How Carriers Fought

Carrier Operations in World War II

Lars Celander

• Publisher: Casemate
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781612006222
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

An in-depth analysis of aircraft carrier battles in WWII and the evolution of carrier operations—from technology and strategy to life among the crew. First built in 1921, the aircraft carrier brought a new dimension to military strategy as the United States entered World War II. How Carriers Fought examines the evolution of carrier operations with a special focus on the conflict in the Pacific between the US Navy and the imperial Japanese fleet. Starting with a discussion of the tools and building blocks of carrier operations, historian Lars Celander then provides an analysis of various carrier battles to demonstrate how strategy and operations developed during the war. Every aspect of carrier warfare is covered, from navigation and communication technology to life inside the cockpit. A world of tactical dehydration and amphetamine pills is explored, as well as the measures pilots used to reduce their risk of death in the event of being hit. The major carrier battles of the war are considered, from Coral Sea and Leyte Gulf to the Battle of Midway, where the Japanese decided to divide their forces while the Americans concentrated theirs. How Carriers Fought analyzes these tactics, exploring which worked best in theory and in practice.

PART I

Carrier Operations

CHAPTER 1

Navigation and Communication

Life in the Cockpit

Life in the cockpit of a World War II single-engine carrier-borne aircraft was most of all noisy. That big engine only a few feet away created a loud drone. Radial engines have a rather deep, slightly muffled roar to them, while inline engines have a sharper and more aggressive sound that tends to be more tiring. Those leather helmets were there for a reason. The earphones provided as part of the helmet assisted in using the radio, despite the noise. The microphone was a boom or throat microphone or integrated into the oxygen mask. Radio operators typically had a handheld microphone.

Cockpits were generally roomy. Radial engines, common on carrier aircraft, have a relatively large frontal area which makes it easier to fit more spacious cockpits. Fighters with inline engines, like the Spitfire or the Bf 109, tended to have cockpits that were much more cramped.

Cold temperature at altitude was generally not a problem for the pilot; warmth was provided by the closeness of the engine. For the rear gunner, or anyone sitting in an open cockpit, it was a different matter. Depending on altitude and climate it could be very cold. Sitting on the deck in tropical waters, waiting for take off, the breeze over the flight deck provided some cooling.

Cockpits were not pressurized. Oxygen masks had to be used above 12,000–14,000 feet. The oxygen tank was mounted in a fixed position, as the crew sat in their seats and did not move around. The prewar continuous flow type masks allowed operation up to 20,000–25,000 feet but had to be adjusted as the altitude changed and tended to waste oxygen. The more sophisticated demand-type masks allowed operation up to about 40,000 feet. For the latter type, a leak-proof fit for the mask was essential. The wearer had to be freshly shaven but might have a mustache. The fit around the nose was the most difficult part, as human noses vary greatly in shape and size. To get a good fit, the mask tended to put considerable pressure around the nose which could rub it raw and make the mask quite painful to wear. If high-g maneuvers were expected, likely exacerbated by the pilot sweating heavily, the mask had to very tightly secured indeed. Oxygen starvation (hypoxia) is a particularly insidious condition, as the first symptom is often a sense euphoria and not caring about what is happening. It then continues with disorientation, loss of consciousness, and death. Many pilots and aircrew were killed by a badly adjusted or leaking mask or any other problem with the oxygen supply. It was not unusual to see a plane drop out of the sky for no apparent reason. When using oxygen, it was common for aircrew to periodically check on each other. Cruising altitude was usually at around 12,000 feet to save on the limited oxygen available, as well as to avoid the discomfort and dangers of using oxygen. Dive bombers liked to climb to about 20,000 feet to get above the defenders before the attack and CAP had to be prepared to meet them at that altitude. Cockpits of modern fighters are only weakly pressurized and issues with the oxygen supply are a persistent and major danger.

No food or beverage was generally brought on missions despite these lasting upwards of 4–5 hours. Several battle accounts mention that the crews were quite hungry and thirsty after a mission and that the lack of food indeed had an effect on pilot endurance. As an LSO said to a pilot after he finally managed to land after five unsuccessful attempts: “You had to land here son, this is where the food is.”

Aircrew often had some emergency ration with them to be used if shot down. This could take the form of stuffing something in pockets or somewhere in the plane. If accessible, it could be dipped into on a long mission. The heavy bombers of the bombing campaigns carried food and (hot) beverages for the crews but carrier aircraft did not, at least not on combat missions. Training missions were more relaxed and food and water was sometimes brought on long flights.

