| Unit Name: | 14th Carrier Air Group |
| Dates: | 30 June 1945 to 23 July 1946 1 October 1946 - 21 December 1947 15 January 1948 - 2 May 1952 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Type: | Carrier Air Group |
| Size: | One plus support ships |
| Command Structure: | Fleet Air Arm |
| Battles: | World War II |
The 14th Carrier Air Group (14th CAG) was an aircraft carrier air group of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed in June 1945, for service in the British Pacific Fleet, until disbanding in July 1946. The group was embarked on (R15).
The 14th CAG reformed in October 1946, at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), in Northern Ireland, for embarkation on (R64), until disbanding in December 1947.
It reformed a second time, in January 1948, operating in the Mediterranean and then seeing action in Korea, before disbanding a third time in May 1952.[1]
See also: List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons.
The 14th Carrier Air Group consisted of a number of squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.
| Squadron | From | To | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1945 | Jul 1946 | Fairey Barracuda | |
| Jun 1945 | Jul 1946 | Vought F4U Corsair | |
| Oct 1946 | Dec 1947 | Supermarine Seafire | |
| Oct 1946 | Dec 1947 | Fairey Firefly | |
| Jan 1948 | May 1952 | Supermarine Seafire to Jul 1949, then Hawker Sea Fury | |
| Jan 1948 | May 1952 | Fairey Firefly | |
The 14th Carrier Air Group was formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the light aircraft carrier,, the name-ship of the s, for service in the British Pacific Fleet. The group initially contained 827 Naval Air Squadron flying the Fairey Barracuda, a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber aircraft, and 1846 Naval Air Squadron flying the Vought Corsair, an American fighter aircraft. The group disbanded, when Colossus arrived back home, on 23 July 1946.
The 14th Carrier Air Group reformed, on 1 October 1946 at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), located north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, this time for the,,[1] deployed as the Flagship, for the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron in the British Pacific Fleet,[2] with 804 and 812 Naval Air Squadrons. 804 Naval Air Squadron operated the Supermarine Seafire, a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, adapted for operation from an aircraft carrier. 812 Naval Air Squadron was equipped with Fairey Firefly, a carrier-borne fighter and anti-submarine aircraft. The group disbanded, when Theseus arrived back in the United Kingdom, on 21 December 1947.
The 14th Carrier Air Group reformed, on 15 January 1948, at RNAS Ford (HMS Peregrine),located at Ford, in West Sussex, England.[1] The group was for the light fleet aircraft carrier, (R68). It was made up of 802 and 814 Naval Air Squadrons again, the difference however, was that while both squadrons operated with the same aircraft, they now used later variants. The 14th CAG moved to RNAS Donibristle (HMS Merlin), located east of Rosyth, Fife, and RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet), located north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, before emabarking on Ocean, on the 24 August 1948, then arriving at RNAS Hal Far (HMS Falcon), on Malta, on the 1 September 1948.
In July 1949, 804 NAS swapped it's Supermarine Seafire aircraft for Hawker Sea Fury, a British Naval fighter-bomber aircraft, and 812 NAS received the FR.Mk 5 variant of the Fairey Firefly. Four Fairey Firefly NF.Mk I "night fighter" variant aircraft were also received, enabling the squadron to form Black Flight, which became known as the 14th CAG Night Fighter unit. In November 1949, the CAG transferred over to another aircraft carrier, (R62).[1]
Aboard Glory, the CAG deployed to the Far East as the Korean War was now taking place. From April 1951 Glory and the 14th CAG, undertook a tour of nine, nine day patrols, off the West coast of North Korea. The aircraft carrier departed to Australia for a refit, but was back by February 1952, to undertake five more patrols, before returning home.[3]
The 14th Carrier Air Group spent 316 days on patrols, during its time operating in the Korean War, amassing ~9,500 operational sorties. It disbanded, upon returning home to the United Kingdom, on the 2 May 1952.
List of commanding officers of the 14th Carrier Air Group, with date of appointment:
1945 - 1946
1946 - 1947
1948 - 1952