Since this is a technical video, I made an oversight and did not include it in this video. In early 1943, HMS Victorious was loaned to the US Navy until mid-1943 and was under the call-sign of "Robin". USS "Robin" technically counts, my fault! If you want to learn more on the story, I covered it in a recent video here: ua-cam.com/video/GlxG23f29ZY/v-deo.htmlsi=zpLXiRQu-CuOz4gG
Hi...terrific presentation, you obviously put a lot of work and care into putting this together, and it shows. I did spot a minor error on one of the data cards...not because I was looking, it just jumped up and bit me in the eyes. LOL On the card for Essex class, it lists the 5in gun armament as being 8 dual turrets and 4 single mounts, but it is obviously the other way around.😁
@@iKvetch558ahh I should have written eight in four dual turrets, good catch! There were 4 single mounts still so that’s correct. Glad you enjoyed the video though!
Saratoga: Hey, everyone. I’d like to introduce the newest US Navy Carrier, USS Robin. “Robin:” Howdy my fellow carriers. Enterprise (not buying it for a second): Drop the act Victorious I know that’s you.
I always thought the same. How come the Navy was never able to find a nesting place for such illustrious ship. Certainly one of the most important warships in naval history.
If I remember right, Her sponsor (Lulie Swanson) requested that she not be made a Museum as she thought it would have dishonored the Sailors and Pilots that served and died on the ship. Edit: on top of that the massive amount of Damage she had taken over the course of the War would have made making her a Museum near impossible.
@@bully056 How could that possibly have dishonored the men who served on her? That's ridiculous. Quite the opposite actually. It would have honored them. I highly doubt she had any real say on the matter. Her war damage had been repaired and she was in fighting form at the end of the war. The ultimate reason for her scrapping was that they used her in atomic bomb testing and the subsequent radiation levels made it unsafe to preserve her. Which begs the original question: why use a beloved, legendary warship draped with battle honors as an A-bomb target? Somebody dropped the ball on that one and a piece of American history was forever destroyed.
My grandfather served on fanshaw bay as a bomb loader. The fanshaw saw combat at the battle of Lete Gulf, among other things like being damaged from a kamikaze if i remember correctly. He had a big scar going down his forearm that my mother never knew the origin of. After he passed we aquired some of his items he had from the war, one of which was his uniform that carried a patch that we researched to indicate that he was a trained rear gunner for the dive bombers. He had never mentioned this to either of his kids. Sadly I was too young, and he lived many states away so i never had a chance to talk to him before he died.
Was it made in the USA ? Was it officially transferred to the USN ? 1941 Three of Britain's "armoured" carriers repaired and upgraded in US yards virtually free under Lend Lease. 38 escort carriers Lend Leased to Britain from November 1941, 36 returned. May 1942 At the request of Churchill USS Wasp launched Spits to Malta for the second time in two months while the USN lost one fleet carrier, one fleet destroyer and one fleet oiler with another fleet carrier damaged at Coral Sea stopping the IJN from landing on the south coast of New Guinea. At Norfolk, Victorious was dry-docked from Jan. 1-31, 1943. She was fitted with the U.S. Navy's TBS ("Talk Between Ships") communications system, new surface- and air-search radars and respective vertical plotting board, the U.S. YB-type aircraft-homing system, and two U.S. cypher machines. The ship's stern was modified with a ten-foot flight deck extension and an underlying gallery housing twenty 20-millimeter antiaircraft guns and extended internal mess spaces. A new fire-suppression system was installed in the crew spaces and a control station added to the hanger deck. Victorious's obsolete Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers were flown off and exchanged for new U.S. TBM Avengers. Work-ups with these were conducted at Naval Air Station Norfolk. To accommodate these much heavier aircraft, some stronger arrestor cables were installed. All embarked aircraft received U.S. national insignia. A U.S. naval aviation liaison team was embarked to acquaint their British counterparts with U.S. take-off, landing, and shipboard aircraft-handling signals and practices. In anticipation of combat service in the tropics, Royal Navy personnel were issued U.S. Navy khaki and dungaree shipboard working uniforms to be worn in lieu of the British summer whites.
My late father served aboard a Bogue class (USS Croatan CVE 25) during the battle of the Atlantic. He told about getting hit by a big wave from port and taking a 45 degree list. Just as they thought they were capsizing, another big wave hit them from starboard and righted them. The pilots loved the Bougue class because they carried more aviation fuel than the big carriers. My uncle served on the Bennington during Korea and was trapped below deck for several hours after she suffered an explosion in her catapults. He was transferred to the Essex class Lexington for the rest of the war while the Bennington was being rebuilt.
The USS Oriskany is a weird one too. It was laid down and commissioned during WWII but not officially put into service, then had its flight deck and Island stripped off and a new modern top deck, elevators, and island were installed just after the war. It was the last of the Essex carriers and the test bed for carrier based jet fighters, because the flight deck was so heavy it had a permanent 7 degree list to port.
Definitely one of the most interesting of the Essex class ships! I was always fascinated by the documentary about her when she became an artificial reef
Most aircraft carrier histories omit the escort carriers--and the two Great Lakes training carriers. I enjoyed the presentation. Minor gripe--you didn't define "aircraft carrier" because "everybody knows what an aircraft carrier is." You pointed out that the old CV-1 Langley was NOT an aircraft carrier when she was sunk transporting a deck load of P-40 fighters to Australia. Good job! Your escort carrier coverage was excellent, and you managed to keep your video presentation to under 20 minutes. The modern "helicopter carrier" in US Navy service and the Cold War CVS (anti-submarine carriers) are and were the spiritual descendants of WW2 escort and light carriers. Now the "helicopter carriers" of the US Navy have significant sea control capabilities (escort carrier work), serve to transport aircraft from place to place (while I was on a WESPAC cruise in '77-'78 USS Tripoli/LPH-10 stashed several S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft on the hangar deck and ferried them across the Pacific), even work as cargo ships when they aren't home to a Marine battalion and a composite Marine aviation squadron. The old AV-8B Harrier and new F-35B Lightning offer significant fixed-wing combat capabilities. The old CVS series that included the Yorktown, Lexington and Hornet Essex-class carriers were optimized for anti-submarine work, both as the center of hunter-killer anti-submarine task forces and for convoy escort duties, freeing up the larger attack carriers (CVB and CVA and the modern CVN) for operations elsewhere.
Some of the Essex carriers from WW2 were also modified with hurricane (enclosed) bows, steam catapults and angled flight decks, They served until the end of the Vietnam war, except for CV-16,, the Lexington which served as a training carrier until the 80s or early 90s.
My Grandpa served on the Shangri La and the Tripoli. He was one of the first Aviation Boatswains Mates. They hadn't come up with a formal test for promotion when he was designated. So he got asked around a dozen questions verbally, had to demonstrate a couple of skills, the trickier one being the right way to tie down a new type of plane they'd just gotten aboard and they just came out and said "Congratulations. You're a Petty Officer."
Hey there from a fellow Grandson of the Shangri-La. I have my Granddaddy's "illegal" handwritten war diary which he said he updated at night in his rack while concealed under his blanket off of scraps of paper, including tp, that he scribbled little notes to himself on throughout the day. The front cover page lists Our Score Board 50 - planes 2 - cruisers 3 - Subs 1 - Destroyer 9 - Merchant Ships 38 - Luggers 22 - Locomotives (I'm thinking those numbers are from the air wings...I'm pretty sure, having served myself, that an aircraft carrier probably DIDN'T personally take out any "Locomotives" ... also I have NO IDEA what a "lugger" is😂) I also have his copy of a Shangri-La christening ceremony program. My last active duty assignment was USS Dale CG-19 which I mustered out from during its rehab at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The first time I left the dry dock to go walking around exploring I was SHOCKED but also THRILLED TO DEATH to discover that just a few yards away from the Dale's dry dock moored the alongside the river bank the decommisioned USS Shangri-La which was at the time awaiting a final tow to the scrap yard. My Granddaddy would have been heartbroken to see her though ... there were ACTUAL tree saplings growing on her flight deck. I learned that one of the Iowa Class battleships (I don't remember which) that the Navy had recommissioned earlier in the 80s in order to fulfill "Uncle Ronnie's" order for a 400 ship navy had been moored inboard of the Shang and BOTH vessels had had to be each in turn arduously worked out of the mud that had accumulated around their hulls so the battleship could be moved and refitted for active duty.
USS Midway CVB-41 missing the war by eight days: DARN IT!!! When the Midway class was first ordered in mid/late 1942 there weren’t any large enough shipyards available for construction to begin. Only in late 1943 and early 1944 did did the shipyards finished their current ships and the first two Midways began construction. Though starting construction this late into the war meant neither were going to be ready or at least see combat before the war ended. Despite Midway being a new design, and constantly having small changes to her design or equipment, she was built in just seventeen months.
The First Midway Class ship was commissioned in 10 September 1945, 8 days after the wars end. The Second of it's class was commissioned in October 1945.
Ummm.........No. The USS Langley was NEVER an Escort Carrier . You are correct about how the Langley was employed as a training / transport vessel. The world's FIRST Escort Carrier was HMS Audacity, the lessons learned from her escorting convoys to Gibraltar were later employed in hunting U-boats in the Atlantic. Equally famous was a FAA fighter pilot aboard by the name of 2lt. Eric Brown. Sadly, both are no longer with us. (Edit) Meant to say Long Island not the Langley, I realized my mistake after reply from svgproductions.
I did not mention in the video that the first Langley was an escort carrier. If you meant Long Island, I mentioned that she was the first US escort carrier, not the first in the world
@@svgproductions72 whoops, typo on my part, my apologies . Yes I meant the Long Island, while operational first, L.I. was only classed as a CVE after the war for convenience. She was an experimental / training / aircraft ferry for her entire career.