Smoking was generally not permitted in the cockpit but it went on anyway from time to time. Given how common smoking was at the time, this was unavoidable. Most soldiers and sailors smoked, the same in all militaries. Cigarettes were used as a way to relax from the stress of combat and some pilots were inveterate smokers. Some types of heavy bombers had lighters and ashtrays in the cockpit but carrier-borne aircraft generally did not have such amenities. On board a carrier, smoking was generally allowed but was restricted on flight and hangar decks or where gasoline was handled, for obvious reasons. Smoking was facilitated and encouraged by the military, with active support from the tobacco industry, particularly on the Allied side. Modern-day statisticians have calculated that the increase in smoking habits during World War II, due to so many men being in the military, cost more man-years of life lost than did combat.

A Hellcat in the elevator well onboard USS Monterey. No smoking was allowed inside the hangar (at least the sign says so on this carrier; in practice it varied).

A relief tube was fitted for each crew in case there was a need to urinate. The flight suit zipper went far down but there was still a fair amount of digging out and then careful aiming to be done for successful completion of the task, often while busy keeping station in a formation. The relief tube was quite unpopular, if nothing else because it tended to freeze and become blocked at cruising altitude (air temperature goes down about 3°C per 1,000 feet of altitude). Adult diapers were an alternative but do not appear to have been used by carrier pilots. Female pilots had trouble using the relief tube. They used diapers instead, for example while doing long delivery flights of Hellcats from where they were manufactured in Bethpage, New York, to the West Coast. Pilots sometimes simply landed with a “damp” or even “smelly” flight suit. Heavy bombers generally used a chemical toilet, a bucket with a lid, or a cardboard box. Here the crew had room to move about but then a co-pilot was required and, if at altitude, portable oxygen bottles. To avoid dealing with these problems, urinating before a mission was standard. Pilots often resorted to not drinking any liquids before a mission (“tactical dehydration”). This was not a good solution as dehydration affected performance, sometimes as much as being intoxicated, something which was not really understood at the time.

Amphetamine pills were widely available among all major combatants during World War II. They increase wakefulness for an additional 2–10 hours beyond what could be considered typical endurance. In those days it did not have the connotation of drug addiction it has today. The Germans used them during the campaigns against Poland and France but quickly became aware of how they impaired judgment and more or less stopped using them. Side effects included aggressiveness, irritability, anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, and general confusion. After use, it would take a day or two to return to normal. Allied heavy-bomber crews were routinely issued with amphetamines to stay alert on long missions, as were crews of long-distance naval patrol planes. The common brand name was Benzedrine or “Bennies.” Carrier crews with their relatively short missions of up to 4–5 hour did not use these pills much at all. Still, there are reports of amphetamine pills having been taken by US pilots before landing back on the carrier. Japanese carrier pilots have also been described as taking “vitamin pills” to stay alert.

G-suits were experimented with from 1943 and onwards. The British used a system with water-filled bladders around the legs which would fill automatically as the g-suits were applied. Americans used a suit that would be filled with compressed air. Both systems worked as advertised; pilots could now handle and additional 1– 1.5 g. Fighter pilots could be more aggressive in turns and had an advantage in combat. Early suits were uncomfortable to wear for extended periods though. G-suits could have been used by dive-bomber pilots during the pull-out but that appears to not have been done. The Ju-87 had a different solution to this: it had an autopilot that handled the pull-out if the pilot blacked out.

Formation flying was an essential part of combat. Much time was spent training on it. Flying in a formation, the pilot had to constantly keep the correct position. On the way to and from the target area, the formation was loosened up to reduce the workload on the pilots. Approaching the target area the formation was tightened up and required more attention.

Flying over vast stretches of open water with nowhere to land put a constant psychological pressure on navigation and on conserving fuel. There was also the constant worry about some kind of engine problem. Little confidence was placed on radios and various electronic navigation aids; both were prone to breakdowns and there had not always been time for proper training. Being a radio operator was not only about operating the radio, how to use it correctly, and to understand its limitations; it was also about giving the radio the tender loving care it needed to stay functioning well (like keeping it properly tuned, fixing a loose connection, or coaxing along a recalcitrant vacuum tube somewhere).

Combat missions were often long and boring, followed by a few minutes of sheer terror. The danger of AA fire was something one could not do much about—who got killed and who survived was just a matter of luck. Being powerless in that regard was something that just had to be accepted. Toward the end of the war missions consisted mostly of a daily grind of ground support with the ever-present danger from AA taking a psychological toll.

