When did the FAA begin the process of preparing to fight WW2

[RCAFson]

These stats are just stunning. I could never have imagined that the FAA was so short of pilots. That seems an even better reason than standing doctrine/policy for not adopting any new aircraft in the period late 1939 to early 1940. Who would have flown them?

360 pilots, not total aircrew. However, since the FAA still shared it's basic training with the RAF, the total number of pilots is a bit deceptive, as is the fact that RAF Coastal Command had responsibility for many of the roles that the USN and IJNAF performed, so drawing straight comparisons is not really possible.

 

[oldcrowcv63]

Yes, just pilots. Let's see 2 small decks, (Hermes and Argus, let's say ~15 aircraft each), one intermediate deck (Eagle with accommodation for about 20-25 aircraft), and roughly 5 large decks (Furious, Courageous, Glorious, Ark Royal, Illustrious, average about 40-45 aircraft each), some overestimates and some underestimates but roughly 250 carrier pilot bilets for planes embarked. If you increase that by 50% the billets are 375 pilot slots. You still need to staff the cruiser and battleship force with catapult float planes (roughly 80 ships presumably equipped for catapult aircraft) and the shore establishment. This seems to suggest that the RN FAA was only about 50% staffed. Does that sound about right to you?

 

[parsifal]

There were 56 float plane billets. FAA billets were well below 50%. That 360 includes the shore based units and OTUs. (Even though part of the RAF, RAF training units did not provide the carrier qualification and blind navigation instruction for the FAA. Ark Royal had an aircraft capacity of 73 a/c, whilst the two Courageous class each could carry 48 a/c. Furious was rated at 36, but could carry 42. Eagle was rated at 22a/c, Hermes 21. Argus was not in Commission, but was rated at 20 a/c. None of the modern CVs were in commission...the first arrived in June 1940.

Then there were the Seaplane Carriers like Pegasus and Albatross. I forget their carrying capacity but it was around 20 aircraft (I think).

To allow for wartime attrition and expansion, the rule of thumb is normally that you need 2 pilots for every Billet. There were 240 fixed wing billets and about 90 floatplane billets, plus there were about 60 land based billetts. Thats 390 billetts. FAA needed in excess of 100 pilots to man that properly....they had 360. And expansion was painfully slow....about 16 in 1939, before September, and about 80 in 1940. There was no room for any losses

 

[oldcrowcv63]

To allow for wartime attrition and expansion, the rule of thumb is normally that you need 2 pilots for every Billet. There were 240 fixed wing billets and about 90 floatplane billets, plus there were about 60 land based billetts. Thats 390 billetts. FAA needed in excess of 100 pilots to man that properly....they had 360. And expansion was painfully slow....about 16 in 1939, before September, and about 80 in 1940. There was no room for any losses

Yes, I figured my estimates of the carrier wings were a bit on the short side and a 50% overage on the pilot billets was a bit light but comparable IIRC with what the USN was operating on Dec 7, but your final tally is just what I was most interested in seeing aside from aircraft buildup. This seems to me to be the most critical limiting factor. Did the FAA not have a Pensacola, FL counterpart? It appears as though the pilots went through the RAF training command for primary, basic and part of advanced before going through a specialized Naval Aviation training syllabus. Is that at all accurate?

 

[RCAFson]

According to the USSBS study, Japanese Airpower, the IJN/IJA had about 6000 pilots on Dec 07 1941, with the IJN having 3500 of these.

IJN/IJA front line aircraft strength was 2675 on Dec 07, with 1300 IJN aircraft.

600 IJN pilots were assigned to CVs, which carried 464 aircraft. Another 163 aircraft were at sea, mainly seaplanes on cruisers and seaplane tenders.

 

[parsifal]

Did the FAA not have a Pensacola, FL counterpart? It appears as though the pilots went through the RAF training command for primary, basic and part of advanced before going through a specialized Naval Aviation training syllabus. Is that at all accurate?

I cant be sure, but if the RAN experience was anything to go by, our aircrew were all trained with the RAAF flight school at Point Cook, before transfer to HMAS Albatross and allocation to one of the three training squadrons (we had the same number ing system as the RN...squadrons in the 700 series are all support or training, squadrons in the 800 seriesd were frontline and combat ready category. As the war progressed there were special (short service) commission squadrons formed in the 1000 series (but none of these existed before the war. If you locate where the 700 series squadrons are/were based, you will find where the FAA training was undertaken.

