U. S. NAVAL AVIATION - United States Navy

U. S. NAVAL AVIATION

in the

PACIFIC

I

Issued by The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations

UNITED STATES NAVY 1947

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I

Mission and Organization of Naval Aviation

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CHAPTER II

Components and Weapons of Naval Aviation

CHAPTER III

Special Aspects of the Air War. . . . . . . .

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CHAPTER IV

The Japanese Offensive-Pearl Harbor to Midway.

CHAPTER V

Offensive-Defensive--Guadalcanal to Bougainville. . . . . . . . 25

CHAPTER VI

The United States Offensive--Tarawa to Tokyo. . . . . . . . . 29

CHAPTER VII

Tactical Effectiveness of Naval Aviation. 43

CHAPTER VIII

Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

PREFACE

The purpose of this review, which was prepared by officers on duty in the Operations Division, including Air Combat Intelligence officers with extensive service in the Pacific, is to analyze the relation between air and sea power. It is based upon the experience of naval aviation in the war against Japan as recorded in the files of the Navy Department. Reports of the United States Strategic Bombing: Survey have also been consulted and the chart of the progress o f the war has been taken from one of them.

The danger inherent in any report confined to one aspect of the war is that it may mislead the reader into forgetting that the conflict was won by a combination of ground, naval, and air forces, each of which carried its share of the common burden. All operated within the framework of strategic plans, and it is the aim of this analysis to show how naval aviation fulfilled its part of those plans.

Since it is from the lessons of experience that plans for the future must be derived, the report is presented in the hope that it will prove of some value to those responsible for thc future security of the United States.

FORREST SHERMAN,

Vice Admiral, U. S. N., Deputy Chief of Naval Operations.

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FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

I MISSION AND ORGANIZATION OF NAVAL AVIATION

The wartime mission of the Navy is control of the sea. Twice in the twentieth century the United States Navy has accomplished this mission with enemies overseas. Each time it has been able to move troops, equipment, and supplies wherever it desired and to draw vital raw materials from all over the globe. Although complete destruction of enemy naval units was not possible, and although areas close to hostile shores remained under enemy control, such supremacy was attained as to permit United States and Allied forces freedom of movement and to deny the same faculty to the enemy as well as to cut him off from strategic resources.

In two wars with Germany this meant maintenance of an effective blockade and holding the submarine menace within bounds. Against Japan the naval war was vastly more complex and difficult because in the opening stages Japan gained control of the Western Pacific in the area north of Australia from the Indian Ocean to the Gilbert Islands. When the Japanese failed at the Battle of the Coral Sea to extend their sway southward and at the Battle of Midway to extend it to the Eastern Pacific, they, in effect, lost the war. Behind the shield of sea power the United States built the ships, planes, and equipment; it

trained the land sea, and air forces that ultimately beat down the enemy's navy, drove him from strategic bases, cut off his supplies of raw materials, and placed Allied forces in position to launch final air and amphibious offensives against his homeland. Having lost control of the sea and of the air, the Japanese found themselves open to mass bombing and unable to replace their nearly exhausted supplies of fuel and industrial materials. Rather than wait for the inevitable defeat on land, they surrendered--an eloquent testimonial to the effectiveness of the

Allied campaign based on sea power and on air power supported by water-borne transport.

The activities of the Navy had no other purpose than to obtain or maintain control of the sea. First, it was the function of the Navy to destroy enemy submarines, war vessels. and aircraft by any means, including the capture or destruction of the bases from which they operated. Second, the Navy sought either to sink and capture or to contain in port the enemy's merchant vessels so as to deprive him of raw materials and to prevent him from transporting his troops and supplies. Third, the Navy protected its own and Allied ships engaged in carrying men, equipment, and raw materials. Fourth, if the accomplishment of other objectives required it, the Navy by amphibious landings seized and developed advanced bases. Fifth, when offensive land operations were made against hostile shores, the Navy provided transportation for troops and equipment and supported landing forces until a bridgehead sufficient for the operation of land-based air and artillery had been established; and the Navy continued to assure the safe arrival of ships with supplies and replacements. Sixth, the Navy rendered enemy garrisons on bypassed islands ineffective by cutting off supplies and bombarding installations and prevented the removal of personnel to other theaters. Seventh, the Navy furnished the necessary facilities for the logistical support of its own units. Eighth, the Navy provided for the collection of intelligence, the rescue of personnel, and such other services as needed to keep it operating efficiently.

In all these activities aviation played a part and in none did it have an independent role. For example, the destruction of enemy submarines was accomplished by surface vessels,

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