![]() Radar gave the fleet new eyes, as technological progress improved the defense and added power to the offense. These late efforts were rendered unnecessary by the destructive power of the atom unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the fleet’s liberation of Japanese-held islands in the central Pacific made the atomic attacks possible.įor the first time in naval history opponents engaged out of sight of each other. American armed forces drove the Axis from strategically located bases, cut off its raw materials, and placed the Allies in position to launch the final air and amphibious offensives. The Navy and Marine Corps air arms mustered only one small and seven large aircraft carriers, five patrol wings, and two Marine aircraft wings, about 5,900 pilots and 21,678 enlisted men, 5,233 aircraft of all types, including trainers, and a few advanced air bases.ĭistance from the enemy and tremendous industrial power, however, enabled the United States to build the ships, planes, and equipment necessary for victory. The United States entered World War II unprepared to execute either strategy - Atlantic or Pacific. In the Pacific, Allied strategy focused first on stopping Japan’s alarmingly rapid advance and then on the bitterly contested task of driving the enemy forces back over a broad expanse. The convoys’ safe arrivals enabled a series of amphibious operations that helped liberate the European continent from Axis hegemony. ![]() Although the geographic position of the United States provided the strategic advantage of the ability to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets via the Panama Canal, it also placed the nation squarely between two fronts with few commonalities.Īir operations in the Atlantic consisted of a blockade and campaign to protect convoys of ships that delivered raw materials, munitions, and reinforcements to the Allies. After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the handful of carriers in the Pacific filled the ensuing void and demonstrated the potency and flexibility of naval airpower. ![]() ![]() Naval aviation carried the fight to the enemy and became the backbone of fleet striking power. The fleet faced the supreme test of war only 30 years after acquiring its first airplane and just 19 years after commissioning its first aircraft carrier. ![]()
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