el cid again -> Midway Air Group in RHS (7/27/2007 12:56:01 PM)
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The last of the big carriers is the USS Midway This class was just too late for the war. Only USS Midway might appear as her own class in RHSCVO (and its counterpart RAO) if the war lasts slightly longer than normal. IF it appears, this ship has five squadrons of 19 aircraft in game terms (= 18 plus 1 spare, normal practice in USN): A carrier fighter squadron, a carrier fighter-bomber squadron, a dive bomber squadron, a torpedo bomber squadron and a night fighter squadron. This requires 95 of the 96 capacity of its hanger. IRL the ship could have carried more aircraft - but probably would not have done - as it was universally believed the number was too great for efficient flight operations. This ship was really built for the jet age to handle a smaller number of heavier and larger aircraft - and no one believed it would contribute to the outcome of WWII. FDR opposed it. In RHSBBO family scenarios (including RPO and PPO) the Midway air group appears ashore on the same date the ship would have appeared in CVO. All the squadrons appear at San Francisco. In RHSEOS the Midways are built specifically to contribute to victory in a war that might not go as well as IRL - so they are laid down sensibly as repeat Essex class. Two such ships might complete - Midway and Wake. These ships have slightly modified Essex air groups: a squadron of 18 fighters, a squadron of 18 fighter-bombers, a squadron of 12 torpedo bombers, and a flight (of the fighter squadron) of night fighters.
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