Military History Midterm Essay
World War II in the Pacific theater saw many new innovations from weaponry to tactics. Some of these new weapons and tactics were completely new warfare and some were refinements to age old infantry maneuvers that not only were adapted for amphibious warfare but changed depending on the particular island. One of the most import and decisive changes of doctrine for US forces was the use of the air power and the aircraft carrier. Prior to World War II the US Navy was in a sort of a civil war within its self. The Navy’s of the world were built around the battleship and there was a large contingent of US Naval Officers who believed that the aircraft carrier was a large ship to be used by Captain of the battleship to scout for the enemy. These officers never believed that an airplane could sink a battleship. The first US carrier was a refitted ship rechristened as the Langley in 1922. It was not till 1931 that the keel was laid for the USS Ranger (CV4) the US Navy’s first carrier designed from the keel up to be a carrier. It was not till 1937 that a Captain Turner presented a lecture “ The Strategic Employment of the Fleet” at the Naval war college and it was not till 1939 that Admiral King then Chief of Naval Operations issued the first carrier doctrine for the Navy (Hone Thomas C., Naval War College Review, Winter 2013, Vol. 66, No. 1). When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 they proved to the world and US Commanders that any ship is able to be attacked by aircraft. The Japanese task force consisted of six aircraft carriers totaling about 400 planes. The six carriers that the Japanese sent was over half of their carrier force. In comparison the US Navy had only 7 carriers in the entire Navy. After the attack of Pearl Harbor the US Navy commanders saw that the need for substantial aircraft carriers in the coming war. The industrial might of the US went into overdrive and was able to produce a total of 26 Essex carriers and a