The USS Intrepid which served into the Vietnam War, is a museum in NYC. They have a spot marked on the floor of the hanger deck where the last Kamikaze to strike the ship stopped. Well worth the time for the tour and they have the space shuttle on the flight deck.
Thank you fo4 covering the Casablanca class It seems that none of the escort ca4iers sometimes referred to as Jeep carriers ever got much recognition for what they accomplished. The usual history was like hull built at the Kieser.shipyards at swan island Oregon, come down the Columbia River to Astoria to be fitted out with gons ,beds,furniture ,etc then a shakedown,south to absolutely stuff every plane on board to the point that you could not fly even one off the deckThen join a convoy that had other carriers providing air cover and off to The Pacific .Upon arrival the ship would be unloaded wherever they were needed and pick up ,'war weary' aircraft ,and return to California.There that would be unloaded and the ship would receive it's own planes and pilots and set sail with the next convoy. My father tried to enlist into every branch of the service but due to a forming accident they all turned him down but one recruiter told him to go to Kieser, with dad,s skills he could help build the ships we needed He did and he was given the E.'E' for excellence ribbon.I am very proud of my dad.
What a wonderful video documentary on this topic. Comprehensive without being overly detailed. With plenty of photographs detailing the designs. The only thing that was missing for me was aircraft assignments and numbers of aircraft for each of the various classes.
Hi Steve thanks for the comment! One thing I did add in the info sheets at the beginning of the sections were a rough estimate of aircraft being carried on each ship. Admittedly, one thing I didn’t do was add aircraft types and it was getting pretty busy!
I stand corrected on not having numbers of aircraft on each ship. What I would have liked to have understood and I never have is how the aircraft types were broken down into wings, groups, and squadrons and how they were assigned to each carrier. For instance some of the earlier carriers had as many as 90 aircraft. But did that constitute two wings of the same aircraft or One Wing of dive bombers and a wing of Fighters? Were they detachments from various groups in the Navy that made up a carrier wing between two or more carriers. Did the baby carriers only carry one Squadron of Fighters or dive / torpedo bombers or were they mixed somehow?
I remember a factoid from an Armchair General magazine many years ago that the Allies built 117 carriers during the war and the Axis built 17. Yamamoto was not wrong about waking the sleeping dragon.
Remarkably informative for such a relatively short video. Very useful for putting the carrier classes into perspective in terms of role, numbers, and utility. I particularly appreciated the lack of editorializing, hyperbole, and needless pseudo-drama.
It would be nice to see a visual display of carriers as icons, grouped by class, with them popping up when commissioned and turning red if sunk. Add a calendar icon in the corner which incremented throught the time range.
Excellent video. The different classes can be confusing and you did a great job of providing simple explanations. I've also mentioned it in my blog and newsletter.
That’s a good point, maybe a video about the carriers that never got to see the combat they were supposed to. I did a short story about the Saipan-class light carriers based on the Baltimore-class cruiser hull. It’s in my last video “5 More Facts About US carriers”
This was great and I would be interested to see the rest of the worlds carriers serving in WWII done in this way, but Im sure that would be a lot more work. Great job!
Just makes you realise at sea the Japanese really had no chance. Especially when the enemy you create can pump out this many of 1 ship type. Just crazy
I tell people this all the time. Even if our carriers at Pearl Harbor would have been there and gotten destroyed, Japan would have lost the war due to attrition.
Excellent video! Very informative! It is so good I downloaded it for future reference. Thank you for the informationan and entertainment! Super vieo and pictures! Kudos!!!
There is a bit of a mistake in your description of Sable & Wolverine I'm afraid. The ships were fitted wit numerous arrestor wires, as they were for training, to give pilots as many opportunities as possible to snag a wire. They also had a crash net just incase. Drachinifel has a good video on these 2 carriers.
My father served aboard the Salamaua, was a plank owner and a loader on an anti-aircraft gun mount. An interesting thing to note is that of the 50 Casablanca class ships, 22 were named for bays in South East Alaska and the Attu for the Island at the end of the chain, I wonder who was responsible for the naming of all those ships for Alaskan bays. Great video and thanks!
I would like to see the same thing done with the Gator Navy including such ships types as AGC later LCC, APA, AKA later LKA. and the different types of landing craft.
20 years later, USS Cabot (Independence Class) was sold to Spain, to serve in the Armada. It served for another 20 years (as R-01 Dedalo), when Principe de Asturias, a new carrier, Spanish built, entered service. USS Cabot was the first carrier in the World to operate de MDD AV-8A/S Harrier (Matador). Dedalo was decomisioned in 1989 from the Armada. It operated SH-3 Sea Kings, AH1 Cobras, AB-204 Iroquoises and S-55 Chickasaws. It appears in Spanish cinema, like "Cateto a Babor" (a film on the life of sailors doing their service in the Armada). Spain "sold" Dedalo (for a single Peseta coin (less than an US Cent) to a foundation of former USMC soldiers willing to builld a museum from it in New Orleans. Unfortunatelly, they faild in their task an finally, USS Cabot was scraped in Texas.
@@alcanino2883 glad you asked! I made an in depth series on the US Battleships of WWII, with the final episode coming out the other day. Be sure to check out my channel as it has the playlist for it!
Saratoga, Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise, Yorktown They come out there and hold the line in the begining. Few carrier saw heavy action, but this five tooks on the might of the empire of the rising sun
If any US ship should've been preserved as a museum ship, it really should've been Enterprise. Such a shame to lose such a legend. At least her spirit still sails on with the fleet ever since.
Staggering! Well done, very informative. Can you do Japan's carriers the same way? When watching assorted docs about individual ships and actions its good to have this broad view. As the Japanese navy steadily shrunk America kept doubling down!
Japan loses 4 carriers at Midway. Never recovers. US builds almost a 100 carriers in 4 years. Japan had no idea how deep the water they had stepped in was, not even Yamamoto.
Quite a number, starting from 'Langley' (+1942), including i/a 'Lexington', 'Yorktown', 'Wasp' and 'Hornet' (all +1942 too). Rated as the best carrier class of the whole WW2 should be the tough 'Essexes' with 'Franklin' and 'Bunker Hill'. The small 'Wasp' is said to be the only carrier to circumnavigate the Earth in war conditions. By the way, marvellous pictures, much familiar to me. E.g. the 'Essexes' steamin' in a row!!😊 Special greetings to 'veteran' carriers in the US, the four 'Essexes' and the 'Midway' ♍
The Lexington carried 60 aircraft not 90.and was not the biggest carrier during the war. Yorktown class had very good fire suppression system and the ability to shut off aviation fuel during battle stations that is a big deal considering how many ships took major damage from fuel catching fire and fire on a ship is a big threat.
The Lexington class was the largest of the US carriers during the war (in terms of tonnage, however equal in length to the Essex class). The Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano took the title for largest carrier by tonnage. The Lexingtons were able to hold 90 aircraft, though it wasn’t always the case. An example is Saratoga in mid-1942, where she had 90 aircraft, 37 F4F Wildcats, 37 SBD Dauntlesses and 16 TBF Avengers
Awesome question! I looked up and referred to the silhouettes from the US office of naval intelligence paperwork back from the 40s and hand drew new versions of them. Made some tweaks to them and added custom colors and names of ships as well
Very nicely done! I'd be interested in seeing analagous videos about RN and IJN carriers. (And jumping Jehosaphat, the US industrial might was honestly astounding!)
The Royal navy had 65 aircraft carriers of all types at wars end, 14 of them fleet carriers. The others were a mix of lend lease and UK produced escort carriers. There were about a dozen other fleet carriers still being built but most of them were cancelled at wars end.
Which ones were the "jeep" carriers? I'd read the some of these were primarily intended and used to carry aircraft for replacements needed by the bigger carriers and so the hanger deck was smaller. Also that some were used for fleet defense and carried a max of 1 squadron (abt 18 a/c) due to having only 1 or 2 elevators, fore and aft. I saw two being scrapped in abt 1973-4 near Carquinez Bridge and was upset that they were not kept as museums. I served on Hancock (CVA-19), briefly, to support carrier qualifications for new pilots.
How did the Navy not run out of names? I'm surprised they did not just start giving the ships numbers. Fleet carrier :::class::::: 5, destroyer :::class:::::: 33, cruiser ::::class:::: 18 😀
Carriers, or "bird cages" in submariner parlance, were the Queens of the oceans. My personal favorites for looks were the Yorktowns. They just appeal to me in so many ways, but once again, looks sold the day. Service-wise, who could ignore Enterprise's 22 battle stars. Every major conflict in the Pacific. "Enterprise against Japan", fall, 1942! The Hornet, with the Doolittle Raid and bad luck at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Poor Hornet; no BB air cover like Enterprise. And finally, Yorktown, the carrier that the Japanese had to sink three times. All three comprised to make up the puny air fleet at Midway, the greatest naval victory of all world history, and perhaps the greatest battle win of all time considering the lopsided odds.
My Granddaddy was a Shangri-La CV-38 "plank owner". When reporters asked President Roosevelt in 1942 where the Doolittle Raiders had taken off from on their mission to reach out to the people of the Japanese Empire and give them a head's up on the ass whoopin that would soon be coming to a " home island" near them soon the Commander In Chief is said to have cryptically replied "Shangri-La" instead the, probably still super highly top secret classified, truth which was the USS Hornet. Mrs James H. Doolittle herself later personally christened USS Shangri-La CV-38 in 1944 in honor of her husband and his heroic crew. As the Grandson of a US Navy Reservist who in 1943 had to leave his wife and two young children, my Dad wasn't quite yet TWO YEARS OLD, to go off and help fight the "Pacific War" every time I see a story on the news or on YT about the Japanese Navy beginning to build OFFENSIVE weapon systems again, like an ACTUAL AIRCRAFT CARRIER, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I get sick to my stomach.
