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It's a great question but not just to carriers - how did they crunch the numbers for the USAAF ... air armies such as the 8th ... ?
I agree.It's a great question but not just to carriers - how did they crunch the numbers for the USAAF ... air armies such as the 8th ... ?
Battleships also had a big crew and lots of logistics to solve, I suppose in the time they were constructing the additional carries they had time to figure out how to keep them supplied.I agree.
Battleships also had a big crew and lots of logistics to solve, I suppose in the time they were constructing the additional carries they had time to figure out how to keep them supplied.
I agree, I remember reading in the first book I read about anything military, the Graf Spee had used so much ammunition in an engagement with a cruiser and two light cruisers that it was a major issue for the captain risking a repeat. Even if his ship was undamaged Langsdorf would certainly have run out of ammunition trying to get back home.Put a thousand bombers on an island, hoping to fly missions consisting of 400 ships per raid, and you're up into that territory as well: ground-maintenance, ordnance folks, paymasters, clerks, cooks, firemen, and so on. That's ignoring the shipping required to bring the ammunition, the staffing for the naval escorts, etc, as their expense gets amortized over a broad range of cargoes -- but you get the idea.
I think all of the logistics in such a vast war are stunning in their scope, and I marvel at those numbers.
I agree, I remember reading in the first book I read about anything military, the Graf Spee had used so much ammunition in an engagement with a cruiser and two light cruisers that it was a major issue for the captain risking a repeat. Even if his ship was undamaged Langsdorf would certainly have run out of ammunition trying to get back home.
I think it must have unnerved Langsdorf that the British cruisers could shadow the Graf Spee night and day via radar for thousands of miles, keeping out of effective gunnery range the whole time. It was a long way from Uruguay to Germany. Scuttling Graf Spee was like a chessmaster laying down his king early in the game, when he can project out a certain victory by the opponent.I agree, I remember reading in the first book I read about anything military, the Graf Spee had used so much ammunition in an engagement with a cruiser and two light cruisers that it was a major issue for the captain risking a repeat. Even if his ship was undamaged Langsdorf would certainly have run out of ammunition trying to get back home.
He was also led to believe that that there was a large force outside (force H). He saved 61 POWs and his crew taking his own life for the honour of his navy. The only German my father said he had respect for.I think it must have unnerved Langsdorf that the British cruisers could shadow the Graf Spee night and day via radar for thousands of miles, keeping out of effective gunnery range the whole time. It was a long way from Uruguay to Germany. Scuttling Graf Spee was like a chessmaster laying down his king early in the game, when he can project out a certain victory by the opponent.
Of the 12 USN carriers lost during the war, only four were fleet carriers.Going back to the carriers though. Sure you plan for attrition, but how much do you plan for? On the Essex-Class carriers, attrition was not bad, probably less than they expected, until the Kamikazes off of Okinawa. I can't remember where I read it, but for a short time, more ships were being knocked out than were being built.
Scuttling Graf Spee was like a chessmaster laying down his king early in the game, when he can project out a certain victory by the opponent.
He saved 61 POWs and his crew taking his own life for the honour of his navy.
I'm wondering if there was a sort of formula. In addition to escort type ships planned for escort duty: for every carrier, 2 CA's, 4CL's, 8 destroyers are needed or something like that.