The SteelNavy.Com Message Board: It evolved

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Can any of you explain the aircraft side numbers on USN carriers c. 1943-1945? Looking specifically at Yorktown (CV-10), I can find very few pictures showing side numbers, but it seems fighters were 1- or 2-digits while the only clear TBF photo I could find shows side number 121.

It's an area that I have wanted to find documentation regarding but have not yet. I can say that it evolved over time and there appears to be some variation within air groups or perhaps a system within task groups that divvied up the numbers (view this as lower probability). That said, things are pretty consistently ranged by type, so the fighters have a series of numbers that is separate from the dive bombers, which are separate from the torpedo bombers.

So, choosing a snapshot of January 1945, we can say in general the airgroup was comprised of the following:

CVG-3
VB-3 SB2C-4 15
VF-3 F6F-5 65
VF-3 F6F-5N 4
VF-3 F6F-5P 4
VT-3 TBM-1C 15

Yorktown's War diary for January 1945 mentions F6Fs 1, 3, 7, 11, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, 31, 32, 38, 41, 51, 53, 55, 59, 63
SB2Cs 104, 107, 109, 111
TBFs 123, 125, 133, 134

These are aircraft that were shot down or had some survivable issue (some ran low on gas and landed on other carriers and returned later in the day).

"F6F #1" was referenced (lost) as a VFN early on January 3rd, so it was possibly one of the four F6F-5N night fighters attached to VF-3, but F5F #3 was not referenced as a VFN and "F6F #1" was also referenced on January 22 when the CO of VF-3 was lost when strafing a Luger in #1. These were two separate aircraft with separate Bureau Numbers, but the same number, and I just didn't see anough other examples to know if the night fighters had random numbers and/or how the Photo F6F-5Ps fit in either.

The war diary fairly consistently uses other ships' aircraft numbers when aircraft from other ships landed aboard - on January 20th "F6F(N) #4" from Enterprise and "F6F(N) #15" from Independence landed aboard and we can see some variation in labeling and numbering in these descriptions.

There were nominally 73 Hellcats aboard, so given the fairly even dispersion of numbers between 1-63 I'm guessing fighters aboard were either 1-75 or 1-100, with SB2C Helldivers from 100-115 and TBF/TBM Avegners from 120-135.

THIS IS JUST A SEMI WILD-ASS GUESS not backed by any memos from NARA. It's the best I can do at this time.