I’ve seen this comment a number of times so far! You’re all thinking the same thing lol yes I will really have to read up beforehand to make sure I make an accurate video
I remember seeing that stat as well, but the commissioned carrier list comes nowhere near that. 34 US built Bogues went to the Royal Navy, that stat is the only way that number would get close to 151
If i recall correctly the USS White Plains (Casablanca Escort Carrier) scored hits on a Japanese crusier with its 5inch gun during the Battle off Samar, making it the only US Carrier to hit surface targets with its guns. Awesome video!
Quantity makes quality. If the US. were small as Japan... and Japan were big as the US. Japan would have won over the US. in less than 1 year. So ...nothing special about the US. won the war in the Pacific. But it was so special that Japan could fight as long as 4 years. Admiral Yamamoto said that Japan could not win this war..
If we had suffered similar pilots loses I could see use losing with most of are carriers almost all hands survived while japans lost at least nearly 4 carriers worth of crew and airmen and Japan didn’t send its airmen back to train new recruits and they had a much higher to fail then even America we were able to put airmen in to each pilots seat while Japan struggled to get enough fully trained airmen. Even around midwar Japan had a couple of aircraft carriers that they either didn’t have the aircraft or trained airmen to put on.
I served aboard USS Boxer LPH-4, originally CV-21 a long hulled Essex class. While not finished in time for combat in WWII, it was one of the primary carriers of the Korean war and set many records and firsts of combat aviation. it was decommissioned in December, 1969...
I served on the USS Boxer in the mid-sixties after it became LPH-4 helicopter assault ship. I was a Marine infantry man, with G Co, 2/2, 2nd MarDiv. We made a couple of practice 'vertical envelopments' from the Boxer.
My father was an aviation machinist mate on the USS Essex in WWII. He was one of the 44 injured when that kamikaze hit the Essex in 1944, he had burn scars all over his legs from that incident. He was treated, bandaged and was back on line fixing planes within a day.
I was shocked when I heard about them few year ago.... I knew the navy had some kind of ships for training in the grate lakes.. Cracked me up to hear the paddle wheels as that just sounds sooooooo odd of a way to move the ships... Tho they only had to do day short trips.. I think of them as the Navy's crazy secret weapons as they never normally get talked about and kinda get forgotten by the general public......... I was really happy to see they where the last ones talked about in the video.
Didn't realize just how many carriers were already in the queue even prior to the war. The swarms of Fletcher DDs roaming the sea were bad enough for the Japanese in the Pacific. But seeing just how many carriers were cranked out is another example of the industrial complex that Yamamoto knew would come fro them.
Waking the sleeping giant indeed. I recommend a video by the channel, Military History Visualized, called "Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2" It is basically a timeline/bar chart of combat ships commissioned (as you say, several were under construction prior to Dec, 7th.) during the war. The pace at which the US was launching ships was incredible.
It’s very well might happen again as the Navy is now looking at what kind of infrastructure improvements they need to quadruple the output of ships and submarines.
The US had already started rearming and building up its war industry starting in 1940. It took until 1943 for that industrial potential to hit full capacity. Which is why I get annoyed with all the people on the internet asking why we can't ship huge amounts of material to Ukraine. It just isn't there. It will take another year for industrial production to get anywhere near wartime potential.
Lexington and Yorktown-classes held the line in the Pacific Theater when the Imperial Japanese Navy and their carriers were at their peak. There have been 5 Carrier Duels in WWII: Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands, and Philippine Sea. All took place in 1942 except for Philippine Sea which happened in 1944. The Lexingtons & Yorktowns fought the critical naval battles of 1942 until the Essex-class came in with massive strength to hammer the Japanese. These little Light and Escort Carriers don't get the attention they deserve compared to the larger Fleet Carriers. But they did all sorts of dirty work that you didn't need the Fleet Carriers for. Ferrying planes so they don't have to fly halfway across the world, wearing their engines out. Escorting convoys and doing Anti-submarine duties. Also, in the end, when you're being attacked by naval aircraft, it doesn't matter if the planes came from a Fleet Carrier or a smaller Light & Escort Carriers. To Kurita commanding Center Force at Samar, he had no idea that the planes menacing his fleet were merely from dinky little Escort Carriers. The Japanese swore for a long time they were being attacked by Halsey's Fleet Carriers' aircraft. Lastly all these extra flight decks gave the US Navy a lot of flexibility. They had groups of different carriers that could be specifically dedicated for ground / amphibious support. The USN had a bunch of these CVEs doing just that in the Pacific, pounding ground targets and helping the US Army and Marine troops. This freed up the Fleet Carriers to be more concerned with combat air patrols, reconnaissance, and anti-ship. This is important because even the Japanese navy's Kido Butai ran into a problem at Midway. Their carriers were responsible for missions to include combat air patrol, bombing Midway, and dealing with the US Navy should they appear. The ordnance ideal for attacking ground and naval targets were different. High explosive bombs are great for attacking Midway but not Carriers. In dealing with capital ships (Battleships, Carriers) you wanted torpedoes and armor piercing bombs. The Japanese were caught dealing at the worst time being focused on ground attack and had to switch to anit-ship ordnance, which wasted time. High explosive bombs weren't going to cut it against the US carriers. The IJN had 4 carriers at Midway and they weren't able to do all the missions asked of them. Meanwhile the USN would later have a ridiculous amount of flight decks. They had the freedom to specialize.
High explosive bombs would be more effective against the US carriers due to their unarmoured decks. The wooden decks of US carriers, to prevent sparks caused by aircraft crashing on landing. Proved to be more of a liability. The British built armoured carrier decks from the start. A fire on a steel deck being more manageable than on a wooden deck.
@@keithdurose7057- First, IJN carriers were also wooden decked. Second, the tradeoff was British carriers, with armored decks, had less than half the aircraft complement of American carriers. In the event, the US only lost 4 fleet carriers during the war...
The statistic that always stuck with me about the Pacific naval battles was that Japan managed to build something like 6 aircraft carriers during WWII. In that same period, the US built .. 90. Cool video! Thanks.
When you look at the amount of shipping that both the United states and Britain produced during ww2 it just shows the Axis had absolutely no chance of gaining control of the oceans.
These types of statistics are something I think a lot of “what if axis won ww2” scenarios forget. The allies, and especially America’s production and industrial power was so overwhelming compared to anything the axis had. It wasn’t even close. By 1942 and anywhere onward there is not a single world where the axis can win
@@Jackspladt The Axis could only have won by not playing. Every scenario of them winning is because either the Allies fell flat on their face, the US not gearing up production or the Axis simply winning every battle and annihilating every army or fleet they faced with little to no losses. Nothing is mentioned about the political and inter-branch fighting. Nothing is really mentioned of the Axis terrible or overstrained logistics. Hell even the Axis do not seem to really feel the need to ramp up production simply to try and overwhelm the Allies.
Early 1943 IJN: Finally, we have destroyed the entire US Aircraft Carrier force Enterprise and Saratoga: That's odd. We're still here. IJN: How are you still alive. Enterprise: Pure vengeance Saratoga: Your Torpedoes were more of a blessing than a curse. IJN: No matter, we defeated you once. We can do it again. Enterprise: But before you do. Saratoga: We bought some new friends (Essex and Independence-Class carriers show up) IJN: Uh Oh Saratoga: Oh, that's not the worst part. Do you remember my sister Lexington? Enterprise: And my sisters Yorktown and Hornet. Along with my half-sister Wasp? IJN: Yeah, why?..... Oh no.
US Battleships: Oh and remember us? You paid us a visit back in 1941 before Christmas. Well we have a Christmas present for you! Iowa Class Battleships: 'Sup guys! Allow us to introduce ourselves! I am Iowa and these are my sisters, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin.
Dad served on USS Bataan during WWII, I still have his ships book that chronicled the conflicts, damage incurred the, ship's and the Pacific fleet's task force groups.
My Dad was the Bataan’s navigator during her final combat tour which was during Korean War. Voyage ended in July 1953. During wwii he flew SOC from cruisers and in 1944 he flew Venturas.
My father was aboard the USS Bennington. He told stories of the Kamikaze's at Okinawa. Unfortunately he was also at Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in 1946. He died of leukemia in 1973.
The ability to just dial a phone for 50 aircraft carriers and have them delivered 19 months later should have been enough to convince Japan that the war couldn't be won.
My great grandfather was on the Bismarck Sea, when sunk at Iwo Jima. It was so crazy, the stories he told me. Floating in the ocean for many hours while trying to keep his dead friend afloat so he could go home. heartbreaking stuff man.
I'm glad you included Wolverine and Sable, they also had the most "sorties" of any ships due to their job as trainers, and kept the fleet supplied with qualified pilots. Having ships immune to attack by enemy forces (In the Great Lakes) was very important.
FYI, Naval Air Station Grosse Ile (pronounced Groz eel) trained Navy pilots just south of Detroit. Bob Barker, later tv host, went thru flight training here on The Great Lakes.
Lexington CV2. My Father served on the Lexington's Marine Detachment from 1938-40. She was his very first duty station and he loved every minute he served on her. I have his photo album from when he was on her. When my Father learned of her loss at Coral Sea, my Mother told me he went down to the street corner and cried. His love for the Lexington stayed with him for the rest of his life. Other than God and family, his two greatest loves were his 27 years in the Marine Corps, and the U.S.S. LEXINGTON CV2.
My grandfather served on Phoenix (CL-46) from the day she commissioned in Phildelphia in 1937, through the Pearl Harbor attack, and through the entirety of the war. I've been told he also cried when he learned she'd been sunk off the Falkland Islands as a ship of the Argentine Navy in 1982. He thought she'd been scrapped decades beforehand. No way you could spend that much time on a ship and not become attached, I suppose. Becomes almost a living thing.
