Onime No Kyo
Posts: 16842
Joined: 4/28/2004
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
Actually Halsey had shingles , brought on by nervous exhaustion. Prior to the 1940's carrier aviation was subordinate for a very good reason. Until aircraft could carry a 1000lb bon=mb a fair distance , they were pretty much usless at attacking warships. Play a few games of WPO and you'll see what I mean. Prior to the Devastator and the Vindicator , the USN was dropping 500lb pound bombs at very short range. For long range you were talking about 250 lb bombs!
And even with these new aircraft , there simply weren't enough carriers to mass a lot of planes to do something with. But in the mid-1930's things started to change. But you can't take a brand new aviator and fast track him to Admiral over night. It takes 20+ years to grow an Admiral. So if you can't make an Ensign Aviator into an Admiral , you make an Admiral into an aviator. That's why a lot of the early carrier admirals wore observer wings vice aviators. 
I both agree and disagree. By the start of the war the capability of aircraft versus ships (including carrier aircraft) was already a well established theory. If that were not the case, planes like the TBF would not have been completing development when the war started (first flight was in the summer of 41). Taranto and Operation Catapult were simply proof of concept. And if anything, the USN was behind the rest of the world in development and implementation of carriers and naval aircraft into the operational plans. As you say, by the mid-30s things were well on their way, both in the way of hulls and manpower. So I think we are talking about similar things.
However, whereas in the RN and the IJN naval aviation experts had been in flag rank for years. In the USN, Halsey was pretty much the only one. Your Slew McCains, Bogans and Montgomerys were still captains (EDIT: or stuck in the Bureau of Aeronautics, now that I think about it.). In addition to that, both in the IJN and the RN the "establishment" actually listened to captains. The USN did not.
Also, I cant speak for Japanese planning, but I know for sure that the Brits had very correct (as subsequent experience would show) ideas about the deployment of carriers, their operational cycle and their survivability. I also have reason to think that the Japanese were also thinking in terms of a massed CV on CV engagement. Out of the 3, the USN was the only one that was not. And that, I think, is a reflection of the institutional mentality, not a lack of quality manpower for command.
The bottom line is, Halsey was the only "Carrier Guy" the USN had. I have a sneaking suspicion that if it were the RN, they would have kicked someone like Buckmaster upstairs. Instead, they picked the guy who commanded the Enterprise's cruiser screen. So like you said, they decided that they cant "make an admiral", so they took one that was already there.
< Message edited by Onime No Kyo -- 3/27/2010 12:19:21 AM >
_____________________________
"Mighty is the Thread! Great are its works and insane are its inhabitants!" -Brother Mynok
|
Printable Version
RE: THE THREAD!!! - 
) 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread