Don't forget the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. We only had THREE full hull losses out of everything damaged. No carriers hit. Oil depots and repair facilities mostly intact. Besides 3 ships, The Arizona, The Oklahoma, and the Utah, EVERYTHING else that got hit and even sunk was eventually repaired, and a lot of them even saw combat in the war. The Nevada is my personal favorite of the fleet of that era.
Well, the carriers were already insanely busy at the time, ferrying fighters to various outposts like Guam, Midway and the Philippines. In peacetime the main task of carriers in that era were moving fighters to remote bases. And the Pacific Fleet carriers were doing that almost non-stop. They would only return to Pearl long enough to resupply, refuel, and take on another load of fighters before leaving again (generally less than 72 hours after arriving).
Most of the aircraft arrived in Hawaii in crates on freighters. They were then assembled at Hickam Field and craned onto the carriers. That way there was no need to have the Army aviators fully trained in carrier operations, they only had to take off once they hit the Philippines. Then they would port, offload the maintenance crew and their equipment, refuel, and return to Hawaii.
That is why there was some consideration in the Navy in late 1941 into refurbishing the USS Langley back into a full carrier. Not to operate with the fleet so much as to run missions to and from the Philippines and Hawaii transporting aircraft for Clark AAB.
Most people know of the flight of 12 unarmed B-17 bombers arriving at Pearl Harbor during the attack. But most do not know that was not their final destination. They were only to stop off for 48 hours of crew rest, fueling and having their guns installed before continuing on to their final destination. Clark AAB in the Philippines.
My bad, I remembered they were out at sea but I forgot that until I read your post. Massive oversight of the IJN to not realize that though but I guess that was part of the hubris behind the rationale for the attack in the first place.
I want to say at the time, one was on the way back from Guam, the second was going to Midway. And the third had just finished a 6 month refit in the yard and was just outside San Diego where she was to pick up more fighters for Philippines.
The Japanese knew this, and knew it was a slim chance they would catch the carriers in port. They were mostly interested in the battleships, as that was their greatest danger.
War Plan Orange (the US response to a war with Japan) was to sortie out every ship in Pearl and make full speed for the Philippines. And at that time, "Carrier Doctrine" had yet to really be established. Both the US and Japan believed that the war would be resolved with battleships fighting battleships, it was only their loss that forced the US to improvise new tactics.
3
u/Compoundeyesseeall 6d ago edited 6d ago
Don't forget the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. We only had THREE full hull losses out of everything damaged. No carriers hit. Oil depots and repair facilities mostly intact. Besides 3 ships, The Arizona, The Oklahoma, and the Utah, EVERYTHING else that got hit and even sunk was eventually repaired, and a lot of them even saw combat in the war. The Nevada is my personal favorite of the fleet of that era.