My father served on the Lady Lex from '36 to '38. He, too, had a Lexington photo album that I still have. She was his first ship out of Naval training school in Norfolk. He was a machinist and later a CWO ship's carpenter. He later served as the Chief Carpenter aboard the Bogue (CVE 8), the Little Rock and the Missouri. He retired in '65.
Counting only fleet and line carriers, the US finished the war with more (4 times) carriers than it started with. In contrast, the IJN was never able to replace any of their losses. Once a carrier was lost, the number of available carriers was permanently less.
Yorktown Class gets my vote. USS Enterprise CV6 is my favorite ship of the war. And was the most successful. My friend lost her Dad at Midway, Arthur Ely. XO TB6. Devastator. His Dad was Eugene Ely, first flight off a ship. The pic of Big E having her elevator blown high into the air by a Kamikaze is EPIC. THANKS
Not including the escort carriers of the Imperial Japanese Army, the various unfinished Unryū/Ikoma class, the various seaplane tenders, or the also unfinished Ibuki heavy cruiser conversion, the IJN had 20 carriers throughout the war. They started out with 10. It went up to 11 after the commissioning of the light carrier Shoho but immediately back down to 7 and then 6 after Midway and Eastern Solomons. By March 7th 1944 they had built back up to 10 total active carriers (although the average quality had severely dropped). They then lost 3 fleet carriers in the Philippine Sea in late June going back to 7 again. The commissioning of the only 3 Unryū class brought them once again back up to 10 by October 15th 1944 but 10 days later they lost 4 carriers bringing them down to 6. The newly commissioned Shinano was sunk the next month after only existing for 10 days, keeping them at 6. They dropped down to 5 in December after the torpedoing of Unryū and finished the war with 4 total after Amagi was sunk in port in July 1945. So they were actually able to replace their losses back up to the original 10 two times, but overall quality steadily dropped for the entire war. I think a video on the various monstrosities that were the Japanese carrier conversions made out of desperation would be interesting. They range all the way from battleships/battlecruisers converted both during and after construction, some aviation cruisers/battleships with partial flight decks, seaplane tender conversions, and the IJA’s escort carriers/amphibious assault ships.
@@collinwood6573 That was very interesting, thank you. It seems like most sources I read say that, just as bad as a lack of ships, was a lack of pilots as the war went on. My understanding is that when they dangled their carriers in front of Halsey to draw him away from Leyte Gulf, there were actually no planes on the ships at all. They were just purely sacrificial bait, not intended even to defend themselves.
I am english and I had a Japanese friend, we liked to watch war movies together - Midway, Tora Tora, Band of Brothers etc. When I told him about President Roosevelt ordering 24 Essex class carriers - he could not believe it!
I remember reading a quote from a pilot that qualified on USS Wolverine. He said that when he made his first landing at sea on a fleet carrier he couldn't believe how huge the flight deck was and that others had complained that they were tiny.
I was gonna make a comment about Midway and her two sisters but I remembered that Midway herself missed the war by 1 week and Franklin D Roosevelt and Coral Sea were built after While yes we have modern Carriers like Nimitz and Growning number of Gearld R Ford however Midway along with Enterprise and the Essex class will remain my favorite class of Carrier’s
I’ve gotten some flak for not adding the Midways in this video lol but they didn’t see WWII, though all very cool. Love the Yorktowns and have grown to enjoy reading about the Essexes in depth
I think the most incredible battle Story of WW2 naval engagements was the battle of Taffy 3 and her DE's and DD's against the Japanese Task Force sent to stop the US Invasion Force in the Philippines. An truly "David vs Goliath" engagement, in every aspect. The MOH Citation for LT CDR Ernest E Evans brings pictures to mind, that you would expect to see, on a Hollywood Film Poster. God rest them all. List of Japanese Ships in that Fight; IJN's Battleships Yamato, Nagato, Haruna : Heavy Cruisers Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone: Lt Cruisers Yahagi, , Noshiro; 11 DD's of various Classes. Versus US Force defending the Landing Forces; Escort carriers Fanshaw bay, Gambier bay, Kalinin Bay, Kitkun Bay, St. Lo, White Plains : DD's Heermann, Hoel, Johnston, DE's Dennis, John C Butler, Raymond, Samuel B Roberts. The Aircraft involved from our Carriers deserve much respect , as they attacked with primarily Land Ordnance and Machinegun fire. The Japanese should have wiped this Tin Can Fleet from the Waters, instead they lost three Cruisers, turned tail and ran. The Story is well worth a read. we lost 2 DD's, 1 DE, and 2 CVE's. The Liberation of the Philippines then proceeded, because of the heroic actions.
I first heard about it on Drachinifel channel. Honestly while the bravery of the crews cannot be understated it read more as if the Japs where doing everything in there power to lose the battle. @@chinson525
A book commemorates this incredible battle, "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors." These sailors exemplified the essence of the US Navy service and never letting the Marines ashore down. As at Guadalcanal, the sacrifice of so many sailors safety put and kept the Marines ashore.
I just attended the funeral of a former F4U Corsair pilot aboard the USS Guadalcanal (mentioned and shown in your video). He was the last living World War II veteran I knew and an outstanding example of the Greatest Generation. We have all been blessed because of their service and sacrifice both during the war and in building the peace to follow.
I love it. A very comprehensive overview. Liked and subscribed. I'm a big Pacific War nerd and was unaware of much of the details you covered. It's a real shame they scrapped Enterprise, what a legend. If any ship deserved preservation, it was her.
My grandfather served on the Santee for the entire war from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was an aircraft mechanic and was nearly killed by the “first” kamikaze of the war. Still have a piece of the Japanese airplane that hit it. He used to say the St. Lo took credit for the first because an admiral was on it. Seems kinda a funny distinction to argue over, but lots of good stories. Tito Puente served on the Santee as well.
Since this is a technical video, I made an oversight and did not include it in this video. In early 1943, HMS Victorious was loaned to the US Navy until mid-1943 and was under the call-sign of "Robin". USS "Robin" technically counts, my fault! If you want to learn more on the story, I covered it in a recent video here: ua-cam.com/video/GlxG23f29ZY/v-deo.htmlsi=zpLXiRQu-CuOz4gG
Great job! Subbed.
Hi...terrific presentation, you obviously put a lot of work and care into putting this together, and it shows.
I did spot a minor error on one of the data cards...not because I was looking, it just jumped up and bit me in the eyes. LOL On the card for Essex class, it lists the 5in gun armament as being 8 dual turrets and 4 single mounts, but it is obviously the other way around.😁
@@iKvetch558ahh I should have written eight in four dual turrets, good catch! There were 4 single mounts still so that’s correct. Glad you enjoyed the video though!
@@svgproductions72 Ah...yes...good catch on correcting my correction...silly me. 💯😎
Saratoga: Hey, everyone. I’d like to introduce the newest US Navy Carrier, USS Robin.
“Robin:” Howdy my fellow carriers.
Enterprise (not buying it for a second): Drop the act Victorious I know that’s you.
It's a crying shame that The Big E, with 20 battle stars, was scrapped. Should have been made into a museum ship
I was just thinking the same .👍
it really is sad, at least she was reincarnated
I always thought the same. How come the Navy was never able to find a nesting place for such illustrious ship. Certainly one of the most important warships in naval history.
If I remember right, Her sponsor (Lulie Swanson) requested that she not be made a Museum as she thought it would have dishonored the Sailors and Pilots that served and died on the ship.
Edit: on top of that the massive amount of Damage she had taken over the course of the War would have made making her a Museum near impossible.
@@bully056 How could that possibly have dishonored the men who served on her? That's ridiculous. Quite the opposite actually. It would have honored them. I highly doubt she had any real say on the matter.
Her war damage had been repaired and she was in fighting form at the end of the war. The ultimate reason for her scrapping was that they used her in atomic bomb testing and the subsequent radiation levels made it unsafe to preserve her. Which begs the original question: why use a beloved, legendary warship draped with battle honors as an A-bomb target? Somebody dropped the ball on that one and a piece of American history was forever destroyed.
My grandfather served on fanshaw bay as a bomb loader. The fanshaw saw combat at the battle of Lete Gulf, among other things like being damaged from a kamikaze if i remember correctly. He had a big scar going down his forearm that my mother never knew the origin of. After he passed we aquired some of his items he had from the war, one of which was his uniform that carried a patch that we researched to indicate that he was a trained rear gunner for the dive bombers. He had never mentioned this to either of his kids. Sadly I was too young, and he lived many states away so i never had a chance to talk to him before he died.
Wow what a story! Thank you for sharing !
My uncle helped build it in Vancouver Washington
Excellent presentation. USS Robin deserves to be mentioned, she served and deserves that credit.
Was it made in the USA ? Was it officially transferred to the USN ?
1941 Three of Britain's "armoured" carriers repaired and upgraded in US yards virtually free under Lend Lease.
38 escort carriers Lend Leased to Britain from November 1941, 36 returned.
May 1942 At the request of Churchill USS Wasp launched Spits to Malta for the second time in two months while the USN lost one fleet carrier, one fleet destroyer and one fleet oiler with another fleet carrier damaged at Coral Sea stopping the IJN from landing on the south coast of New Guinea.
At Norfolk, Victorious was dry-docked from Jan. 1-31, 1943. She was fitted with the U.S. Navy's TBS ("Talk Between Ships") communications system, new surface- and air-search radars and respective vertical plotting board, the U.S. YB-type aircraft-homing system, and two U.S. cypher machines. The ship's stern was modified with a ten-foot flight deck extension and an underlying gallery housing twenty 20-millimeter antiaircraft guns and extended internal mess spaces. A new fire-suppression system was installed in the crew spaces and a control station added to the hanger deck. Victorious's obsolete Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers were flown off and exchanged for new U.S. TBM Avengers. Work-ups with these were conducted at Naval Air Station Norfolk. To accommodate these much heavier aircraft, some stronger arrestor cables were installed. All embarked aircraft received U.S. national insignia. A U.S. naval aviation liaison team was embarked to acquaint their British counterparts with U.S. take-off, landing, and shipboard aircraft-handling signals and practices. In anticipation of combat service in the tropics, Royal Navy personnel were issued U.S. Navy khaki and dungaree shipboard working uniforms to be worn in lieu of the British summer whites.
