14th Carrier Air Group

The 14th Carrier Air Group was formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the light aircraft carrier, HMS Colossus, the name-ship of the Colossus-class aircraft carriers, for service in the British Pacific Fleet. The group initially contained 827 Naval Air Squadron flying the Barracuda, a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber aircraft, and 1846 Naval Air Squadron flying the Corsair, an American fighter aircraft. The group disbanded, when Colossus arrived back home, on 23 July 1946.[3]

The 14th Carrier Air Group reformed, on 1 October 1946 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, this time for the Colossus-class aircraft carrier, HMS Theseus,[2] deployed as the Flagship, for the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron in the British Pacific Fleet,[4] with 804 and 812 Naval Air Squadrons. 804 Naval Air Squadron operated the Seafire, a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, adapted for operation from an aircraft carrier. 812 Naval Air Squadron was equipped with Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft. The group disbanded, when Theseus arrived back in the United Kingdom, on 21 December 1947.[1]

HMS Glory (R62) off Korea 1951, with 14th CAG onboard

The 14th Carrier Air Group reformed, on 15 January 1948, at RNAS Ford (HMS Peregrine),located at Ford, in West Sussex, England.[2] The group was for the Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean (R68).[1] It was made up of 802 and 814 Naval Air Squadrons again, the difference however, was that while both squadrons operated with the same aircraft, they now used later variants. The 14th CAG moved to RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin), located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) east of Rosyth, Fife, and RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, before emabarking on Ocean, on the 24 August 1948, then arriving at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), on Malta, on the 1 September 1948.

In July 1949, 804 NAS swapped it's Seafire aircraft for Sea Fury, a British Naval fighter-bomber aircraft, and 812 NAS received the FR.Mk 5 variant of the Firefly. Four Firefly NF.Mk I "night fighter" variant aircraft were also received, enabling the squadron to form Black Flight, which became known as the 14th CAG Night Fighter unit. In November 1949, the CAG transferred over to another Colossus-class aircraft carrier, HMS Glory (R62).[2]

Aboard Glory, the CAG deployed to the Far East as the Korean War was now taking place. From April 1951 Glory and the 14th CAG, undertook a tour of nine, nine day patrols, off the West coast of North Korea. The aircraft carrier departed to Australia for a refit, but was back by February 1952, to undertake five more patrols, before returning home.[5]

The 14th Carrier Air Group spent 316 days on patrols, during its time operating in the Korean War, amassing ~9,500 operational sorties. It disbanded, upon returning home to the United Kingdom, on the 2 May 1952.[1]

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