“Carriers appear certain to dominate any major deep-water fighting for at least the next two years. Naval war has become an elaborate matching of task forces, and in this game carriers are trumps. Battleships may still have a role, but it can be played only under protection of air power.”
“Carriers began to punch with full force when Japan and the U.S.A. – the two nations that had specialized in that type of vessel – went to war. Japanese planes sank the battleship Arizona and capsized the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor. Then torpedo planes popped off Britain’s battle cruiser Repulse and the new battleship Prince of Wales. The U.S.A. lost the Lexington, but has sunk five Japanese carriers and damaged at least one more. That was heavy punishment, but there are more carriers in fighting trim on both sides, and they will be heard from again.”
Click here to read about Admiral Halsey’s task force at Leyte.
Click here to read about Admiral Mitscher and Task Force 58.
Click here to read about the Battle of Midway.
Click here to read about the Battle of the Coral Sea