My late father served aboard a Bogue class (USS Croatan CVE 25) during the battle of the Atlantic. He told about getting hit by a big wave from port and taking a 45 degree list. Just as they thought they were capsizing, another big wave hit them from starboard and righted them. The pilots loved the Bougue class because they carried more aviation fuel than the big carriers.
My uncle served on the Bennington during Korea and was trapped below deck for several hours after she suffered an explosion in her catapults. He was transferred to the Essex class Lexington for the rest of the war while the Bennington was being rebuilt.
The USS Oriskany is a weird one too. It was laid down and commissioned during WWII but not officially put into service, then had its flight deck and Island stripped off and a new modern top deck, elevators, and island were installed just after the war. It was the last of the Essex carriers and the test bed for carrier based jet fighters, because the flight deck was so heavy it had a permanent 7 degree list to port.
Definitely one of the most interesting of the Essex class ships! I was always fascinated by the documentary about her when she became an artificial reef
Most aircraft carrier histories omit the escort carriers--and the two Great Lakes training carriers. I enjoyed the presentation. Minor gripe--you didn't define "aircraft carrier" because "everybody knows what an aircraft carrier is." You pointed out that the old CV-1 Langley was NOT an aircraft carrier when she was sunk transporting a deck load of P-40 fighters to Australia. Good job! Your escort carrier coverage was excellent, and you managed to keep your video presentation to under 20 minutes.
The modern "helicopter carrier" in US Navy service and the Cold War CVS (anti-submarine carriers) are and were the spiritual descendants of WW2 escort and light carriers. Now the "helicopter carriers" of the US Navy have significant sea control capabilities (escort carrier work), serve to transport aircraft from place to place (while I was on a WESPAC cruise in '77-'78 USS Tripoli/LPH-10 stashed several S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft on the hangar deck and ferried them across the Pacific), even work as cargo ships when they aren't home to a Marine battalion and a composite Marine aviation squadron. The old AV-8B Harrier and new F-35B Lightning offer significant fixed-wing combat capabilities. The old CVS series that included the Yorktown, Lexington and Hornet Essex-class carriers were optimized for anti-submarine work, both as the center of hunter-killer anti-submarine task forces and for convoy escort duties, freeing up the larger attack carriers (CVB and CVA and the modern CVN) for operations elsewhere.
Some of the Essex carriers from WW2 were also modified with hurricane (enclosed) bows, steam catapults and angled flight decks, They served until the end of the Vietnam war, except for CV-16,, the Lexington which served as a training carrier until the 80s or early 90s.
My Grandpa served on the Shangri La and the Tripoli. He was one of the first Aviation Boatswains Mates. They hadn't come up with a formal test for promotion when he was designated. So he got asked around a dozen questions verbally, had to demonstrate a couple of skills, the trickier one being the right way to tie down a new type of plane they'd just gotten aboard and they just came out and said "Congratulations. You're a Petty Officer."
Hey there from a fellow Grandson of the Shangri-La. I have my Granddaddy's "illegal" handwritten war diary which he said he updated at night in his rack while concealed under his blanket off of scraps of paper, including tp, that he scribbled little notes to himself on throughout the day. The front cover page lists
Our Score Board
50 - planes
2 - cruisers
3 - Subs
1 - Destroyer
9 - Merchant Ships
38 - Luggers
22 - Locomotives
(I'm thinking those numbers are from the air wings...I'm pretty sure, having served myself, that an aircraft carrier probably DIDN'T personally take out any "Locomotives" ... also I have NO IDEA what a "lugger" is😂)
I also have his copy of a Shangri-La christening ceremony program.
My last active duty assignment was USS Dale CG-19 which I mustered out from during its rehab at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The first time I left the dry dock to go walking around exploring I was SHOCKED but also THRILLED TO DEATH to discover that just a few yards away from the Dale's dry dock moored the alongside the river bank the decommisioned USS Shangri-La which was at the time awaiting a final tow to the scrap yard. My Granddaddy would have been heartbroken to see her though ... there were ACTUAL tree saplings growing on her flight deck. I learned that one of the Iowa Class battleships (I don't remember which) that the Navy had recommissioned earlier in the 80s in order to fulfill "Uncle Ronnie's" order for a 400 ship navy had been moored inboard of the Shang and BOTH vessels had had to be each in turn arduously worked out of the mud that had accumulated around their hulls so the battleship could be moved and refitted for active duty.
USS Midway CVB-41 missing the war by eight days: DARN IT!!!
When the Midway class was first ordered in mid/late 1942 there weren’t any large enough shipyards available for construction to begin. Only in late 1943 and early 1944 did did the shipyards finished their current ships and the first two Midways began construction. Though starting construction this late into the war meant neither were going to be ready or at least see combat before the war ended. Despite Midway being a new design, and constantly having small changes to her design or equipment, she was built in just seventeen months.
The First Midway Class ship was commissioned in 10 September 1945, 8 days after the wars end.
The Second of it's class was commissioned in October 1945.
Ummm.........No. The USS Langley was NEVER an Escort Carrier . You are correct about how the Langley was employed as a training / transport vessel. The world's FIRST Escort Carrier was HMS Audacity, the lessons learned from her escorting convoys to Gibraltar were later employed in hunting U-boats in the Atlantic. Equally famous was a FAA fighter pilot aboard by the name of 2lt. Eric Brown. Sadly, both are no longer with us.
(Edit) Meant to say Long Island not the Langley, I realized my mistake after reply from svgproductions.
I did not mention in the video that the first Langley was an escort carrier. If you meant Long Island, I mentioned that she was the first US escort carrier, not the first in the world
@@svgproductions72 whoops, typo on my part, my apologies . Yes I meant the Long Island, while operational first, L.I. was only classed as a CVE after the war for convenience. She was an experimental / training / aircraft ferry for her entire career.
The USS Intrepid which served into the Vietnam War, is a museum in NYC. They have a spot marked on the floor of the hanger deck where the last Kamikaze to strike the ship stopped. Well worth the time for the tour and they have the space shuttle on the flight deck.
Thank you fo4 covering the Casablanca class It seems that none of the escort ca4iers sometimes referred to as Jeep carriers ever got much recognition for what they accomplished. The usual history was like hull built at the Kieser.shipyards at swan island Oregon, come down the Columbia River to Astoria to be fitted out with gons ,beds,furniture ,etc then a shakedown,south to absolutely stuff every plane on board to the point that you could not fly even one off the deckThen join a convoy that had other carriers providing air cover and off to The Pacific .Upon arrival the ship would be unloaded wherever they were needed and pick up ,'war weary' aircraft ,and return to California.There that would be unloaded and the ship would receive it's own planes and pilots and set sail with the next convoy. My father tried to enlist into every branch of the service but due to a forming accident they all turned him down but one recruiter told him to go to Kieser, with dad,s skills he could help build the ships we needed He did and he was given the E.'E' for excellence ribbon.I am very proud of my dad.
What a wonderful video documentary on this topic. Comprehensive without being overly detailed. With plenty of photographs detailing the designs. The only thing that was missing for me was aircraft assignments and numbers of aircraft for each of the various classes.
Hi Steve thanks for the comment! One thing I did add in the info sheets at the beginning of the sections were a rough estimate of aircraft being carried on each ship. Admittedly, one thing I didn’t do was add aircraft types and it was getting pretty busy!
I stand corrected on not having numbers of aircraft on each ship. What I would have liked to have understood and I never have is how the aircraft types were broken down into wings, groups, and squadrons and how they were assigned to each carrier. For instance some of the earlier carriers had as many as 90 aircraft. But did that constitute two wings of the same aircraft or One Wing of dive bombers and a wing of Fighters? Were they detachments from various groups in the Navy that made up a carrier wing between two or more carriers. Did the baby carriers only carry one Squadron of Fighters or dive / torpedo bombers or were they mixed somehow?
So sad the Enterprise was scrapped, would have been the best museum ship ever:/:/:/
Enterprise is right up there with Warspite for ships that absolutely should not have been scrapped but were.
100% agree!
I remember a factoid from an Armchair General magazine many years ago that the Allies built 117 carriers during the war and the Axis built 17.
Yamamoto was not wrong about waking the sleeping dragon.
Remarkably informative for such a relatively short video. Very useful for putting the carrier classes into perspective in terms of role, numbers, and utility. I particularly appreciated the lack of editorializing, hyperbole, and needless pseudo-drama.
Thank you! I appreciate the comment
It would be nice to see a visual display of carriers as icons, grouped by class, with them popping up when commissioned and turning red if sunk. Add a calendar icon in the corner which incremented throught the time range.
Excellent video. The different classes can be confusing and you did a great job of providing simple explanations. I've also mentioned it in my blog and newsletter.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it and shared!
You should totally make a follow up of the carriers that the us made after the war such as the midway class carriers.
That’s a good point, maybe a video about the carriers that never got to see the combat they were supposed to. I did a short story about the Saipan-class light carriers based on the Baltimore-class cruiser hull. It’s in my last video “5 More Facts About US carriers”
You forgot to mention that the Essex also saw action during Korea and Vietnam and were even refitted to have an angled deck
You are correct, but I think that would be a future episode, this just focused on the carriers during WWII
This was great and I would be interested to see the rest of the worlds carriers serving in WWII done in this way, but Im sure that would be a lot more work. Great job!
