Did the same types of fighter planes that operated on American carriers from 1943 on in the Pacific (Hellcat and Corsair) operate in the Atlantic as well? Or did they use other fighters on the Atlantic carriers?
The ASW hunter-killer groups would have been in line to get new dive bombers and level bomber (for carrying depth charges) as they were allocated. The exact priorities are not known to me. Hellcats would have been for protecting the ships and intercepting Condors. The priority there would have been lower, I think, as aerial combat was less likely, so Wildcats may have seen service there longer than in the Pacific. (All from memory, sorry.)
I believe the short answer is the same fighters were used, but as OpanaPointer pointed (see what I did there) out, priorities might have been lower for Hellcats in the Atlantic. I don't know if the USN operated Corsairs in the ETO but the RN did, as well as Wildcats, Hellcats and Avengers. They had Sea Hurricanes and Seafires as well. No SBDs for the RN but they flew some other American types like the Voit SB2U Vindicator. RN had some unique carrier fighters like Fulmer and Firefly which they used in both Atlantic and Pacific.
Didn't the Atlantic get mostly escort carriers? My impression was they tended to use F4F's for their fighter compliments.
In the Atlantic, the Sangamon class air groups were 24 FM (F4F) Wildcats and 9 TBF. The Bogue class carried 9 FM and 12 TBF.
For the invasion of southern France, two American CVEs, one Bogue and one Casablanca class, carried F6Fs, as did at least one American-built British CVE. Otherwise in the USN, Atlantic and Pacific, those classes' fighters were F4Fs/FMs. CVEs providing close support to the invasions of Salerno and southern France carried all fighers, usually 24 per ship. Dive bombers were rarely used on CVEs (tempted to say never, but I've learned to be careful of absolutes) largely for reasons of space. The wings on Grumman planes including the TBF folded compactly against the sides*. SBDs' wings didn't fold at all and SB2Cs' at about the halfway point on the wing. It was also easier in a small air group to have only two types. The F4U's "footprint" with wings folded was also wider than the F6F, but they were used on Commencement Bay class carriers, mainly by Marine squadrons, late in WWII and again in Korea. IIRC they carried 24 F4Us. There was another thread on this topic recently. * added - On F4Fs this started with the -4 model, introduced in mid-1942. F4F-3s and prior did not fold at all.
Yeah, its a junkyard up there, but The Naval Aeronautical Organization documents are available here: http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/naval-aeronautical-organization/naval-aeronautical-organization-1923-1952.html The Air Group compositions varied over time - the Sangamon's carried F6F night fighters late war. The numbers I gave are representative of early '44.
Yep, by Richard Leonard, the recognized authority on the topic. I suggest the OP search his posts under "RLeonard".
