The British Carrier Strike Fleet. David Hobbs
of extremely cold weather on men, ships and aircraft. Her air group included Sea Vampire jets and Dragonfly helicopters as well as more usual front-line types. (Author’s collection)
The first jet fighter to enter service was the Supermarine Attacker which had the same ‘laminar-flow’ wing as the cancelled Seafang and was expected to be an interim type while better fighters were developed. It had a single Rolls-Royce Nene 3 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine of 5000lbs thrust and a maximum all-up weight of 12,210lbs,36 but the design was marred by having a tail-wheel undercarriage, the only jet fighter to date ever to have this feature. Attackers equipped three front-line units, 800, 803 and 890 NAS, They only operated from Eagle and were replaced by Sea Hawks in 1954 although a number continued to serve in five RNVR fighter squadrons until 1957 together with a number of second-line units.
A number of other advanced projects began at this time. The first among these began with specification GR 17/45 which evolved into the Fairey Gannet which I flew in the 1970s. Initially described37 as being specially designed for anti-submarine work, including operation from escort carriers; it was originally to be a two-seat aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage and powered by two gas turbine engines driving contra-rotating, co-axial propellers. This would give twin-engine performance without the asymmetric problem after a single engine failure. Two prototypes each were ordered from Blackburn, whose version was to have two Napier Naiad engines and Fairey Aviation whose version was to have two Armstrong Siddeley Mamba engines. The production aircraft were to have ASV 15 radar, initially with a 22in scanner but later with an improved one of 36in, eight sono-buoys and a sono-buoy receiver and a 2000lb homing torpedo. Alternative armament loads were to include bombs, rocket projectiles or mines. GR 17/45 was to have no fixed armament but the capability to be fitted with two detachable 20mm gun installations. The estimated top speed was to be 290 knots and the aircraft was to fly comfortably at 150 knots on patrol. Optimistically, the Admiralty expected the type to come into service during 1949.
The Westland Wyvern was a single-seat strike fighter and an initial production batch of fifteen had been built with Rolls-Royce Eagle piston-engines. In 1947 it was hoped that trials with these would lead to a speedier release to service for a Mark 2 version fitted with a Rolls-Royce Clyde turbo-prop engine. The estimated top speed was to be 416 knots with a radius of action of 650nm38 or an endurance of five hours with a torpedo or up to 2000lb of bombs. It was designed to take the 1000lb anti-surface ship rocket known at the time under the project name of ‘Uncle Tom’ or up to sixteen 3in rockets and 100-gallon drop tanks to extend the combat radius still further. It was expected to enter service in 1949 but development problems and the need to fit a new engine, the Armstrong Siddeley Python, delayed its entry into service until 1953 by which time it was already obsolescent and the last squadron was disbanded only five years later, in 1958.
Last of the new types was the Hawker N.7/46 which evolved into the Hawker Sea Hawk jet fighter. It was to have the same Nene engine as the Attacker but its more refined design was expected to give a top speed of 537 knots39 with a combat radius of 386nm on internal fuel which could be extended by the use of two 65-gallon drop tanks, one under each wing. It was hoped that the type would enter service in late 1949 or early 1950 but, again, delays in development meant that the first unit, 806 NAS, did not form until March 1953 at RNAS Brawdy.
Air Weapons
Air weapons were rationalised after 1945, beginning with guns. The 0.5in machine gun was removed from service after the last American Lend-Lease aircraft were withdrawn in 1946 but the 0.303in machine gun was retained for use in the Seafire F 17. Otherwise all strike and fighter types carried 20mm cannon as their standard front guns. Stocks of bombs were reduced and standardised on 2000lb armour-piercing, 1000lb and 500lb medium-capacity, 500lb semi armour-piercing and 250lb general-purpose weapons, the latter only retained for the early marks of Seafire while they remained in operational service. The wartime ‘B’ bomb, a buoyant weapon intended to be dropped close to a ship in order to float up under the hull to detonate under the keel, had proved a disappointment in service and was discarded despite the existence of large stockpiles. A new standard bomb-carrier was introduced capable of carrying all types of bomb on all types of aircraft.40
The 3in rocket projectile remained standard and could be fitted with either a 25lb solid armour-piercing head or a 60lb high-explosive head for use against different targets. The solid head was intended for use against submarines to penetrate the pressure hull and against armoured vehicles on land. A new 10in rocket remained in development; it was known as ‘Uncle Tom’ and was expected to subsume the torpedo as the primary ship-killing weapon used by strike aircraft. In the event, development difficulties, lack of funds and lack of RAF interest in such a weapon in the late 1940s led to its eventual cancellation.
Training for torpedo attack pilots ceased in 1946, a year in which 813 NAS with its Firebrands was the only operational unit capable of dropping them. It carried out a few experimental drops before disbanding in September 1946 and the Admiralty stated that torpedo-attack training would resume when the necessary aircraft and manpower became available but, in the event, it never returned to the earlier level of importance. A homing torpedo intended for use against submarines continued in development under the codename ‘Dealer’ and was eventually to emerge as the Mark 30. It had a weight of only 670lbs, a running range of 5000 yards at 15 knots and its acoustic sensor could acquire a target at 300 yards in shallow water; it had, therefore, to be dropped at less than this distance ahead of its intended target. During 1946 all mobile torpedo maintenance units were reduced to care and maintenance as there was no work for them but considerable stocks of Mark 15 and 17 torpedoes were retained at RN Armament Depots to fill the need for a powerful anti-shipping weapon if it became necessary. Similarly a stock of airborne mines was retained after 1947 although there were few opportunities to practice dropping them. After 1948 facilities were created for the laying of practice minefields and some training resumed so that the experience gained during the war would not be lost.
Although not weapons, cameras formed an important element of strike fighters’ equipment and these too were rationalised. Fittings for vertical and oblique F.24 cameras were retained in the Seafire FR 47, Sea Hornet F 20 and Sea Fury FB 11 aircraft. They could be controlled from the cockpit and used for tactical reconnaissance. In 1947 an RN strategic reconnaissance unit was formed to work in close liaison with the Central Photographic Unit at RAF Benson. It was equipped, initially, with Sea Mosquito TR 33 aircraft equipped with two F.52 cameras which could be fitted with either 36in or 20in lenses for strategic reconnaissance. They were replaced by Sea Hornet PR 22s.
RNAS Crail was part of the post-war run-down of RN air establishments. This photograph was taken in 1946, shortly before it was reduced to care and maintenance status. Note the fields to the north of the hangars and east of the runways which are full of surplus Barracudas waiting for the scrap dealers to remove them. (Crail Museum Trust)
RN Air Stations
During the Second World War the RN commissioned eighty-three naval air stations and ten air establishments throughout the world. Of these, twenty-nine were overseas and the remainder in the UK. By 1 December 1947 there were nineteen air stations and six air establishments commissioned in the UK with a further fifteen retained in reserve that could be commissioned at short notice in an emergency. Overseas there were a further four air stations in commission, one each in Ceylon and Singapore, two in Malta and four others in reserve. The wartime Mobile Naval Air Bases (MONABs), had all been disbanded although a nucleus of men and equipment was retained at RNAS Lossiemouth for use in an emergency and to keep the art alive.41
The UK air stations carried out a number of functions that were vital to the support of front-line units embarked in carriers. These included the receipt, despatch and storage of new aircraft and those held in long-term reserve. Others provided facilities including ranges for squadrons to maintain their operational proficiency when disembarked from their parent carriers. Some provided training facilities for aircrew and maintenance personnel in specialised roles such as fighters, anti-submarine operations and strike warfare while others contained specialised units to function