P-51 Mustang operations on aircraft carriers

I share with you some photos showing P-51 Mustangs on aircraft carriers. There was a naval version of this plane? To see the photos, visit the link below:


http://aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.com.br/2011/02/um-p-51-mustang-navalizado.html


Lawrence

 

I love the P51 Mustang. Cadillac of the sky!

Sure, there were Naval versions of the Mustang. During World War II, they were used extensively to guard B-29s. They were the only fighter planes that had that kind of range necessary to do so.

 

No, the USN did not use P-51s to guard B-29s. The USN did not guard B-29s . . . period.

USAAF, not USN, P-51s did operate out of Okinawa and, I believe, Iwo Jima, on occasion coordinating with B-29 strikes, but only in the daytime. And by the time Okinawa was secure, most B-29s were operating at night. The great majority of USAAF P-51's found working their mischief over the Japanese home islands were fighter sweeps, no where near any B-29s.

There were exactly two, only two, P-51s in the USN inventory, bureau number 09604 and bureau number 57987, that which was involved in the November 1944 suitability tests aboard USS Shangri-La; both were obtained from the Army for test purposes.

There was one USN squadron, VCS-8, which operated P-51Cs during the invasion of south France (and for that matter first trained in P-40s), but those planes remained the property of the USAAF - just as the Spitfire VBs operated by the USN's VCS-7 over Normandy remained the property of the RAF; in both cases, the planes were never in the USN inventory, they were short term loaners for specific operations. VCS-7 and VCS-8 were cruiser scouting squadrons which normally operated floatplanes.

 

You are correct, and I should have been clearer. They were used in naval operations, but they weren't used by the Navy. Although they were used to escort B-29s. From Wikipedia:

As the war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common: eventually, with the capture of Iwo Jima, it was able to be used as a bomber escort during Boeing B-29 Superfortress missions against the Japanese homeland.