This is a list of all the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

groups that were formed. There were Carrier Air Groups which administered squadrons which operated on carriers and Training Air Groups which administered squadrons that operated from land bases.

Carrier Air Groups

*1st Carrier Air Group - formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships o ...

and comprised

849 Naval Air Squadron 849 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, the Air Arm of the British Royal Navy. It was formed during the Second World War as a carrier based torpedo-bomber, unit, flying missions against Japanese targets in the Far East. Its ...

flying the

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

, 1834 Naval Air Squadron and 1836 Naval Air Squadron flying the

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

. It was disbanded on 8 September 1945 when ''Victorious'' returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. *2nd Carrier Air Group - formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the

and contained

848 Naval Air Squadron 848 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It operated the Westland Sea King HC.4 helicopter and previously provided advanced flying training to pilots for the other squadrons in the Commando Helicopter Force. The s ...

flying the TBF Avenger, 1841 Naval Air Squadron and

1842 Naval Air Squadron 1842 Naval Air Squadron (1842 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded on 31 October 1945 when Formidable returned to the United Kingdom. * 3rd Carrier Air Group - formed on 2 August 1945. It was a spare air group for the British Pacific Fleet based at

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in t ...

. It was formed too late for service in the war, and it contained

854 Naval Air Squadron 854 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, first formed on 1 January 1944 at Squantum Naval Air Station in the United States. It was disbanded in December 1945, and reformed December 2006 as a helicopter squadron des ...

flying the TBF Avenger, 1843 Naval Air Squadron and

1845 Naval Air Squadron 1845 Naval Air Squadron (1845 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from lan ...

flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded on 20 October 1945, and its personnel returned to the United Kingdom on board a merchant ship. *

7th Carrier Air Group The 7th Carrier Air Group was part of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and was formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 820 Naval Air Squadron flying the Grumman TBF Aveng ...

- formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 820 Naval Air Squadron flying the TBF Avenger,

887 Naval Air Squadron 887 Naval Air Squadron (887 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

and 894 Naval Air Squadron flying the Supermarine Seafire and

1770 Naval Air Squadron 1770 Naval Air Squadron (1770 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) on 10 September 1943 as a two-seat fighter squadron and embarked on H ...

flying the Fairey Firefly. It was disbanded in March 1946. *

8th Carrier Air Group The 8th Carrier Air Group of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 828 Naval Air Squadron flying the Grumman TBF Avenger, 801 Naval Air Squadro ...

- formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 828 Naval Air Squadron flying the TBF Avenger,

801 Naval Air Squadron 801 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War. Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force The squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 as part ...

and

880 Naval Air Squadron 880 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft carrier-based squadron formed in January 1941. The squadron served throughout the Second World War being embarked in the carriers , , and serving off East Africa, in the Mediterran ...

flying the Supermarine Seafire and

1771 Naval Air Squadron 1771 Naval Air Squadron (1771 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. The squadron was the first British & Commonwealth unit to fly over Japan in World War 2. Aircraft flown 1771 Naval Air Squadron flew only one aircraf ...

flying the Fairey Firefly. It was disbanded in April 1946, but some of its squadrons disbanded earlier. *11th Carrier Air Group - formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained

857 Naval Air Squadron 857 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It was first formed on 1 April 1944 at Squantum NAS in the United States as a torpedo reconnaissance unit with Grumman Avenger IIs. It reformed in its present state on 13 De ...

flying the TBF Avenger,

1839 Naval Air Squadron 1839 Naval Air Squadron (1839 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from lan ...

and 1844 Naval Air Squadron flying the F6F Hellcat. It was disbanded on 30 November 1945. *

13th Carrier Air Group This is a list of all the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm groups that were formed. There were Carrier Air Groups which administered squadrons which operated on carriers and Training Air Groups which administered squadrons that operated from land base ...

- formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 812 Naval Air Squadron flying the

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

and

1850 Naval Air Squadron 1850 Naval Air Squadron (1850 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded in August 1946. *14th Carrier Air Group - formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier HMS ''Colossus'' for service in the

and contained

827 Naval Air Squadron 827 Naval Air Squadron was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. It operated Fairey Barracudas starting in May 1943, becoming the first squadron to receive the Fairey Barracuda in any substantial n ...

flying the Fairey Barracuda and 1846 Naval Air Squadron flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded on 23 July 1946. *

15th Carrier Air Group The 15th Carrier Air Group of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 814 Naval Air Squadron flying the Fairey Barracuda and 1851 Naval Air Squa ...

- formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the British Pacific Fleet and contained 814 Naval Air Squadron flying the Fairey Barracuda and 1851 Naval Air Squadron flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded in 1947. *16th Carrier Air Group - formed on 30 June 1945. It was based on the aircraft carrier for service in the

and contained

837 Naval Air Squadron 837 Naval Air Squadron (837 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

flying the

and 1831 Naval Air Squadron flying the F4U Corsair. It was disbanded in 1947. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

the creation of a 4th, 5th, 9th, 12th and 22nd Carrier Air Group also was planned. The surrender of Japan rendered the new carrier air groups unnecessary, and they were never formed.

Other Air Groups

* 50th Training Air Group - formed at

RNAS Yeovilton Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...

on 13 May 1948. Administered second line units at Yeovilton including 700 Naval Air Squadron (until August 1949), 767 Naval Air Squadron (until January 1952) and

799 Naval Air Squadron 799 Naval Air Squadron (799 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

(until December 1951). It was disbanded during January 1952. * 51st Training Air Group - Formed at

RNAS Eglinton Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station (RAF Eglinton) in 1941, before being transferred to the ...

during May 1946. Administered second line units at Eglinton such as

718 Naval Air Squadron 718 Naval Air Squadron (718 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy created on 15 July 1936 to serve as a Catapult Flight of the Fleet Air Arm. It was elevated to squadron status at the end of 1937, before being disbanded on 21 January 1 ...

and

719 Naval Air Squadron 719 Naval Air Squadron (719 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Aircraft operated The squadron operated a variety of different aircraft and versions: * Vought Corsair III * Miles Master II * Supermarine Seafire IIb ...

. It was disbanded on 13 November 1946. * 51st Miscellaneous Air Group - Formed at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and ad ...

during July 1948. Administered 771 Naval Air Squadron and

783 Naval Air Squadron 783 Naval Air Squadron (783 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

at Lee-on-Solent. Disbanded during 1950. * 52nd Training Air Group - Formed at RNAS Eglinton. Administered 718,

794 __NOTOC__ Year 794 ( DCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 794 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

and

795 Naval Air Squadron 795 Naval Air Squadron (795 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which last disbanded at RNAS Ford (HMS ''Peregrine''), in Sussex, during March 1947. Originally formed as the ...

s at Eglinton. Disbanded during March 1947. Reformed at

RNAS Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is serv ...

on 1 February 1950. Administered 736 and

738 Naval Air Squadron 738 Naval Air Squadron (738 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active from 1943 to 1945 as a training squadron for USA aircraft types used by the Fleet Air Arm. Reformed in 1950, it continued to for ...

s. Disbanded there on 16 August 1951. * 53rd Training Air Group - formed at Eglinton on 14 June 1950. Administered 719 and

737 Naval Air Squadron 737 Naval Air Squadron (737 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active during 1943 as an amphibious Bomber Reconnaissance Training Squadron. Reactivated in 1944 it operated as an ASV Training Unit u ...

s. Disbanded there on 31 January 1952.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last1=Sturtivant , first1=R , last2=Ballance , first2=T , title=The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm , year=1994 , publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd , location=

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, UK , isbn=0-85130-223-8 Fleet Air Arm Groups