Really did your research great vid, and I can't believe they just scrapped some of those historical carriers
The Wolverine, and the Sable both had arrestor cables. They had a reduced number, without them, they couldn’t conduct safe landing training.
That was a mistake on my end, thanks for catching that
my dad served on cve-11 uss card in convoy duty then went to pacific
Just makes you realise at sea the Japanese really had no chance. Especially when the enemy you create can pump out this many of 1 ship type. Just crazy
I tell people this all the time. Even if our carriers at Pearl Harbor would have been there and gotten destroyed, Japan would have lost the war due to attrition.
Excellent video! Very informative! It is so good I downloaded it for future reference. Thank you for the informationan and entertainment! Super vieo and pictures! Kudos!!!
Awesome, thank you!
There is a bit of a mistake in your description of Sable & Wolverine I'm afraid.
The ships were fitted wit numerous arrestor wires, as they were for training, to give pilots as many opportunities as possible to snag a wire.
They also had a crash net just incase.
Drachinifel has a good video on these 2 carriers.
My father served aboard the Salamaua, was a plank owner and a loader on an anti-aircraft gun mount. An interesting thing to note is that of the 50 Casablanca class ships, 22 were named for bays in South East Alaska and the Attu for the Island at the end of the chain, I wonder who was responsible for the naming of all those ships for Alaskan bays. Great video and thanks!
I would like to see the same thing done with the Gator Navy including such ships types as AGC later LCC, APA, AKA later LKA. and the different types of landing craft.
20 years later, USS Cabot (Independence Class) was sold to Spain, to serve in the Armada. It served for another 20 years (as R-01 Dedalo), when Principe de Asturias, a new carrier, Spanish built, entered service. USS Cabot was the first carrier in the World to operate de MDD AV-8A/S Harrier (Matador). Dedalo was decomisioned in 1989 from the Armada. It operated SH-3 Sea Kings, AH1 Cobras, AB-204 Iroquoises and S-55 Chickasaws. It appears in Spanish cinema, like "Cateto a Babor" (a film on the life of sailors doing their service in the Armada). Spain "sold" Dedalo (for a single Peseta coin (less than an US Cent) to a foundation of former USMC soldiers willing to builld a museum from it in New Orleans. Unfortunatelly, they faild in their task an finally, USS Cabot was scraped in Texas.
Beautiful I've always wanted to know all of the names of all of the US Carriers and have a reference to them. Saved this video! Awesome Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
This was great never have i seen a better job done then what you have done with this subject
Thank you! I really do appreciate this comment
Thus was really interesting and informative, do you plan to do a video like thus on Battleships???
That I would like to see!!!
@@alcanino2883 glad you asked! I made an in depth series on the US Battleships of WWII, with the final episode coming out the other day. Be sure to check out my channel as it has the playlist for it!
my uncle was on the USS Makassar Strait. And i saw her wreckage off of San Nicolas Island
Saratoga, Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise, Yorktown
They come out there and hold the line in the begining. Few carrier saw heavy action, but this five tooks on the might of the empire of the rising sun
If any US ship should've been preserved as a museum ship, it really should've been Enterprise. Such a shame to lose such a legend. At least her spirit still sails on with the fleet ever since.
An outstanding report -- many thanks!
Staggering! Well done, very informative. Can you do Japan's carriers the same way? When watching assorted docs about individual ships and actions its good to have this broad view. As the Japanese navy steadily shrunk America kept doubling down!
Very well done sir. That was very educational.
This is a very informational video, thanks!
Wonderful compendium.
Japan loses 4 carriers at Midway. Never recovers. US builds almost a 100 carriers in 4 years. Japan had no idea how deep the water they had stepped in was, not even Yamamoto.
Quite a number, starting from 'Langley' (+1942), including i/a 'Lexington', 'Yorktown', 'Wasp' and 'Hornet' (all +1942 too). Rated as the best carrier class of the whole WW2 should be the tough 'Essexes' with 'Franklin' and 'Bunker Hill'. The small 'Wasp' is said to be the only carrier to circumnavigate the Earth in war conditions. By the way, marvellous pictures, much familiar to me. E.g. the 'Essexes' steamin' in a row!!😊 Special greetings to 'veteran' carriers in the US, the four 'Essexes' and the 'Midway' ♍
The Lexington carried 60 aircraft not 90.and was not the biggest carrier during the war. Yorktown class had very good fire suppression system and the ability to shut off aviation fuel during battle stations that is a big deal considering how many ships took major damage from fuel catching fire and fire on a ship is a big threat.
The Lexington class was the largest of the US carriers during the war (in terms of tonnage, however equal in length to the Essex class). The Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano took the title for largest carrier by tonnage. The Lexingtons were able to hold 90 aircraft, though it wasn’t always the case. An example is Saratoga in mid-1942, where she had 90 aircraft, 37 F4F Wildcats, 37 SBD Dauntlesses and 16 TBF Avengers
Out of curiosity, how did you generate the outlines/silhouettes for the ships?
Awesome question! I looked up and referred to the silhouettes from the US office of naval intelligence paperwork back from the 40s and hand drew new versions of them. Made some tweaks to them and added custom colors and names of ships as well
@@svgproductions72 Oh wow that's impressive! Thanks!!
I think the Langley should be still be considered a cvs/aircraft tender
Very nicely done!
I'd be interested in seeing analagous videos about RN and IJN carriers.
(And jumping Jehosaphat, the US industrial might was honestly astounding!)
The Royal navy had 65 aircraft carriers of all types at wars end, 14 of them fleet carriers. The others were a mix of lend lease and UK produced escort carriers. There were about a dozen other fleet carriers still being built but most of them were cancelled at wars end.
My gramps was on CV-26 USS Monterey 1944-1946.
I’m sure he had some interesting stories, maybe he ran into President Gerald Ford during his time on the ship!
i like how no one in the comments is batting an eye at this eye watering total of 101 carriers on vj day😭
when you're looking at it from the perspective I shared with everyone, it truly is insane! lol
Which ones were the "jeep" carriers? I'd read the some of these were primarily intended and used to carry aircraft for replacements needed by the bigger carriers and so the hanger deck was smaller. Also that some were used for fleet defense and carried a max of 1 squadron (abt 18 a/c) due to having only 1 or 2 elevators, fore and aft. I saw two being scrapped in abt 1973-4 near Carquinez Bridge and was upset that they were not kept as museums. I served on Hancock (CVA-19), briefly, to support carrier qualifications for new pilots.
Jeep carriers were the CVEs, like Long Island, Bogues, Charger, Sangamons, Casablancas, Commencement Bay!
My dad flew off of the Cabot with VF29
Excellent info thank you! Outstanding!
Thank you for the comment!
How did the Navy not run out of names? I'm surprised they did not just start giving the ships numbers. Fleet carrier :::class::::: 5, destroyer :::class:::::: 33, cruiser ::::class:::: 18 😀
Great video!! Thanks!!
Wonderful presentation
CV3 Saratoga my late father was on her as well as Johnny Wisemiller.
Thanks for sharing! Saratoga was one of my favorites to read about
Most instructive!
Good Lord, I never knew that the U.S. Navy had that many Carriers in WW II. No wonder we kicked ass back then.👍⚓
Carriers, or "bird cages" in submariner parlance, were the Queens of the oceans. My personal favorites for looks were the Yorktowns. They just appeal to me in so many ways, but once again, looks sold the day. Service-wise, who could ignore Enterprise's 22 battle stars. Every major conflict in the Pacific. "Enterprise against Japan", fall, 1942! The Hornet, with the
Doolittle Raid and bad luck at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Poor Hornet; no BB air cover like Enterprise. And finally, Yorktown, the carrier that the Japanese had to sink three times. All three comprised to make up the puny air fleet at Midway, the greatest naval victory of all world history, and perhaps the greatest battle win of all time considering the lopsided odds.
My Granddaddy was a Shangri-La CV-38 "plank owner". When reporters asked President Roosevelt in 1942 where the Doolittle Raiders had taken off from on their mission to reach out to the people of the Japanese Empire and give them a head's up on the ass whoopin that would soon be coming to a " home island" near them soon the Commander In Chief is said to have cryptically replied "Shangri-La" instead the, probably still super highly top secret classified, truth which was the USS Hornet. Mrs James H. Doolittle herself later personally christened USS Shangri-La CV-38 in 1944 in honor of her husband and his heroic crew.
As the Grandson of a US Navy Reservist who in 1943 had to leave his wife and two young children, my Dad wasn't quite yet TWO YEARS OLD, to go off and help fight the "Pacific War" every time I see a story on the news or on YT about the Japanese Navy beginning to build OFFENSIVE weapon systems again, like an ACTUAL AIRCRAFT CARRIER, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I get sick to my stomach.
Imagine if we always kept them all in service. 200 carrier fleet and 10,000 aircraft rolling up to enemy shores.
useless. you need bigger carriers, thaty are more modern. US could never produce even half of the half if they had to
Great overview. Are you going to do one on Japanese carriers as well?
I’ve seen this comment a number of times so far! You’re all thinking the same thing lol yes I will really have to read up beforehand to make sure I make an accurate video
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
its a shame Enterprise was scrapped and not preserved.
That was awesome.
Please do a set of shows on other WW2 ships
Carriers or ones like battleships, cruisers etc?
Everything I have read says the US had a total of 151 carriers of all types. The Bismark Sea was lost in combat, one of twelve carriers we lost.
I remember seeing that stat as well, but the commissioned carrier list comes nowhere near that. 34 US built Bogues went to the Royal Navy, that stat is the only way that number would get close to 151
@@svgproductions72Maybe the stat is total built plus what we had going into late 1941. ??
corn belt fleet my beloved
The Boxer CV-21
US strategy: spam everything*
I actually laughed at this, so accurate !
