in effect until July of 1944, when we see the switch to CVG/CVEG/CVLG notation for air groups. Escort Carriers with only composite squadrons are consistently NOT listed with an air group unless the VC is paired with a VF. Escort carriers with this combo or a VF/VT combo are listed as with an air group, but prior to July of 1944 it's "CAG" and not CVEG. These are weekly reports from OP-38, a division within CNO.

 

Just a side note for consideration....I have noticed there are always a lot of people hunting information on the forum about AA or AAA groups as they were were small units attached to other large groups and are hard to trace.....my dad having been in one of those so on behalf of all those groups (619,000 men), please include mention of them when you run across AA or AAA groups you encounter while covering this much needed area (PTO) for research where the story is much more vague for details. Thanks for consideration. My dad was assigned to an airfield somewhere and witnessed many outgoing airplanes return with many damages from their assignments, some crash landing to return as he was assigned to watch and identify incoming planes with his gun unit. It was late in the war but there was little action where he was at....it was just a precaution against any enemy planes that might have been left. He did mention they had to conduct patrols to find final remnant snipers that were still present on the island, but that was completed without much fighting as well. Only one landing is documented for the 545th Field Artillery, but my dad was trained on searchlights/guns for this task and mentioned traveling around a bit to other places not documented. This document shows that there were over 811 originally designed groups and as this was redundant were re-organized a number of times which nearly makes it impossible to meaningfully trace as units were disbanded and reformed with other groups where ever they may have been needed. Military History Online - US Army in World War II