15th Carrier Air Group

The 15th Carrier Air Group (15th 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 in March 1947. The group was embarked on HMS Venerable (R63).

15th Carrier Air Group
Active30 June 1945 to 30 March 1947
16 May 1947 - 15 January 1952[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeCarrier Air Group
SizeOne Colossus-class aircraft carrier plus support ships
Part ofFleet Air Arm

The 15th CAG reformed in May 1947, at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), in Northern Ireland, for embarkation on HMS Vengeance (R71). In late 1951 the group was deployed on HMS Theseus (R64). The 15th Carrier Air Group disbanded in January 1952, at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), England.

See also: List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons

The 15th Carrier Air Group consisted of a number of squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.[1]

SquadronFromToAircraftNotes
814 Naval Air SquadronJun 1945Mar 1947Fairey Barracuda to Dec 1945, then
Fairey Firefly
1851 Naval Air SquadronJun 1945Jun 1946Vought F4U CorsairTransferred to HMS Vengeance
802 Naval Air SquadronJun 1946Mar 1947Supermarine Seafire
802 Naval Air SquadronMay 1947Apr 1950Hawker Sea Fury15th CAG reformed at RNAS Eglinton
814 Naval Air SquadronMay 1947Nov 1950Fairey Firefly15th CAG reformed at RNAS Eglinton
809 Naval Air SquadronApr 1950Sep 1950de Havilland Sea Hornetreplaced 802 NAS
802 Naval Air SquadronSep 1950Jan 1952Hawker Sea Furyreturned and replaced 809 NAS
825 Naval Air SquadronJun 1951Sep 1951Fairey Firefly
814 Naval Air SquadronSep 1951Jan 1952Fairey Fireflyrejoined

History

1945 - 1947

The 15th Carrier Air Group was formed on 30 June 1945 and was based on the light aircraft carrier, HMS Venerable, a Colossus-class aircraft carrier. The group initially contained 814 Naval Air Squadron, flying the Barracuda aircraft, and 1851 Naval Air Squadron, flying the Corsair aircraft.[2] 814 NAS replaced it's Barracuda with Firefly aircraft, in December 1945. Then in June 1946, 1851 NAS transferred to another Colossus-class aircraft carrier, HMS Vengeance, with 802 Naval Air Squadron replacing it, bringing it's Seafire aircraft.[1] The 15th CAG was disbanded in 1947.[2]

1947 - 1952

The 15th Carrier Air Group reformed on 16 May 1947 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 Vengeance, with 802 and 814 Naval Air Squadrons. Here, 802 NAS replaced it's Seafire aircraft with Sea Fury aircraft. In April 1950, 802 NAS left the group and was replaced with 809 Naval Air Squadron, which brought with it Sea Hornet aircraft, however, in the following September, 802 NAS returned and 809 NAS left the group.

In November 1950, only 802 NAS remained in the group as 814 NAS departed and it wasn't until June 1951 that the group was back to initial strength, when 825 Naval Air Squadron joined, which operated Firefly aircraft. However, 825 NAS only stayed for around three months and left in September 1951. It was replaced with 814 NAS, which re-joined the 15th CAG and the group embarked on another Colossus-class aircraft carrier, HMS Theseus. The 15th Carrier Air Group disbanded on 15 January 1952, at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) in Cornwall, England.[1]

Air Group Commanders

List of the commanding officers of the 15th Carrier Air Group, with date of appointment:[2][1]

1945 - 1947

  • Lt Cdr P. D. Gick, DSC, RN, 30 June 1945
  • Lt Cdr T. G. V. Percy, DSC, RN, 14 January 1946

1947 - 1952

  • Lt Cdr W. R. J. MacWhirter, DSC, RN, 16 May 1947
  • Lt Cdr J. G. Baldwin, DSC, RN, 15 March 1948
  • Lt Cdr J. N. Ball, DSC, RN, 16 May 1949
  • Lt Cdr J. O. Armour, RN, 19 April 1950
  • none, 22 November 1950
  • disbanded, 15 January 1952

See also

References

Citations
  1. Ballance 2016, p. 306.
  2. Wragg 2019, p. 203.

Bibliography
  • 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.


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