Nicely done
Thank you!
@@svgproductions72 i actually learned about 3 carrier types, and you got a pic of the paddlewheels. i'm subscribing
@@nicholoscaudillo thank you!!
Enough to win.
Very cool, how about japanese carriers?
How Many Aircraft Carriers Did The IJN Navy Have During WWII: An Overview of All Carrier Classes
It’s on my list! I’ve gotten a number of comments about doing the same thing for IJN and Royal Navy!
It’s the victory of industry power.
I'm a scuba diver and I thought it was comical who wants to go diving in a nuclear drop
Yeah! It’s surprisingly popular I think to do it
If i recall correctly the USS White Plains (Casablanca Escort Carrier) scored hits on a Japanese crusier with its 5inch gun during the Battle off Samar, making it the only US Carrier to hit surface targets with its guns. Awesome video!
This is something I heard about, I may look more into it. I was always a fan of the Casablanca class carriers!
I think St. Lo also fired upon the Japanese Center Force
I agree with the previous comment I believe it was St. lo
Not to mention one of the longest range shots, ever.
All six carriers from Taffy 3 engaged the Japaneee with their 5 inch guns
JAPAN: Don't remind me!
U.S.A. REMINDED
Quantity makes quality.
If the US. were small as Japan...
and Japan were big as the US.
Japan would have won over the US. in less than 1 year.
So ...nothing special about the US. won the war in the Pacific.
But it was so special that Japan could fight as long as 4 years.
Admiral Yamamoto said that Japan could not win this war..
HAHAHAHA 😅
@@จักษ์นาถะพินธุsize is only part of the equation, that is the most naively juvenile take possible.
If we had suffered similar pilots loses I could see use losing with most of are carriers almost all hands survived while japans lost at least nearly 4 carriers worth of crew and airmen and Japan didn’t send its airmen back to train new recruits and they had a much higher to fail then even America we were able to put airmen in to each pilots seat while Japan struggled to get enough fully trained airmen. Even around midwar Japan had a couple of aircraft carriers that they either didn’t have the aircraft or trained airmen to put on.
I served aboard USS Boxer LPH-4, originally CV-21 a long hulled Essex class. While not finished in time for combat in WWII, it was one of the primary carriers of the Korean war and set many records and firsts of combat aviation. it was decommissioned in December, 1969...
I served on the USS Boxer in the mid-sixties after it became LPH-4 helicopter assault ship. I was a Marine infantry man, with G Co, 2/2, 2nd MarDiv. We made a couple of practice 'vertical envelopments' from the Boxer.
6:28 is it on fire in that image? what's the streak of white by the Island?
@@Defender78that’s the smokestack it’s venting the smoke from the engine 🤦♂️
My father’s 1953 cruise book from the USS New Jersey has a picture of the USS Boxer, part of the strike group that went to Korea…
My father was an aviation machinist mate on the USS Essex in WWII. He was one of the 44 injured when that kamikaze hit the Essex in 1944, he had burn scars all over his legs from that incident. He was treated, bandaged and was back on line fixing planes within a day.
Glad you mentioned Wolverine and Sable. They don't get enough credit for the mission they performed.
My last carrier video, “5 more facts”, covers Wolverine and Sable more in depth!
And in any list of warships you need to include the quirky comedy relief ( maybe that’s mean and inaccurate considering their role and contribution)
Despite never venturing out to sea, they were present at every engagement the boys they helped train fought in. Legends!
As a Michigan man, and a family member of Great Lakes sailors I love those two.
I was shocked when I heard about them few year ago.... I knew the navy had some kind of ships for training in the grate lakes.. Cracked me up to hear the paddle wheels as that just sounds sooooooo odd of a way to move the ships... Tho they only had to do day short trips.. I think of them as the Navy's crazy secret weapons as they never normally get talked about and kinda get forgotten by the general public......... I was really happy to see they where the last ones talked about in the video.
Didn't realize just how many carriers were already in the queue even prior to the war. The swarms of Fletcher DDs roaming the sea were bad enough for the Japanese in the Pacific. But seeing just how many carriers were cranked out is another example of the industrial complex that Yamamoto knew would come fro them.
Yes, getting into a naval war with a nation whose industrial base is at least 10 times bigger than your own ...
Waking the sleeping giant indeed. I recommend a video by the channel, Military History Visualized, called "Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2" It is basically a timeline/bar chart of combat ships commissioned (as you say, several were under construction prior to Dec, 7th.) during the war. The pace at which the US was launching ships was incredible.
It’s very well might happen again as the Navy is now looking at what kind of infrastructure improvements they need to quadruple the output of ships and submarines.
@@bernarddavis1050 with no problem of sourcing rawmaterials and the oil to make them sail out into battle.
The US had already started rearming and building up its war industry starting in 1940. It took until 1943 for that industrial potential to hit full capacity. Which is why I get annoyed with all the people on the internet asking why we can't ship huge amounts of material to Ukraine. It just isn't there. It will take another year for industrial production to get anywhere near wartime potential.
Lexington and Yorktown-classes held the line in the Pacific Theater when the Imperial Japanese Navy and their carriers were at their peak. There have been 5 Carrier Duels in WWII: Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands, and Philippine Sea. All took place in 1942 except for Philippine Sea which happened in 1944.
The Lexingtons & Yorktowns fought the critical naval battles of 1942 until the Essex-class came in with massive strength to hammer the Japanese.
These little Light and Escort Carriers don't get the attention they deserve compared to the larger Fleet Carriers. But they did all sorts of dirty work that you didn't need the Fleet Carriers for. Ferrying planes so they don't have to fly halfway across the world, wearing their engines out. Escorting convoys and doing Anti-submarine duties. Also, in the end, when you're being attacked by naval aircraft, it doesn't matter if the planes came from a Fleet Carrier or a smaller Light & Escort Carriers. To Kurita commanding Center Force at Samar, he had no idea that the planes menacing his fleet were merely from dinky little Escort Carriers. The Japanese swore for a long time they were being attacked by Halsey's Fleet Carriers' aircraft.
Lastly all these extra flight decks gave the US Navy a lot of flexibility. They had groups of different carriers that could be specifically dedicated for ground / amphibious support. The USN had a bunch of these CVEs doing just that in the Pacific, pounding ground targets and helping the US Army and Marine troops. This freed up the Fleet Carriers to be more concerned with combat air patrols, reconnaissance, and anti-ship. This is important because even the Japanese navy's Kido Butai ran into a problem at Midway. Their carriers were responsible for missions to include combat air patrol, bombing Midway, and dealing with the US Navy should they appear. The ordnance ideal for attacking ground and naval targets were different. High explosive bombs are great for attacking Midway but not Carriers. In dealing with capital ships (Battleships, Carriers) you wanted torpedoes and armor piercing bombs. The Japanese were caught dealing at the worst time being focused on ground attack and had to switch to anit-ship ordnance, which wasted time. High explosive bombs weren't going to cut it against the US carriers. The IJN had 4 carriers at Midway and they weren't able to do all the missions asked of them. Meanwhile the USN would later have a ridiculous amount of flight decks. They had the freedom to specialize.
Thanks.
Id count the battle of cape engano (part of leyte) as a carrier battle . Japan still had about 100 aircraft for the battle .
High explosive bombs would be more effective against the US carriers due to their unarmoured decks. The wooden decks of US carriers, to prevent sparks caused by aircraft crashing on landing. Proved to be more of a liability. The British built armoured carrier decks from the start. A fire on a steel deck being more manageable than on a wooden deck.
yup
@@keithdurose7057- First, IJN carriers were also wooden decked.
Second, the tradeoff was British carriers, with armored decks, had less than half the aircraft complement of American carriers. In the event, the US only lost 4 fleet carriers during the war...
The statistic that always stuck with me about the Pacific naval battles was that Japan managed to build something like 6 aircraft carriers during WWII. In that same period, the US built .. 90. Cool video! Thanks.
When you look at the amount of shipping that both the United states and Britain produced during ww2 it just shows the Axis had absolutely no chance of gaining control of the oceans.
@@tigerland4328 the US economy during this period was making up about 50% of GLOBAL GDP. Global, not local or regional or even continental.
These types of statistics are something I think a lot of “what if axis won ww2” scenarios forget. The allies, and especially America’s production and industrial power was so overwhelming compared to anything the axis had. It wasn’t even close. By 1942 and anywhere onward there is not a single world where the axis can win
@@Jackspladt The Axis could only have won by not playing. Every scenario of them winning is because either the Allies fell flat on their face, the US not gearing up production or the Axis simply winning every battle and annihilating every army or fleet they faced with little to no losses.
Nothing is mentioned about the political and inter-branch fighting. Nothing is really mentioned of the Axis terrible or overstrained logistics. Hell even the Axis do not seem to really feel the need to ramp up production simply to try and overwhelm the Allies.
The Lexingtons and Yorktowns will always be my favorites. They were appealing to the eye and had the most action-packed histories of the US carriers.
Same here!
They held the line.
Those 2 will be remembered as the Goats of all carriers. Nothing built from China, Russia or NK can ever top those 2 carriers forever….
@@markoliver314weird ass response ngl… why are you comparing them to potentially modern carriers?
My dad was on CV2 Lexington and walked out on deck as the 8" guns fired. Had no clue! Luckily he transfered to a repair ship before Coral Sea.
Early 1943
IJN: Finally, we have destroyed the entire US Aircraft Carrier force
Enterprise and Saratoga: That's odd. We're still here.
IJN: How are you still alive.
Enterprise: Pure vengeance
Saratoga: Your Torpedoes were more of a blessing than a curse.
IJN: No matter, we defeated you once. We can do it again.
Enterprise: But before you do.
Saratoga: We bought some new friends
(Essex and Independence-Class carriers show up)
IJN: Uh Oh
Saratoga: Oh, that's not the worst part. Do you remember my sister Lexington?