At HMAS Albatross, pilots would train at Point Cook for about 4 years, before getting their land based navy wings. they then trained at Albatross for some years further, before being given the opportunity to go for their Carrier Qualification. This was pretty much the same for both fixed wing and rotary wing quals. It generally took about 6 years to train a pilot to carrier capabale status, with over 1000 hours. Training at Albatross included a pretty intensive air combat and bombing training courses. It was great to watch the A4s in action at the Bombing range off Jervis Bay. Those guys really knew their stuff. They would come in at virtually zero feet, before climbing a bit and dropping the bomb on the target. An A4 going flat sick at deck level is an impressive sight, until you see an F-111 doing the same, only twice as fast.

Some specialist traing for the ASW crews was still being undertaken in England, even after the Navy changed to the Grumans. Later there was some training for the US types done in the US, though I am unsure exactly what.

I would have expected the RN to have similar arrangements....of course what im talking about is post war peacetime training....prewar was almost certainly different. Just the same, as an example, have a look at Eugene Esmondes career (the guy that led the 1st strike against the Bismarck and then was killed during the strikes against the BCs fleeing up the Channel).

"Born 1st March 1909, at Thurgoland, Wortley, Yorkshire. Eugene Esmonde was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the RAF, on the 28th December 1928, and was posted to the Fleet Air Arm, serving in the Mediterranean until the expiry of his commission five years later. On leaving the RAF, Esmonde joined Imperial Airways as a First Officer on the 9th August 1934. Esmonde flew on the mail carrying routes between London and Glasgow, and as Imperial Airways expanded its service, to the Middle East and India. In 1935, he flew on regular service between Rangoon and Mandalay in Burma, and survived a serious accident when his aircraft crashed into Irrawaddy. He was promoted to Captain on the 3rd July 1937, and was one of the first to fly the giant flying boats which introduced the first airmail service between the UK and Australia. On the 3rd May 1939, Esmonde resigned to take up a commission as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Fleet Air Arm.

Esmonde was a survivor of the carrier HMS Courageous, which was torpedoed and sunk in the Western Approaches on the 17th September 1939. Following this he served at RNAS Lee-on-Solent and other naval air stations in the south of England. He was then appointed to the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. On the night of the 24th May 1941, he led a squadron of nine Swordfish aircraft, armed with torpedoes, to make a 120 mile flight in foul weather and into head-winds to attack the German battleship, Bismarck. Esmonde's aircraft attacked through intense anti-aircraft fire from Bismarck, and scored one hit, amidships on the starboard side. Esmonde received the Distinguished Service Order for this action on the 11th February 1942.

Esmonde's next appointment was on HMS Ark Royal, and his air squadron rescued members of the ship's company when the ship was sunk off Gibraltar on the 13th November 1941. By the end of November, Esmonde was back at Lee-on-Solent, until 12th February 1942, the day when the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, with the cruiser Prinz Eugen, and a strong escort of surface craft, made their 'Channel dash' from Brest back to Germany. In the Straits of Dover, Esmonde led the 825 Squadron of six Swordfish aircraft to attack the German ships. The squadron encountered a hail of fire from the German ships off Calais in their desperate but unsuccessful attempt at least to damage the enemy vessels. Esmonde's plane sustained a direct hit, just after he had fired its torpedo, he continued the run-in towards his target until his plane burst into flames and crashed into the sea. The attack continued and three of the other Swordfish were also shot down and their crews killed. Five men of Esmonde's flight survived, four of them wounded. The four officers received the DSO, while the sole rating who survived received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. Admiral Ramsey stated that 'the gallant sortie of these six Swordfish constitutes one of the finest exhibitions of self sacrifice and devotion to duty that the war has yet witnessed'.

Esmonde was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions, which was gazetted on the 3rd March 1942. A memorial to Eugene Esmonde is at Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent."

From the above, I would suggest that the main training establishment for the FAA prewar was Lee-On-Solent. Other wartime air stations used by the FAA included


HMS Seahawk (RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall)
HMS Gannet (RNAS Prestwick, South Ayrshire)
HMS Heron (RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset)

The principal testing facility appears to have been located at Worthy Downs, a RAF establishment from memory