In WWII, while the Avenger was best suited to the task, the USN used pretty much any of their available multi-seat carrier aircraft (including SBDs andORIGINAL: wdolson
I've never seen much on any kind of COD effort during WW II, though mail was a high priority for morale purposes. I suspect some regular combat equipped Avengers were probably used as mail planes at various times, but it wasn't any kind of formal effort.
SB2Cs) for quick delivery of personnel, mail or light stores/equipment to their CVs when underway. For urgent deliveries at sea that were too large for
these aircraft, destroyers were normally used as a go-between, loading from a base or other ship and then coming alongside for the carrier to hoist the
needed cargo aboard.
As an illustration of a DD delivery express, during the Okinawa Campaign when TF 58 was heavily engaged with air operations in April, the fleet's
destroyers were used to keep the carriers topped up with a constant flow of needed stores and equipment from the replenishment fleet to reduce
the need for the carriers themselves to leave their operational area to re-supply.
For example, TF 58.1's USS Bennington received almost 10 tons of ships stores, aircraft drop-tanks and aviation supplies from the USS McKee and
USS Mansfield between the 22nd and 23rd April after the destroyers had earlier taken on their cargo from TF 50.8 (Replenishment). And as the
report below indicates, the Bennington barely paused during such deliveries...
USS Benington (Chronological Log extract of 23 April 1945)
0834-0848.....Launched DCAP #2 (4VMF, 8VF) and Strike Baker (4VF, 12VB, 12 VT).
0851-0912.....Recovered TCAP #1 and 2 Divisions of DCAP #1, 20 planes.
0939-0951.....USS Mansfield alongside to transfer belly tanks and spare aviation parts.
1002-1004.....Launched TCAP #4 (8VMF, 4VF)
.....
I'm sure the USN would have appreciated specialised COD aircraft in WWII but it seems the DD Express Delivery Service was able to sufficiently
meet the navy's needs in the meantime.
