How many hellcats or corsairs could be hypothetically carried by escort carriers ?
- Thread starter 0hruv
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The following RN escort carriers operated Hellcats
Emperor from late 1943 with 800 & 804 squadrons. Squadrons were merged in mid 1944 as 800.
Then from late 1944 with single squadrons.
Ameer, Empress, Khedive, Pursuer, Ruler, Speaker
Only 2 RN escort carriers had squadrons of Corsairs embarked. Arbiter with 1843 and Slinger with 1845. Both joined the BPF in 1945 but the squadrons were broken up in April / May to provide aircraft and pilots for the fleet carriers. IIRC there was a Corsair flight attached to 885 Hellcat squadron in Ruler. So neither carrier used them in action.
All of this excludes ferry operations to bring squadrons from USA to UK or South Africa to Ceylon or resupply for the BPF.
You will find ship histories and some squadron histories on these sites.
IIRC each of Emperor's squadrons began with 10 aircraft. By 1945 each squadron had 24.
In the USN Tulagi and Kasaan Bay operated Hellcats during Operation Dragoon in 1944. From mid-1944 the Sangamon class also operated them. And in 1945 the Commencement Bay class operated both Hellcats and Corsairs. You will find numbers on the weekly USN reports.
www.history.navy.mil
Emperor from late 1943 with 800 & 804 squadrons. Squadrons were merged in mid 1944 as 800.
Then from late 1944 with single squadrons.
Ameer, Empress, Khedive, Pursuer, Ruler, Speaker
Only 2 RN escort carriers had squadrons of Corsairs embarked. Arbiter with 1843 and Slinger with 1845. Both joined the BPF in 1945 but the squadrons were broken up in April / May to provide aircraft and pilots for the fleet carriers. IIRC there was a Corsair flight attached to 885 Hellcat squadron in Ruler. So neither carrier used them in action.
All of this excludes ferry operations to bring squadrons from USA to UK or South Africa to Ceylon or resupply for the BPF.
You will find ship histories and some squadron histories on these sites.
IIRC each of Emperor's squadrons began with 10 aircraft. By 1945 each squadron had 24.
In the USN Tulagi and Kasaan Bay operated Hellcats during Operation Dragoon in 1944. From mid-1944 the Sangamon class also operated them. And in 1945 the Commencement Bay class operated both Hellcats and Corsairs. You will find numbers on the weekly USN reports.
Location of U.S. Naval Aircraft, World War II
Click on the day, month and year (e.g., 2 Feb 1942) to view the Location of U.S. Naval Aircraft report for that particular timeframe. NOTE: All of these records are unclassified or have been declassified. Due to the age of the records, type of typewriter font, and capability of current OCR...
- Thread starter
- #3
John D. Voss
Airman
- 60
- Aug 10, 2016
Clarification Please: Do you how many could be loaded onto a carrier for transporting OR how many is squadron strenght ?
By 1945 squadron strength was 24 aircraft.
The hangar on a Attacker / Ruler class escort carrier was 260x62ft. But space was limited by funnel uptakes and other obstructions along the hangar sides. So some of those aircraft must have been carried as a permanent deck park.
There are lots of photos out there of escort carriers acting as pure aircraft ferries. Numbers carried varied with types involved. For example
HMS Ranee, A History of H.M.S. RANEE
HMS Shah A History of H.M.S. SHAH
USS Bogue
USS Core (edit: not Core but Barnes. Photo was taken 1 July 1943 when she was ferrying aircraft from the US West Coast to Hawaii and Australia. At that time Core was an operational ASW carrier in the Atlantic. She did not carry out Ferry work until 1944 when the aircraft would have had bars on the national insignia).
The hangar on a Attacker / Ruler class escort carrier was 260x62ft. But space was limited by funnel uptakes and other obstructions along the hangar sides. So some of those aircraft must have been carried as a permanent deck park.
There are lots of photos out there of escort carriers acting as pure aircraft ferries. Numbers carried varied with types involved. For example
HMS Ranee, A History of H.M.S. RANEE
HMS Shah A History of H.M.S. SHAH
USS Bogue
USS Core (edit: not Core but Barnes. Photo was taken 1 July 1943 when she was ferrying aircraft from the US West Coast to Hawaii and Australia. At that time Core was an operational ASW carrier in the Atlantic. She did not carry out Ferry work until 1944 when the aircraft would have had bars on the national insignia).
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Thumpalumpacus
Major
BlackSheep
Banned
- 443
- May 31, 2018
I know it's a matter of perception and the angle of the picture but USS Bogue looks scary small!
The C3 conversions of the Bogue and Prince William classes had a fight deck 440x80ft. British ships had a slight extension adding about 10 feet in length!I know it's a matter of perception and the angle of the picture but USS Bogue looks scary small!
But if you want small try one of the grain ships converted to a merchant aircraft carrier. A flight deck 410x62ft was all the Swordfish (wingspan 45ft 6in) had to land on.
BlackSheep
Banned
- 443
- May 31, 2018
What are the aircraft between the P-38s?
Razorback P-47.
BlackSheep
Banned
- 443
- May 31, 2018
Thank you…
