Carrier Air Wing Eleven

Carrier Air Wing Eleven - CVW-11 -
Lineup	October 27, 1942
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Navy
Strength	approx. 2,500 people
Location	Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
Nickname	"Barbwire"

Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11) is an aircraft squadron of the United States Navy .

history

Second World War

F6F of the VF-11 squadron launch attacks on Formosa

The squadron, then known as Carrier Air Group 11 (CVG-11) , was formed on October 10, 1942 at Naval Air Station North Island (California). Pilots of the Lexington Air Group of the aircraft carrier Lexington, sunk in May 1942 , formed the basis for the new squadron . CVG-11 was set up as a replacement squadron for the aircraft carrier Hornet , which was sunk on October 26, 1942. The four squadrons of the squadron were equipped with Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat (VF-11), Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless (VB-11, VS-11) and Grumman TBF-1 Avenger (VT-11).

In the same month, the squadron was transferred to Hawaii on board the US Army transport President Tyler and the escort carrier Long Island and was stationed at NAS Barbers Point ( Oahu ) for the next four months . In February 1943 another transfer took place on board the escort carrier Altamaha to the NAS Nandi in the Fiji Islands . On April 27, the transfer to the combat area at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal took place . From here the aircraft of the squadron flew attacks on u. a. Munda , Vila Vanga Vanga, Ringi Cove, Rekata Bay, Sangigai, Viri, Bairoko and the Kahili Airfield on Bougainville . In August 1943, the squadron was relocated back to the USA to refresh. Here, too, the VF-11 and VB-11 were converted to the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat and the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver .

At the end of March 1944, the squadron was transferred to Hilo, Hawaii , on the Wasp . In September 1944, personnel of the squadron were transferred to the US Army transporter OH Ernst to Manus in the Admiralty Islands . Here the new aircraft carrier Hornet CVG-11 took over. In the following month, the squadron was involved in the sea ​​and air battles in the Gulf of Leyte and the invasion of the Philippines . Attacks on Japanese bases in Okinawa , Taiwan , Hong Kong and French Indochina followed by February 1945 . On February 1, 1945 CVW-11 finally ended this mission and was relocated back to the USA, to NAS Alameda (California) via the Ulithi Atoll . The squadron received a Presidential Unit Citation for its missions .

Korea

F8F of CVG-11 in 1948 over USS Valley Forge

A-1H and F-4G on the USS Kitty Hawk in 1966 during the Vietnam War

In 1947/48 CVG-11 orbited the earth with the aircraft carrier Valley Forge . 1950 to 1952 the squadron made three trips in the Korean War , two on the Philippine Sea and one on the Valley Forge . By 1964, there were further trips to the Western Pacific on the aircraft carriers Kearsarge , Essex , Shangri-La , Hancock and Kitty Hawk . The squadron remained stationed on the Kitty Hawk from 1961 to 1978. In 1963, Carrier Air Group Eleven (CVG-11) was renamed Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11) .

Vietnam

From 1965 CVW-11 made seven trips in the Vietnam War . During the 1966 mission, about half of the squadron's planes were painted with dark green tops in order to gain experience in camouflaging the planes. During the conflict, CVW-11 aircraft shot down five North Vietnamese aircraft. In 1968 the squadron u. a. used in the Battle of Khe Sanh .

1970s: CV concept

At the end of 1973 the CVW-11 was the first squadron to implement the "CV concept". Due to the decommissioning of the Essex-class anti- submarine carriers, the anti- submarine squadrons were integrated into the attack squadrons, which were essentially only equipped with fighter bombers. So took Kitty Hawk in addition, the anti-submarine squadrons VS-37 and VS-38 Grumman S-2G Tracker and HS-4 with Sikorsky SH-3D on board so that the squadron record number of 107 aircraft included. In 1977 the S-2G- equipped squadrons were replaced by a Lockheed S-3A Viking .

Crisis operations since 1980

An F-14 of the VF-114 squadron intercepts a Soviet Tu-95 in 1983

1979 to 1981 CVW-11 made two trips to the Mediterranean on America . For the next eight years, the squadron was stationed on the Enterprise , but again deployed in the Pacific. Enterprise circled the world in 1986 and 1989/90. In 1988, planes of the squadron attacked Iranian oil platforms after an attack on the frigate Samuel B. Roberts . In December 1989, CVW-11 was used together with the CVW-5 stationed on the Midway in Operation Classic Resolve , which collapsed a military coup in the Philippines .

From 1990 to 1995 the CVW-11 was on the Abraham Lincoln before returning to the Kitty Hawk for a mission in 1996/97 . From 1998 to 2002 the squadron made two trips on the Carl Vinson before the squadron was relocated to the Nimitz in 2003 . CVW-11 has remained stationed on this carrier to date, with the exception of a brief mission around Cape Horn on the Ronald Reagan between May and July 2004. Since 1992, the squadron has been deployed repeatedly in the Indian Ocean, for example in Operation Southern Watch in Iraq, of operation Restore Hope in 1994 in Somalia, and since 2001 in operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. From 2005 to 2008, the US Marine Corps' VMFA-232 fighter-bomber squadron was an integral part of the squadron.

organization

Two F / A-18E of the 2005 Squadron VFA-14 aboard the USS Nimitz

CAG Bird of the VFA-94 (CVW-11), stationed on the USS Carl Vinson in 2001

The US Navy has had a fixed system for identifying squadrons or squadrons ( Visual Identification System for Naval Aircraft ) since 1945 . Initially, this consisted of geometric patterns on the tail unit. However, since these were difficult to remember or to describe, letters were introduced as early as June 1945 to distinguish the squadrons. CVG-11 has been assigned the letter "V". In 1957 the individual letters were replaced by doubles. In general, the squadrons of the Atlantic Fleet have an "A" as their first letter and those of the Pacific Fleet an "N". The Carrier Air Wing 11 can be recognized by the code ( tail code ) NH . The individual squadrons of the squadron are numbered in increments of 100. The aircraft ending with “00” in each season is referred to as the CAG Bird ( Commander, Air Group (CAG) ).

composition

The Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11) currently (July 2012) includes the following squadrons:

tactical number (Modex)	Season	Aircraft type	Nickname	Radio callsign
from 100	VFA-154	Boeing F / A-18F Super Hornet	Black Knights
From 200	VFA-147	Boeing F / A-18E Super Hornet	Argonauts
from 300	VFA-146	McDonnell Douglas F / A-18C Hornet	Blue diamonds
from 400	VMFA-323	McDonnell Douglas F / A-18C (N) Hornet	Death Rattlers
from 500	VAQ-142	Grumman EA-6B Prowler	Gray Wolves
from 600	VAW-117	Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 NP	Wallbangers	Banger
from 610	HSC-6	Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk	Screaming Indians	Indian
xx (two digits)	VRC-30 Det. 3	Grumman C-2A Greyhound	Providers	Password

References

1. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/app15.pdf
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ http://www.gonavy.jp/CVG-CVG11f.html
4. ^ Robert L. Lawson (ed.): The History of US Naval Airpower . New York 1987. pp. 169f. ISBN 0-517-41481-3
5. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/seairland/appene.htm
6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/classic_resolve.htm
8. ↑ http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NHf.html
9. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/app23.pdf
11. ↑ www.gonavy.jp

Web links

• Website of Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) (English)
• Site from Japan with comprehensive information on squadrons and squadrons (English)