Air Group 49 July-August 1945

[RWGWAG]

The USN changed the tail code system on its aircraft from geometric shapes to letter(s) on July 24th, 1945. What letter(s) did Air Group 49 receive in place of the square with a number inside of it? Or did Air Group 49 keep the geometric symbols (such as Intrepid's Air Group 10)?

 

[Barrett]

With very few exceptions, carriers & air groups adopted letter identifiers for their tailfeathers from June-July 45.

Here's an excellent resource on tail codes: U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft Tail Codes - Wikipedia

 

[R Leonard]

At the end of the war letter tail codes were assigned to the individual fleet carriers (CVB, CV, and CVL), not to air groups. Assignment of lettered tail codes to air groups rather than to carriers did not occur until December 1946.

There were three types of marking applied to the fleet carriers (CVs and CVLs) starting in 1943. By the end of 1943, there was an unofficial system of markings consisting of geometric figures (triangle, circle, upside down triangle, etc.), lines, diagonal lines, and even one that looked like horn of a bull, applied to the vertical tail surfaces. On 7 October 1944, an official system was established, and most carriers were carrying the markings by January 1945. Again, these were geometric figures, lines, etc. applied to the vertical tail surfaces and wings. These markings were assigned to the aircraft carrier, not the carrier air group.

On 27 Jul 1945, an official system of one or two alpha characters was assigned to each carrier (not air groups) The lettering system was promulgated by the ops staff for Com2dFastCarFor (TF-38) to eliminate complaints of confusion created in trying to describe the earlier geometric design system. The change to a letter code system was so ordered by ComAirPac, endorsing the ComTF-38 directive. The letter codes were applied to both sides of the vertical tail surfaces and the upper right and lower left wing tips of the aircraft assigned to the carrier in 24 inch block letters. CVEs adopted a stripes and panel system to identify aircraft from a given carrier.

The fleet carrier assigned letter codes were:

A ‑ USS Cowpens (CVL‑25)
AA ‑ USS Lake Champlain (CV‑39)
B ‑ USS San Jacinto (CVL‑30)
C ‑ USS Monterey (CVL‑26)
CC ‑ USS Saratoga (CV‑3)
D ‑ USS Independence (CVL‑22)
E ‑ USS Intrepid (CV‑11)
EE ‑ USS Coral Sea (CVB‑43)
F ‑ USS Essex (CV‑9)
FF ‑ USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB‑42)
K ‑ USS Langley (CVL‑27)
L ‑ USS Randolph (CV‑15)
LL ‑ USS Franklin (CV‑13)
M ‑ USS Enterprise (CV‑6_
P ‑ USS Belleau Wood (CVL‑24)
PP ‑ USS Ranger (CV‑4)
R ‑ USS Cabot (CVL‑28)
RR ‑ USS Yorktown (CV‑10)
S ‑ USS Hornet (CV‑12)
SS ‑ USS Bon Homme Richard (CV‑31)
T ‑ USS Bataan (CVL‑29)
TT ‑ USS Bennington (CV‑20)
U ‑ USS Hancock (CV‑19)
V ‑ USS Ticonderoga (CV‑14)
W ‑ USS Antietam (CV‑36)
X ‑ USS Wasp (CV‑18)
Y ‑ USS Bunker Hill (CV‑17)
YY ‑ USS Midway (CVB‑41)
Z ‑ USS Shangri La (CV‑38)
ZZ ‑ USS Boxer (CV‑21)

These codes remained in effect until 7 Nov 46 when a whole new set of letter code markings were adopted that were applicable to all active USMC and USN squadrons, carrier‑ and shore‑based. That change remained in effect for but a month; on 12 Dec 1946, the rules for carrier‑based aircraft were changed such that the code was assigned to the carrier air group, not to the carrier.

As seen above, USS San Jacinto, with CVLG-49 embarked, was assigned the letter code "B". Did CVLG‑49 apply the new "B" marking? To be honest, my bet would be, yes, that the "B" was applied as time permitted. In Jul and Aug 45, San Jacinto was hitting shore targets in Japan, with two to three strike days on and two to three replenishment days off so there was time to do so. Not to mention it would probably not have been too wise to piss-off the ComTF by not obeying a directive. Most of the end of war photos one finds of aircraft operated by air groups off the coast of Japan in those last days clearly sport the new letter codes . . . at least one carrier, Shangri La, even has the code painted on the flight deck, a large Z, where one might expect to see the ship's number. In truth, most of the photos I've seen of aircraft sporting the San Jacinto blue number in a white square geometric identifier are from CVLG-45, the air group aboard prior to CVLG-49.

