Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
I am a little surprised that we did not use the Doolittle Raid idea elsewhere. Just think, if we had, say, some cargo ships or oilers fitted with flight decks, sort of predecessors to the baby flat tops, put one or two B-25's or A-20's on board, and at Midway or some of the other battles, launched them and had them make low approaches to the enemy fleet from a different direction to the carrier aircraft, then recover on land. That could have shook things up a bit.
Well, those ships are not any more vulnerable as part of the task force with airplanes on improvised launching decks than they are normally, and they can still carry cargo and oil.
The bombers would be doing low altitude bomb attacks, since it was well into 1943 before the USN pried the torpedo production at least partly away from that gang of incompetent feather merchants in RI and got private industry to building effective weapons. Of course we could have borrowed some from the RN, who seemed to have pretty darn good torps but lacked a submarine fleet capable of being of much use except at Malta. Compatibility with our ships' tubes would not have mattered when aircraft were the launchers.
After the battles to defend the 'Canal cost us the Hornet, with the Saratoga and Enterprise both badly damaged, the USN was slap out of carriers in the Pacific and had to borrow an RN carrier to have enough hulls afloat to stay in the war. Did y'all know that?
By the way, Commander Ring was replaced as Hornet CAG before the ship left for the Solomans. Seems that the new Captain did not like him much for some reason.
The USN still had CVEs active in the PTO while Saratoga was laid up in Pearl after Guadalcanal.After the battles to defend the 'Canal cost us the Hornet, with the Saratoga and Enterprise both badly damaged, the USN was slap out of carriers in the Pacific and had to borrow an RN carrier to have enough hulls afloat to stay in the war. Did y'all know that?
They AREN'T part part of the taskforce, and can't be. Part of the task force's value is its speed, and any force is only as fast as its slowest unit. Unless you have a large banana boat available for conversion you don't have a viable taskforce hull.Well, those ships are not any more vulnerable as part of the task force with airplanes on improvised launching decks than they are normally, and they can still carry cargo and oil.
A few .months AFTER Midway they might have been a viable option, but weren't ready in March 1942 when they would have had to ship out. Early days P38 training was not up to snuff, and with the complications of shipboard operation and the shortcomings of air combat tactics then being taught, would likely have been Zero fodder. USAAF pursuit doctrine hadn't quite adjusted to the concept of a complex twin engine fighter.
A few .months AFTER Midway they might have been a viable option, but weren't ready in May 1942 when they would have had to ship out. Early days P38 training was not up to snuff, and with the complications of shipboard operation and the shortcomings of air combat tactics then being taught, would likely have been Zero fodder. USAAF pursuit doctrine hadn't quite adjusted to the concept of a complex twin engine fighter.
Would've been the P-38E then, which began delivery in October '41, if I remember correctly....A few .months AFTER Midway they might have been a viable option, but weren't ready in May 1942 when they would have had to ship out. Early days P38 training was not up to snuff, and with the complications of shipboard operation and the shortcomings of air combat tactics then being taught, would likely have been Zero fodder. USAAF pursuit doctrine hadn't quite adjusted to the concept of a complex twin engine fighter.
Like using the Mosquito, I think it "would have" been a matter of the P-38 with a full load meeting the take off requirement. I would think they could have gotten at least one more aircraft aboard the carrier. Now would the same or similar results been accomplished with a diminished bomb load?Would've been the P-38E then, which began delivery in October '41, if I remember correctly....
Quite similar in range weren't they, the B-25 and P-38?
How many P-38's could they have loaded, in the same space as the B-25?
Could they have had loaded the P-38's with an external tank plus a 500 pound bomb?
Like using the Mosquito, I think it "would have" been a matter of the P-38 with a full load meeting the take off requirement. I would think they could have gotten at least one more aircraft aboard the carrier. Now would the same or similar results been accomplished with a diminished bomb load?
Few and far between. CVE1, USS Long Island flew off the first batch of Marine F4Fs and SBDs to Henderson Field on 13 August '42, then scurried back to San Diego to train carrier pilots. Others trickled in over time, but weren't a significant factor until late 1943. The Uboat war absorbed most of the early output of CVEs.The USN still had CVEs active in the PTO while Saratoga was laid up in Pearl after Guadalcanal.
Jan, it would fall more on the reliability of the machine and experience of the pilot/crew.P-38:
Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in (15.85 m)
B-25:
Length: 52 ft 11 in (16.13 m)
Wingspan: 67 ft 7 in (20.60 m)
8 x 16.13 = 130 meter (16 B-25's, 2 X 8)
8 X 11.53 = 93 meter (16 P-38's, 2 X 8)
....this leave them 37 meters, or thereabouts, for another 6 P-38's using the same space as the B-25's, question is though....could they take off using the same distance?
Why did they use USS Hornet, do refresh my memory please....
Would you have preferred the Ronald Reagan or the Gerald Ford?Why did they use USS Hornet, do refresh my memory please....