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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L U.S. CARRIER ROLLCALL SUMMARY. Carriers are seagoing airfields. They have largely replaced battleships as the kingpins of the fleet. Used offensively, they operate against ship and shore installations, support landing operations, and knock down the enemy in the air. Unless the carrier has a specific mission it is kept in some safe port. When under way the new U.S. Battleship with its powerful anti-aircraft batteries has proved a remarkable "Bodyguard" for the carrier; thus the carrier and the battleship are coordinated into a single combat team. CVE's were built to create an armada of carriers in a hurry. Their 20 knot speed is too slow for regular battle-line duty but they are of great service in supporting a combat, carrier in combined operations, in guarding convoys against submarine-, attacks, and in ferrying planes. The heart and brain of the carrier is the starboard island where the captain, gunnery officer, fighter director, air combat information officer, radar officer, and others control all action.
PRESENT OR ACCOUNTED FOR CV-1 LANGLEY - First of the American flattops. Obsolete, she was converted into a seaplane tender. Destroyed south of Java in February, 1942. CV-2 LEXINGTON - "Queen of the Flattops". She and the "Sara" were laid down as battle cruisers. The LEX shot down 2 out of 2 Jap 4-engined patrol planes and 16 out of 18 attacking twin-engined land based bombers off Bougainville in February 1942, and lost only 2 F4F's one of whose pilots was saved. She and the YORKTOWN then sank 3 CL's, 1 DD, and 5 transport cargo ships; and sank or seriously damaged 6 other warships. Our losses: 1 TBD. On the 1st of May they spearheaded the task force in the Battle of the Coral Sea, sinking the Jap CV SHOHO, 1CL, damaged the CV's RYUKAKU and SHOKAKU, and knocked down 91 planes in air combat. Our losses; the LEX, and 27 planes. CV-3 SARATOGA - In the battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, the SARA and the ENTERPRISE probably sank the CV RYUJO, 1DD, damaged a BB and 3 cruisers, and helped the task force knock down some 100 Jap planes. (The SARA is the world's heaviest CV.) |
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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET U.S. CARRIER ROLLCALL SUMMARY CONTINUED. CV-4 - RANGER - The 1st U.S. CV designed from the keel up as a carrier. She has ferried many planes across the Atlantic into the combat ares., and has scoured the ocean for subs. CV-5 - YORKTOWN - (See LEXINGTON and ENTERPRISE for additional reports). The YORKTOWN was the only Air Group to raid Tulagi on May 4, 1942, the eve of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Enemy losses: 1 Cruiser, 2 DD's, 1 cargo ship, and 4 gunboats sunk; 1DD, 1 seaplane tender, and 1 cargo ship damaged. Our losses: 2 F4F's, 1 TBD, but crews were rescued. Among other destruction credited to the YORKTOWN: 3 cruisers, 3 DD's, 5 auxiliaries and some of the harder body punches in the knocking out of 4 Jap CV's. The YORKTOWN was lost at Midway, June 1942. CV-6 - ENTERPRISE - "The Old Lady" put her planes into action against the Jap raiders at Pearl Harbor. With the YORKTOWN she raided the Gilberts and Marshalls in February 1942, our first offensive. Enemy losses: 35 planes, 13 auxiliary and natrol vessels sunk; a cruiser and seaplane tender or transport seriously damaged. At Midway in June 1942, she sank 2 Jap CV's, helped to kill off another, and destroyed an enemy BB. In the Battle of the Santa Crua Islands, October 1942, the ENTERPRISE blasted 63 Japs from the sky. She was carrier escort to the HORNET in the bombing of Tokyo. Total enemy losses: 36 warships and auxiliaries; 140 planes, this is her score to date. CV-7 - WASP - Was shortest U.S. Carrier. Ferried Spitfires twice into the Mediterranean to bolster the badly battered garrison of Malta, then cruised into the Pacific to aid the initial landings at Guadalcanal in August 1942. Was torpedoed 190 miles off Guadalcanal in mid-September. CV-8 - HOPNET - "Shangri-La". Helped in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. However, the HORNET'S fame will no doubt live longer as a result of a single mission than in all her battles combined.. This was Major General Doolittle's B-25 mission to Tokyo in April 1942. The HORNET fell victim to the Japs in the Battle of Santa Cruz, October 1942. Against the thin possibility of the Axis mustering some 14 or 15 assorted carriers by the end of 1943, the U.S. will have 25 combat carriers and more than 85 CVE's. -2- |
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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET U.S. CARRIER ROLLCALL SUMMARY CONTINUED. CHARACTERISTICS AS OF 30 JUNE 1943.
*** This distribution is constantly changing. Future policies may direct one CVE to carry VF's, another VTB's, etc. -3- |
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Transcribed by RESEARCHER @ LARGE. Formatting & Comments Copyright R@L.