This is a list of

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

groups of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN), the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) and the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

(RCN), that were either formed or planned. There were two types of groups: there were Carrier Air Groups that administered squadrons which operated on

aircraft carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a fl ...

, and there were Training Air Groups which administered squadrons that operated from

airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

Carrier air groups

The Royal Navy during the Second World War A30361

The

squadrons Squadron(s) may refer to: Military * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 ...

and aircraft wings of the Fleet Air Arm, stationed on

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles * Fishing fleet *Naval fleet * Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles * Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Be ...

and Light Fleet

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s, were organized into Air Groups in accordance with

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

policy following the conclusion of World War II in Europe. This reorganisation aimed to facilitate operations in the Pacific Theater against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1945. The structure included complete spare groups for Fleet carriers and half spare groups for Light Fleet carriers. The carrier air groups were organised according to the

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of aircraft carriers and a standardised

strength Strength may refer to: Personal trait *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Character strengths like those listed in the Values in Action Inventory *The exercise of willpower Physics * Mechanical strength, the ability to withstand ...

model that considered the squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm and the

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

of aircraft. By 30 June 1945, nine out of the planned twenty-two groups had been established based on the squadrons that were available. Additionally, one group was created as a reserve in August 1945, while several others were either formed after World War II or reactivated at a subsequent time. Carrier Air Groups one to six were designated for the three carriers of the , with each group comprising two squadrons of Vought Corsair and one squadron of

Grumman Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

, with each squadron containing fifteen aircraft. The two ships belonging to the were assigned Carrier Air Groups seven to ten, with each ship featuring two squadrons of twenty-four

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes, Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised aircraft ...

, one squadron of fifteen Grumman Avenger, and one squadron of fifteen

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation ...

. , the sole representative of her class, was allocated Carrier Air Groups eleven and twelve, each consisting of two squadrons of twenty-four

Grumman Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

, one squadron of fifteen Grumman Avenger, and one squadron of twelve Fairey Firefly. The first four carriers of the were planned to have Carrier Air Groups numbered thirteen to eighteen, with each group including a Vought Corsair squadron of twenty-one aircraft and a squadron of twelve

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barra ...

. The subsequent ships in the ''Colossus''-class were assigned Carrier Air Groups nineteen to twenty-two, with number nineteen to be crewed by the

; each of these groups would comprise one squadron of twenty-one Supermarine Seafire and one squadron of twelve Fairey Barracuda.

Royal Navy

World War II - 1945

The table below shows the nine carrier air groups created and allocated to an aircraft carrier during the latter part of World War II and the subsequent reserve carrier air group: During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the creation of a 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 12th and 22nd Carrier Air Group also was planned. The

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

rendered these new carrier air groups unnecessary, and they were never formed. However, the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st were formed post-war, with 18 and 19 allocated to the

, and 21 a

Air Group

Post World War II

The table below shows the two carrier air groups initially intended fo a ''Colossus''-class aircraft carrier during World War II but instead subsequently formed post-war for the Royal Navy:

Royal Canadian Navy

The table below shows the two carrier air groups initially intended for a ''Colossus''-class aircraft carrier during World War II but instead subsequently formed post-war for the

and were later re-numbered:

Royal Australian Navy

The table below shows the two carrier air groups initially intended for a ''Colossus''-class aircraft carrier during World War II but instead subsequently formed post-war within the

(RAN) for the

light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier smaller than the Fleet carrier, standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft onl ...

, , along with a subsequent Carrier Air Group which was created for the

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, :

Not formed

The table below shows the seven carrier air groups initially intended for the Royal Navy during the latter part of World War II but never formed due to the Japanese surrender:

Training air groups

Between 1947 and 1954, several training air groups were established to oversee some of the second line Fleet Air Arm squadrons in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy.

Royal Navy (1948-1952)

The table below shows the Fleet Air Arm training and miscellaneous air groups created after World War II for the Royal Navy:

Royal Canadian Navy (1947-1954)

The table below shows the Fleet Air Arm training air groups created after World War II for the

References

Citations

Bibliography

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Fleet Air Arm Groups Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England *The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...