Enterprise: And my sisters Yorktown and Hornet. Along with my half-sister Wasp?
IJN: Yeah, why?..... Oh no.
That sure be it
Lexington: "Oh, Zuikaku~. We have some unfinished business."
I wonder what the Japanese thought when the new versions of the various carriers that were sunk showed up
brainrot
US Battleships: Oh and remember us? You paid us a visit back in 1941 before Christmas. Well we have a Christmas present for you!
Iowa Class Battleships: 'Sup guys! Allow us to introduce ourselves! I am Iowa and these are my sisters, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin.
Dad served on USS Bataan during WWII, I still have his ships book that chronicled the conflicts, damage incurred the, ship's and the Pacific fleet's task force groups.
Wow! That’s great, the Independence class ships were extremely interesting to read about. Thanks for sharing!
My Dad was the Bataan’s navigator during her final combat tour which was during Korean War. Voyage ended in July 1953. During wwii he flew SOC from cruisers and in 1944 he flew Venturas.
My father was aboard the USS Bennington. He told stories of the Kamikaze's at Okinawa. Unfortunately he was also at Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in 1946. He died of leukemia in 1973.
Uncle served on the San Jacinto unfortunately his ships book was thrown out at some point. But I sure enjoyed reading and looking at it as a kid.
Sell me that book for $5 please! 🥹
The ability to just dial a phone for 50 aircraft carriers and have them delivered 19 months later should have been enough to convince Japan that the war couldn't be won.
Yep... Yamamoto told them and told them and told them 🧏♂️🧏♂️
@donarthiazi2443 they knew they coudnt win, it was comon knoladge
My great grandfather was on the Bismarck Sea, when sunk at Iwo Jima. It was so crazy, the stories he told me. Floating in the ocean for many hours while trying to keep his dead friend afloat so he could go home. heartbreaking stuff man.
Thank you for sharing, I couldn’t even imagine that, along with losing your home !
I'm glad you included Wolverine and Sable, they also had the most "sorties" of any ships due to their job as trainers, and kept the fleet supplied with qualified pilots. Having ships immune to attack by enemy forces (In the Great Lakes) was very important.
FYI, Naval Air Station Grosse Ile (pronounced Groz eel) trained Navy pilots just south of Detroit. Bob Barker, later tv host, went thru flight training here on The Great Lakes.
steam-powered paddle-wheel freshwater carriers. It takes all kinds. And, Japan never successfully attacked Chicago.
Lexington CV2. My Father served on the Lexington's Marine Detachment from 1938-40. She was his very first duty station and he loved every minute he served on her. I have his photo album from when he was on her. When my Father learned of her loss at Coral Sea, my Mother told me he went down to the street corner and cried. His love for the Lexington stayed with him for the rest of his life. Other than God and family, his two greatest loves were his 27 years in the Marine Corps, and the U.S.S. LEXINGTON CV2.
Thanks for sharing! The Lex and Sara were such iconic carriers!
Once a Marine Always a Marine. Semper Fi.
My grandfather served on Phoenix (CL-46) from the day she commissioned in Phildelphia in 1937, through the Pearl Harbor attack, and through the entirety of the war. I've been told he also cried when he learned she'd been sunk off the Falkland Islands as a ship of the Argentine Navy in 1982. He thought she'd been scrapped decades beforehand. No way you could spend that much time on a ship and not become attached, I suppose. Becomes almost a living thing.
My father served on the Lady Lex from '36 to '38. He, too, had a Lexington photo album that I still have. She was his first ship out of Naval training school in Norfolk. He was a machinist and later a CWO ship's carpenter. He later served as the Chief Carpenter aboard the Bogue (CVE 8), the Little Rock and the Missouri. He retired in '65.
Semper Fi! We loved our Marine detachment, too. USS Long Beach, CGN-9.
Counting only fleet and line carriers, the US finished the war with more (4 times) carriers than it started with. In contrast, the IJN was never able to replace any of their losses. Once a carrier was lost, the number of available carriers was permanently less.
They converted the third Yamato ship into the biggest carrier of ww2 but it was sunk a few days after leaving port
Yorktown Class gets my vote. USS Enterprise CV6 is my favorite ship of the war. And was the most successful. My friend lost her Dad at Midway, Arthur Ely. XO TB6. Devastator. His Dad was Eugene Ely, first flight off a ship. The pic of Big E having her elevator blown high into the air by a Kamikaze is EPIC.
THANKS
They did build a few new carriers over the course of the war, but it was only like four.
Not including the escort carriers of the Imperial Japanese Army, the various unfinished Unryū/Ikoma class, the various seaplane tenders, or the also unfinished Ibuki heavy cruiser conversion, the IJN had 20 carriers throughout the war.
They started out with 10.
It went up to 11 after the commissioning of the light carrier Shoho but immediately back down to 7 and then 6 after Midway and Eastern Solomons.
By March 7th 1944 they had built back up to 10 total active carriers (although the average quality had severely dropped).
They then lost 3 fleet carriers in the Philippine Sea in late June going back to 7 again.
The commissioning of the only 3 Unryū class brought them once again back up to 10 by October 15th 1944 but 10 days later they lost 4 carriers bringing them down to 6.
The newly commissioned Shinano was sunk the next month after only existing for 10 days, keeping them at 6.
They dropped down to 5 in December after the torpedoing of Unryū and finished the war with 4 total after Amagi was sunk in port in July 1945.
So they were actually able to replace their losses back up to the original 10 two times, but overall quality steadily dropped for the entire war.
I think a video on the various monstrosities that were the Japanese carrier conversions made out of desperation would be interesting. They range all the way from battleships/battlecruisers converted both during and after construction, some aviation cruisers/battleships with partial flight decks, seaplane tender conversions, and the IJA’s escort carriers/amphibious assault ships.
@@collinwood6573 That was very interesting, thank you. It seems like most sources I read say that, just as bad as a lack of ships, was a lack of pilots as the war went on. My understanding is that when they dangled their carriers in front of Halsey to draw him away from Leyte Gulf, there were actually no planes on the ships at all. They were just purely sacrificial bait, not intended even to defend themselves.
I am english and I had a Japanese friend, we liked to watch war movies together - Midway, Tora Tora, Band of Brothers etc.
When I told him about President Roosevelt ordering 24 Essex class carriers - he could not believe it!
I remember reading a quote from a pilot that qualified on USS Wolverine. He said that when he made his first landing at sea on a fleet carrier he couldn't believe how huge the flight deck was and that others had complained that they were tiny.
I was gonna make a comment about Midway and her two sisters but I remembered that Midway herself missed the war by 1 week and Franklin D Roosevelt and Coral Sea were built after
While yes we have modern Carriers like Nimitz and Growning number of Gearld R Ford however Midway along with Enterprise and the Essex class will remain my favorite class of Carrier’s
I’ve gotten some flak for not adding the Midways in this video lol but they didn’t see WWII, though all very cool. Love the Yorktowns and have grown to enjoy reading about the Essexes in depth
I think the most incredible battle Story of WW2 naval engagements was the battle of Taffy 3 and her DE's and DD's against the Japanese Task Force sent to stop the US Invasion Force in the Philippines. An truly "David vs Goliath" engagement, in every aspect. The MOH Citation for LT CDR Ernest E Evans brings pictures to mind, that you would expect to see, on a Hollywood Film Poster. God rest them all. List of Japanese Ships in that Fight; IJN's Battleships Yamato, Nagato, Haruna : Heavy Cruisers Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone: Lt Cruisers Yahagi, , Noshiro; 11 DD's of various Classes. Versus US Force defending the Landing Forces; Escort carriers Fanshaw bay, Gambier bay, Kalinin Bay, Kitkun Bay, St. Lo, White Plains : DD's Heermann, Hoel, Johnston, DE's Dennis, John C Butler, Raymond, Samuel B Roberts. The Aircraft involved from our Carriers deserve much respect , as they attacked with primarily Land Ordnance and Machinegun fire. The Japanese should have wiped this Tin Can Fleet from the Waters, instead they lost three Cruisers, turned tail and ran. The Story is well worth a read. we lost 2 DD's, 1 DE, and 2 CVE's. The Liberation of the Philippines then proceeded, because of the heroic actions.
Always tell people about Taffy 3. Not enough people know about it.
If i recall correctly this battle is the only time an aircraft carrier sunk a ship with her guns...
I first heard about it on Drachinifel channel. Honestly while the bravery of the crews cannot be understated it read more as if the Japs where doing everything in there power to lose the battle.
@@chinson525
It's the only us carrier sunk by a battleship
A book commemorates this incredible battle, "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors." These sailors exemplified the essence of the US Navy service and never letting the Marines ashore down. As at Guadalcanal, the sacrifice of so many sailors safety put and kept the Marines ashore.
I just attended the funeral of a former F4U Corsair pilot aboard the USS Guadalcanal (mentioned and shown in your video). He was the last living World War II veteran I knew and an outstanding example of the Greatest Generation. We have all been blessed because of their service and sacrifice both during the war and in building the peace to follow.
I love it. A very comprehensive overview. Liked and subscribed. I'm a big Pacific War nerd and was unaware of much of the details you covered.
It's a real shame they scrapped Enterprise, what a legend. If any ship deserved preservation, it was her.
Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the video, it really is a shame what happened to the Big E
Agreed. I'm glad Yorktown (#2) is a museum but Enterprise deserved to be saved too.
My grandfather served on the Santee for the entire war from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was an aircraft mechanic and was nearly killed by the “first” kamikaze of the war. Still have a piece of the Japanese airplane that hit it. He used to say the St. Lo took credit for the first because an admiral was on it. Seems kinda a funny distinction to argue over, but lots of good stories. Tito Puente served on the Santee as well.