How Carriers Fought: Carrier Operations in WWII

297 Pages·2018·5.42 MB·English

by  Lars Celander

HOW CARRIERS FOUGHT
To my daughter.
HOW CARRIERS
FOUGHT
Carrier Operations in World War II
LARS CELANDER
Philadelphia & Oxford
Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2018 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
and
Th e Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK
Copyright 2018 © Lars Celander
Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-621-5
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-6120-062-2 (epub)
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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Contents
Preface vii
Glossary viii
Introduction x
Part I. Carrier Operations 1
1 Navigation and Communication 2
2 Flight Operations 22
3 Aircraft Carried 44
4 Finding the Enemy 52
5 Detecting Incoming Strikes 65
6 Aerial Attacks 70
7 Defending Against Aerial Attack 87
8 Fighter Direction 101
9 Logistics 109
Part II. Carrier Battles of World War II 117
10 Early Scouting and Raiding by Carriers 118
11 Battle of the Coral Sea 123
12 Battle of Midway 134
13 Operation Pedestal 145
14 Battle of the Eastern Solomons 149
15 Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands 158
16 Battle of the Philippine Sea 173
17 Battle of Leyte Gulf 188
18 Carrier Operations in a Larger Context 196
Part III. Th e Art and Evolution of Carrier Operations 203
19 Combat Models 204
20 Concentration vs. Dispersion 209
vi • how carriers fought
21 Fighters vs. Bombers 213
22 Battleships vs. Carriers 220
23 Armored Flight Deck vs. Size of Air Group 225
24 Eff ectiveness of Heavy AA Guns 235
25 World War II Carrier Design Revisited 242
26 Th e Art of Carrier Operations 248
27 Evolution of Carrier Operations 253
Appendix - Postwar Developments 258
Notes on Sources 270
Bibliography 273
Index 279
Preface
It all started as an itch. Having read many books and articles on the big
carrier battles of World War II, there were still a number of things I did not
understand. Th ings like what actually went on and why things happened the
way they did. I looked for books that told me not so much about the “what,”
“why,” or “when” but about the more elusive “how.” From time to time, some
interesting and useful tidbits of information showed up but never a complete
description.
Th ere are many excellent books detailing what happened in those battles,
how the events unfolded, what led up to them, and their signifi cance in various
ways. But that was not what I was looking for. I wanted something written
more from the perspective of a commander, a tactician, a systems engineer,
or an analyst, not a traditional historian. How did they do it? Why did they
do it like that? Could they have done it a better way?
Not fi nding any book on the topic, I started digging around on the Internet.
Gradually I started to get a decent understanding of how a carrier battle really
was fought. Th e best way to understand something is often to try to explain
it to someone else. By writing things down as an essay, I forced myself to
structure my understanding and to clarify my thinking. It also identifi ed the
gaps in my knowledge, forcing me to go searching for what I had not yet
understood.
Having done that, I found myself with an essay that I then posted on
my personal website. Th is led to some very encouraging feedback; the essay
seemed to fi ll a need. Nothing like it appeared to exist, at least not in the open
literature. Similar analyses might well have been done by military professionals
but perhaps not in a form intended for a wider audience.
In short, not fi nding the book I wanted to read, I wrote it myself.
Lars Celander
Glossary of Terms
AA Anti-Aircraft
AEW Airborne Early Warning
AP Armor Piercing
ASW Anti-Submarine Warfare
CAP Combat Air Patrol
CIC Combat Information Center
HE High Explosive
IFF Identifi cation Friend or Foe
IJN Imperial Japanese Navy
RN Royal Navy
USN United States Navy
Albacore Fairey Albacore biplane torpedo bomber
Avenger Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber
Barracuda Fairey Barracuda dive/torpedo bomber
Bearcat Grumman F8F Bearcat fi ghter
Betty Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” twin-engine medium bomber
Catalina Consolidated PBY Catalina twin-engine fl ying boat
Corsair Vought F4U Corsair fi ghter
Dauntless Douglas SBD Dauntless scout/dive bomber
Devastator Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber
Emily Kawanishi H8K “Emily” four-engine fl ying boat
Fulmar Fairey Fulmar two-seat reconnaissance/fi ghter
Hellcat Grumman F6F Hellcat fi ghter
Helldiver Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber
Jake Aichi E13A “Jake” fl oatplane
Jill Nakajima B6N “Jill” torpedo bomber
Judy Yokosuka D4Y “Judy” dive bomber
Kate Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bomber
Kingfi sher Vought OS2U Kingfi sher fl oatplane
Liberator Consolidated PB4Y Liberator long-range patrol bomber
glossary of terms • ix
Martlet Grumman F4F Wildcat fi ghter (in British service)
Mavis Kawanishi H6K “Mavis” four-engine fl ying boat
Sea Hurricane Hawker Hurricane fi ghter (naval version)
Seafi re Supermarine Spitfi re fi ghter (naval version)
Skua Blackburn Skua two-seat fi ghter/dive bomber
Swordfi sh Fairey Swordfi sh biplane torpedo bomber
Val Aichi D3A “Val” dive bomber
Wildcat Grumman F4F Wildcat fi ghter
Zero Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” fi ghter