Fixed Wing Martlet operations from RN Carriers

I would also recommend his Frank Jack Fletcher bio: Black Shoe Carrier Admiral as it contains lots of information on USN CV ops. doctrine.

Without a doubt the best/most comprehensive FAA historian was/is the late Ray Sturtivant, who devoted long hours studying the FAA and previous RNAS over the years, producing a large body of work. Most of that research can be found in the Air Britain books (Air Britain, Society of British Aviation Historians).

These books include Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1912 - 1919, Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939 - 1945, Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm, Fleet Air Arm fixed Wing Aircraft since 1946, among others not specifically related to the FAA published with Air Britain. The thing about these books is they list every (yes, every) aircraft operated with the FAA and give a short potted history of each type within the scope of each volume. Outside of Air Britain he's had published a few other FAA specific books, including the aforementioned British Naval Aviation, The Fleet Air Arm 1917 - 1990 and The Swordfish Story, The Fleet Air Arm at War and Fleet Air Arm 1920 to 1939.

In an endeavour to help explain some of the quirks of the FAA, its squadrons were land based and often Flights were embarked aboard carriers, sometimes each squadron would have a Flight on more than one carrier at any given time. Part of the problem was availability of aircraft, which stems from wartime production within the industry and the competing needs of the RAF and how the FAA was managed pre-war, so you would have a couple of different types doing the same job aboard a carrier. Between 1924 and 1939 the FAA was a branch of the RAF as "the RAF Fleet Air Arm" and so the navy's needs were secondary to the air force's (the navy's air wing, the RNAS was merged with the RFC to form the RAF on 1st April 1918 ). This resulted in grotesque types such as the Blackburn Blackburn and Avro Bison attempting to fulfil multiple roles in an attempt to save money. This also explains why the first 'modern' fighter the FAA had of WW2 was the Blackburn Skua (mind you, the Admiralty's own ideas of how an air arm should be comprised and operate left a lot to be desired at times). Not simple like the US Navy eh!

Everything changed with the increasing availability of US types in numbers as the war wore on, which changed the face of the FAA.

I would also say that as the war progressed the quality of "Home grown" FAA a/c improved. Barracuda, Firefly, Sefire III, Sea Hurricane were all closing that quality gap as the years progressed. Also the RN was ingenious in its adaptations and training regimes to get the most out of the types it did posses like the Swordfish, and slightly later the Albacore.


What nearly killed the FAA was a lack of resources at the start. There were not enought pilots, not enough a/c, the carriers were old and nearing the end of their operational lives. Replacement rates were agonizingly slow....30 aircraft was a big deal for the FAA. If 30 a/c was a big number, 10 pilots was a bonanza.

Thanks for the heads up about Sturtivant. The section of his "FAA at War" I have (probably from the Naval war college library) is indeed detailed so I will look for titles authored by him to complete my education on RN things with wings and the chaps who flew them.

With the history you've outlined above is it any wonder that a USA yokel would come along and say wouldn't it have been marvelous if the FAA had use of a covey of F2A-1s or F2A-2s or even navalized B-339Bs, asking how might that have helped them in their early struggles?

BTW I think its worth adding the Fulmar to your list of types as, while its performance wasn't on a par with one seaters, it was a definite improvement and about as good as the FAA (or probably the USN) could have gotten in that time frame and did provide yeoman service from late 40 through late 42.

nuuumannn said:

802 Sqn went to sea with Martlet Is aboard HMS Audacity in September 1941 operating in the Bay of Biscay on convoy escort duties, where a number of pilots shot down Fw 200s (five), including Eric 'Winkle' Brown, who shot down two on seperate occasions. Audacity, as you guys know was torpedoed on 21st November, with Brown being one of those saved.

Martlet IIIs of B Flight, 802 Sqn operated aboard HMS Victorious off Norway at around the same time; Sub Lt Jimmy Sleigh shot down a He 111 on 13 September, which was the first of a Martlet (F4F) flying from a carrier.

In support of an RAF Hurricane wing to Russia, two Martlet (Is or IIIs?) of 802 Sqn were briefly embarked aboard HMS Argus in September 1941, from which they then went to Victorious on the 9th.

This info comes from Royal Navy Aces of WW2 by Andrew Thomas (Osprey) and is also mentioned in Wildcat Aces of WW2 by Barrett Tilman (also Osprey). I hope this helps, Oldcrow.

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The RN Wildcat aces (page 46) info you cite is also reiterated in Francillon's book on Grumman Aircraft... . Both sources state that the HMS Argus, while escorting a convoy to Russia in late August 1941 embarked 2 Martlets (Probably Is, but stated as IIs) for self defense, making it apparently the earliest operational and wartime deployment of the type.

I think there remains a mystery regarding the earliest actual carrier operation of the type which is nominally in Late December or more likely January of 1941 which involved operational squadrons. I suspect there may have been earlier tests beyond just land-based suitability trials prior to those squadron deployments but have found no evidence. There may also have been earlier Royal Navy carrier-based suitability trials (using the Argus?) which do not appear to be recorded.

oldcrowcv63 said:

Re-reading Winton's Find, Fix and Strike, He says the RN CVs lined up for the Madagascar Ironclad operation (5/5/42) included:

Illustrious with 2 VF squadrons: 881 with 12 fixed wing Marlet Is and 882 with 8 folding wing Martlet IIs and 2 TBR squadrons: 801 and 829 with 20 Swordfish between them. Total: 40 aircraft
Indomitable with 3 VF squadrons: 800 and 806 with 24 Fulmars and 880 with 9 Sea Huricanes and 2 TBR squadrons: 827 and 831 with 24 Albacores between them. Total: 57 aircraft.

Formidable was also in the IO at that time and (according to the Admiralty's Pink List Dated 5/1/42) possessed an airwing comprised of, two VF squadrons: 888 with 12 Marlet Is and 803 with 12 Fulmar and 1 TBR squadron: 820 with 12 Albacore. Total: 36 aircraft.

I am a bit astonished at the variety of types, their occasionally small numbers (for early 1942) and the change in composition that each airwing appears to have experienced from week to week.

I am beginning to think there is a complex back story to all of this and that perhaps much of FAA history remains to be written or it could be that I am just ignorant of the more detailed sources: My own FAA library consists of selected xeroxed sections (typically pertaining to ops during early 1942) from:

Winton: FF&S
MacIntyre's Fighting Admiral
Whitehouse's Squadrons of the Sea
Sturtivan's FAA at War
Popham's Sea Flight
Cameron's Wings of the Morning
Brown's Wings of the Navy

None of these provide anything like the detail provided by Lundstrom.

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Brown's Carrier Operations of WW2 shows a picture (p130) of Illustrious during IRONCLAD and it shows 16 folded wing Martlets on the flight deck, along with a Fulmar and 3 Swordfish. I really doubt that the RN operated fixed wing Martlets from any fleet CV, except, possibly, Indomitable. Brown states that the solitary Fulmar was a night fighter.

RCAFson said:

Brown's Carrier Operations of WW2 shows a picture (p130) of Illustrious during IRONCLAD and it shows 16 folded wing Martlets on the flight deck, along with a Fulmar and 3 Swordfish. I really doubt that the RN operated fixed wing Martlets from any fleet CV, except, possibly, Indomitable. Brown states that the solitary Fulmar was a night fighter.

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I'd bet you are correct and that the fixed wing versions were probably primarily used for training and on some flight decks early as a stop-gap while Martlet II squadrons were forming.