The early postwar Fleet Air Arm still operated Seafires and Fairey Fireflies while bringing the Hawker Sea Fury into the fighter role. AD-4 Skyraiders supplied airborne early warning, demonstrating that fleet surveillance was already an essential part of the carrier air group. The unreliable Blackburn Firebrand failed to become the dependable centerpiece originally hoped for, which increased the importance of the Sea Fury and other proven types. This mixed group captures a transitional moment before jets displaced piston aircraft but after wartime experience had made specialized warning and strike roles indispensable.
Notable Point · 1:10:29-1:11:19
The Fleet Air Arm's 1945-to-Korea carrier air group
A compact aircraft survey shows how piston fighters, strike aircraft, and airborne early warning shared British carrier decks from 1945 into the Korean War era.