 

[RWGWAG]

At the end of the war letter tail codes were assigned to the individual fleet carriers (CVB, CV, and CVL), not to air groups. Assignment of lettered tail codes to air groups rather than to carriers did not occur until December 1946.

There were three types of marking applied to the fleet carriers (CVs and CVLs) starting in 1943. By the end of 1943, there was an unofficial system of markings consisting of geometric figures (triangle, circle, upside down triangle, etc.), lines, diagonal lines, and even one that looked like horn of a bull, applied to the vertical tail surfaces. On 7 October 1944, an official system was established, and most carriers were carrying the markings by January 1945. Again, these were geometric figures, lines, etc. applied to the vertical tail surfaces and wings. These markings were assigned to the aircraft carrier, not the carrier air group.

On 27 Jul 1945, an official system of one or two alpha characters was assigned to each carrier (not air groups) The lettering system was promulgated by the ops staff for Com2dFastCarFor (TF-38) to eliminate complaints of confusion created in trying to describe the earlier geometric design system. The change to a letter code system was so ordered by ComAirPac, endorsing the ComTF-38 directive. The letter codes were applied to both sides of the vertical tail surfaces and the upper right and lower left wing tips of the aircraft assigned to the carrier in 24 inch block letters. CVEs adopted a stripes and panel system to identify aircraft from a given carrier.

The fleet carrier assigned letter codes were:

A ‑ USS Cowpens (CVL‑25)
AA ‑ USS Lake Champlain (CV‑39)
B ‑ USS San Jacinto (CVL‑30)
C ‑ USS Monterey (CVL‑26)
CC ‑ USS Saratoga (CV‑3)
D ‑ USS Independence (CVL‑22)
E ‑ USS Intrepid (CV‑11)
EE ‑ USS Coral Sea (CVB‑43)
F ‑ USS Essex (CV‑9)
FF ‑ USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB‑42)
K ‑ USS Langley (CVL‑27)
L ‑ USS Randolph (CV‑15)
LL ‑ USS Franklin (CV‑13)
M ‑ USS Enterprise (CV‑6_
P ‑ USS Belleau Wood (CVL‑24)
PP ‑ USS Ranger (CV‑4)
R ‑ USS Cabot (CVL‑28)
RR ‑ USS Yorktown (CV‑10)
S ‑ USS Hornet (CV‑12)
SS ‑ USS Bon Homme Richard (CV‑31)
T ‑ USS Bataan (CVL‑29)
TT ‑ USS Bennington (CV‑20)
U ‑ USS Hancock (CV‑19)
V ‑ USS Ticonderoga (CV‑14)
W ‑ USS Antietam (CV‑36)
X ‑ USS Wasp (CV‑18)
Y ‑ USS Bunker Hill (CV‑17)
YY ‑ USS Midway (CVB‑41)
Z ‑ USS Shangri La (CV‑38)
ZZ ‑ USS Boxer (CV‑21)

These codes remained in effect until 7 Nov 46 when a whole new set of letter code markings were adopted that were applicable to all active USMC and USN squadrons, carrier‑ and shore‑based. That change remained in effect for but a month; on 12 Dec 1946, the rules for carrier‑based aircraft were changed such that the code was assigned to the carrier air group, not to the carrier.

As seen above, USS San Jacinto, with CVLG-49 embarked, was assigned the letter code "B". Did CVLG‑49 apply the new "B" marking? To be honest, my bet would be, yes, that the "B" was applied as time permitted. In Jul and Aug 45, San Jacinto was hitting shore targets in Japan, with two to three strike days on and two to three replenishment days off so there was time to do so. Not to mention it would probably not have been too wise to piss-off the ComTF by not obeying a directive. Most of the end of war photos one finds of aircraft operated by air groups off the coast of Japan in those last days clearly sport the new letter codes . . . at least one carrier, Shangri La, even has the code painted on the flight deck, a large Z, where one might expect to see the ship's number. In truth, most of the photos I've seen of aircraft sporting the San Jacinto blue number in a white square geometric identifier are from CVLG-45, the air group aboard prior to CVLG-49.

I've also seen it reported as the letter codes going into effect on July 24th, so is July 27th definitely the date?