Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17) was a designation used by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to identify two unrelated Carrier Air Groups; the first of which was established on 1 January 1943 as Carrier Air Group Seventeen and disestablished on 1 April 1992 as Carrier Air Wing Six; and the second of which was established as Carrier Air Group Eighty Two on 1 April 1944 and ultimately disestablished as Carrier Air Group Seventeen on 16 September 1968. Neither group shares a lineage with the current Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) as the first was the forerunner of CVW-6 and the second was disestablished eight years before CVW-17 was established.

First Carrier Air Group designated CVG-17

The first Carrier Air Group to carry the designation Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17) was established as CVG-17 on 1 January 1943 during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. That CVG was later redesignated CVBG-17, then CVBG-5, then CVG-6 (the second use of the CVG-6 designation) and ultimately

CVW-6 Carrier Air Wing Six (CVW-6) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing whose operational history spans from the middle of World War II to the end of the Cold War. Established in 1943 as Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17), it would be ...

before it was disestablished.

Second Carrier Air Group designated CVG-17

CVG-82

The Second Carrier Air Group to carry the CVG-17 designation was established as CVG-82 on 1 April 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was assigned to the aircraft carrier . CVG-82 consisted of Fighting Squadron 82, flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, Bombing Squadron 82 (Curtiss SB2C Helldiver), Torpedo Squadron 82 (Grumman TBM Avenger) and the two USMC fighter squadrons VMF-112 and VMF-123 (Vought F4U Corsair). After training on the U.S. East Coast, ''Bennington'' reached the U.S. 5th Fleet on 7 February 1945. Nine days later. CVG-82 attacked targets in the

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

area, mainly the airfields at Nachijo Jima, Nanpo Shoto, Mikatagahara, and Hamamatsu. From 20 to 22 February, the wing supported the landings on

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. This was followed by attacks on targets in the Japanese Inland Sea and on

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in March. On 7 April, aircraft from CVG-82 participated in the sinking of the battleship

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

. The Air Group then supported U.S. troops on

until June. On 17 June 1945, CVG-82 was replaced aboard ''Bennington'' by CVG-1, and was transported to the US aboard . During its deployment, CVG-82 was credited with the destruction of 167 Japanese aircraft in the air and 220 on the ground. However, CVG-82 lost 40 pilots and 13 crewmembers, 25% of its regular strength. Following the war the Air Group was reassigned to the

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. CVG-82 began its first deployment to the Atlantic Ocean area in October 1946 aboard ''Randolph''.

CVAG-17

On 15 November 1946 all then existing CVGs were redesignated according to a new designation scheme. Carrier Air Groups assigned to ''Essex'' class carriers were designated CVAGs and those assigned to the larger ''Midway'' class carrier were designated CVBGs. CVAGs were numbered sequential from 1 to 21 using only odd number and CVG-82 was redesignated "Attack Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVAG-17)".

CVG-17

Not long thereafter, on 1 September 1948, the Navy instituted yet another designation scheme eliminating the CVAG and CVBG designations and all existing Carrier Air Groups were redesignated to CVGs numbered sequentially beginning with . CVAG-17 became CVG-17 (the second use of the CVG-17 designation). Until 1953, CVG-17 made eight deployments to the Mediterranean Sea aboard ''Randolph'', ''Midway'', ''Franklin D. Roosevelt'' and ''Coral Sea''. Between September 1953 and May 1954, CVG-17 circumnavigated the world aboard ''Wasp''. In 1955 CVG-17 deployed again aboard ''Coral Sea'', followed by three deployments with ''Franklin D. Roosevelt'' until March 1958. In November 1956, ''FDR'' and ''Forrestal'' were rushed to the Mediterranean Sea to join ''Randolph'' and ''Coral Sea'' during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, to prevent any

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

intervention. CVG-17 was disestablished on 16 September 1958.

References