USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers. The Pacific 1942

84 Pages·2007·40.6 MB·English

by  Mark Stille

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATORS
COMMANDER [RH) MARKSTILLEserved asaNaval IntelligenceOfficer,spending
overfive years ofhisnaval careerassignedtovarious USNavy carriers. He
continuestoworkinthisfield inacivilian capacity. Heholds an MAfrom
the NavalWarCollegeand hashad severalwargamespublished. He livesin
Virginia,USA.
IAN PALMER isahighlyexperienceddigital artist.Agraduate in 3Ddesign,
hecurrentlyworks asaseniorartistfortheworld'slargestgamesdeveloper.
Besideshisartisticinterestshe isalsoakeen musicianand motorcyclist.He
livesinSurreywith hiswife andtwocats.
HOWARDGERRARDstudied attheWallasey School ofArt and has beena
freelance designerand illustratorforover20 years. Heisan associate memberof
theGuildofAviationArtists and haswonboththeSocietyofBritishAerospace
CompaniesAward andtheWilkinsonSwordTrophy. Howardcompletedthe
battlesceneillustrationinthisbook.
MARK STILLE
FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2007byOspreyPublishing,
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CONTENTS
Introduction 4
Chronology 6
Design and Development 8
The Strategic Situation 19
Technical Specifications 23
The Combatants 41
Combat 53
Statistics and Analysis 72
Aftermath 77
Further Reading 79
Index 80
INTRODUCTION.
ThePacificWar berween theAmerican andJapanese navies is nowremembered as a
carrierwar. However, at the onset ofthewar, both navies expected that the conflict
wouldbedecidedbyagiganticclashofbattleshipssomewhereinthewestern Pacific.
Whilebothnationshadbeenoperatingcarrierssincetheearly1920s,itwasenvisioned
thatcarrierswouldsimplyplaysupportingroles to the battle fleets.
On thefirst dayofthewar, December7, 1941, this assumptionwas proved to be
incorrect. The war opened with astartling display ofthe power ofcarrier-launched
aircraft, provingbeyondadoubt thatthebattleshiphad beeneclipsed bytheaircraft
carrier.TheJapaneseattackonPearlHarbor, homeoftheUnitedStatesNavyPacific
Fleet, served notice that the carrierwould be the principal naval striking power of
thewar. At Pearl Harbor, the ImperialJapanese Navy (IJN) massed six fleet aircraft
carriers into a single force, embarking over 400 aircraft. Achieving strategic and
tactical surprise, theJapanese devastated the Pacific Fleet's battle line. Ofthe eight
US battleships present, five were sunk and the others damaged. Fortunatelyfor the
Americans, theprimarytargetoftheJapaneseattack, the PacificFleet's three aircraft
carriers,was not present at Pearl Harbor that day. After Pearl Harbor, the US Navy
was forced to abandon its prewar plans and instead centered its operations on its
remaining carriers. Ironically, the IJN, havingjust demonstrated the striking power
and range ofthe carrier, stillclungto the notion that thewarwouldstill be decided
byaclashofdreadnoughts.
During the first part ofthe war, Japanese expansion was rapid, underpinned by
the six fleet carriers ofthe FirstAir Fleet. The US possessions ofWake and Guam
islandswerequicklycaptured,whileoperationsinthePhilippinesforcedtheAmerican
andFilipinogarrison tosurrenderinMay1942.TheFirstAirFleetwasusedto cover
4 the invasion ofRabaul on NewBritain IslandinJanuary 1942as well as the Dutch
EastIndiesinFebruary.WherevertheFirstAirFleetwasemployed, thecombination TheKidoButoiduringthe
ofmassed air power and the excellence ofits aircraft and aircrew quickly crushed IndianOceanoperationof
April1942.Thisphotoclearly
Allied resistance. This string ofsuccesses continued through April 1942, when five
showsthepowerofthis
carriersoftheFirstAir Fleetmoved into theIndianOceanto devastate Britishnaval
formation.Akogiisleadingthe
fotces andshipping. columnthatincludes,inorder,
As the IJN's carrier force continued its rampage across the Pacific and Indian Soryu,Hiryu,allfourKongo
oceans, the US Navy's carriers began tentative'offensive raids againstJapanese-held classbattleships,andthetwo
Shokakuclasscarriers.This
islands.Theseraidswereconductedbysinglecarriersandtargetedislandbaseswithout
wastheonlytimeinthewar
heavydefenses,Japaneselosseswerelight, buttheexperiencegainedbytheAmericans
whenallfourKongo-class
provedinvaluable. InApril 1942, the US Navyconductedatwo-~arrier taid against unitsoperatedwiththeKido
the Japanese homeland using medium-range bombers. Despite the intense activity Butai.[KureMaritime
Museum]
ofbothsides' carriers, no carrierclashhadyet occurred. However, in May 1942 this
would change, and before the year was out, American andJapanese carrier forces
wouldengageinfourdifferentactions.AttheseepicbattlesoftheCoralSea,Midway,
the EasternSolomons, andSantaCruz, bothsidessufferedheavylosses, butthe end
resultwasunmistakable.Japaneseexpansionwasstopped,andtheUSNavyhadtaken
itsfirststepson the road toTokyo.
5

DES'IGN AND
DEVELOPMENT
US NAVY CARRIER DOCTRINE
FollowingWorld War I, during which the British Royal Navy had demonstrated
the utilityofembarking aircraft on ships, includingaircraft carriers, the US Navy
realized that naval aviation was an instrumental part ofmodern naval operations.
Fearful offalling farther behind the British, the US Navy receivedfunding for the
conversionofacollierintoanaircraftcarrierinJuly 1919.Thisexperimentalcarrier
wasfollowed bythefirstfleetcarriersin 1927. Uponfirstenteringservice,USNavy
carriers' primarytaskwas tosupportthe battlefleet. Carrieraircraftwouldprovide
reconnaissance andspotting for the battle fleet while denying those advantages to
the enemy. Spotting was viewed as especially important as aircraft could observe
the fall offire and radio corrections. Carriers were also expected to protect the
airspaceovertheirown fleet, thus denying the enemytheadvantagesoflong-range
spottingandscouting.
Gradually, theUS Navydevelopedthecarrier'sroleintoanindependentoffensive
platform. Early carrier aircraft were unable to carry torpedoes large enough to
crippleorsinkacapitalship, and although bombscould be carried, theyposed no
real threat to ships maneuvering at speed to avoid attack. However, in the 1920s,
the offensivecapabilityofcarrieraircraftwas greatlyincreased by the development
8 ofdive-bombing, whichfor the first time, allowed maneuveringships to bestruck