Search missions were better appreciated. There was more of a sense of serenity and peace, more time to enjoy the beauty of flying, watching the clouds and the slowly changing weather conditions.

Carriers were free of mosquitoes and sundry other nasty critters, as well as of most tropical diseases. Pilots of all navies preferred carrier duty to being stationed on a tropical island.

Bailing Out and Ditching

All pilots and aircrew had a parachute. They spent their time in the cockpit sitting on it. It was not a very comfortable seat—a parachute is a parachute and not a wonder of ergonomics.

Bailing out required sufficient altitude to give the parachute time to open. It meant opening the canopy, usually by sliding it backwards—a simple thing to do in normal circumstance but with the plane shot up and perhaps the crew member being injured himself, it could easily become a major operation. Sometimes it was simply not possible to get out. Carrier combat was often at low level, so using a parachute was not always an option.

Bailing out at a high altitude meant disconnecting from the oxygen supply. The pilot then had to do a free fall and not pull the rip cord until he had reached an altitude where there was enough oxygen in the air. The time for the free fall was short enough so that hypoxia would not cause the pilot to lose consciousness.

Ditching was dangerous in planes with liquid-cooled inline engines. The problem was the air scoop for the cooling radiator, typically placed on the belly somewhere. It would scoop water, forcing the plane to a very rapid stop, often knocking the pilot unconscious as well as flipping the plane over. Scooping water, it would also make the plane sink very fast. The very short time to get out forced the pilot to unbuckle himself before the ditching, further increasing the risk of being knocked unconscious. The recommended procedure was therefore to dip one of the wings and as it touched the water the plane would cartwheel to a stop with less scooping of water. Cartwheeling is obviously not a controlled procedure and ditching with an inline engine was often fatal. This was one more reason why radial engines were almost always used for carrier-based aircraft. With a radial engine, ditching was likely a survivable event. Most of the danger came from being knocked unconscious and/or trapped and unable to get out of the sinking plane. A fixed landing gear does not seem to have precluded ditching; there are several accounts of Val dive bombers ditching and the aircrew surviving to be picked up.

The Zero was different in that pilots in many situations elected not to wear the parachute harness, using the parachute only as a seat cushion. The reason for this was that the parachute harness restricted movement in the cockpit. Another reason was that bailing out in combat would often mean capture, at least in wartime, something that was not really an option for pilots. On the other hand, the Zero had excellent ditching characteristics, including sealed flotation compartments in the wings and a flotation bag inside the rear fuselage that could be inflated by the pilot. Early war USN types like the Wildcat, Dauntless, and Devastator also had flotation gear but soon had them removed. In the case of the Devastator, the express purpose was that the plane would indeed sink, quickly and reliably, taking the top-secret Norden bomb sight with it (and presumably the aircrew as well). In the case of the Wildcat it was due to reliability problems—the large inflatable bags in the wings had a habit of inflating at inopportune moments which lead to some fatal accidents. The RN did not use flotation gear in their planes and the Martlets had them removed.

Pilots did not necessarily have the shoulder harnesses seen today. In the early days of the war, many planes only had a simple two-point seatbelt. Shoulder harnesses were added as pilots kept smashing their foreheads against the gun sight during ditching or crash landing. Harnesses were kept loose as required to operate the gun or bomb sight and any plotting board used.

Japanese fighter pilots, both army and navy, had a habit of shooting enemy aircrew hanging in a parachute. The main defense against this was to not pull the rip cord until at fairly low altitude. Having landed in water, it was usually best not to inflate the life jacket or life raft until after the fight was over.

Search and Rescue

All pilots and aircrew wore lifejackets. USN and RN used inflatable ones commonly nicknamed Mae Wests. Inflation was with a CO2 cartridge or manually. Dye markers were often included; releasing the dye into water would create a brightly colored patch on the ocean, usually fluorescent yellow-green (using the Cy3 cyanine dye). The patch would last for half an hour and was the most effective way to get spotted from the air. A small bobbing head in the ocean is very hard to spot from even a short distance. Dye markers are still in use today. IJN used bulkier lifejackets made of kapok, a vegetable material related to cotton that is very buoyant and resistant to water but also flammable. These did not have to be inflated. IJN life jackets were khaki or dark green while USN and RN were yellow, or more exactly, a yellowish khaki.

Most planes were equipped with a liferaft for the crew, usually accessed through a hatch on the outside, to be pulled out and inflated after ditching. This liferaft had various survival equipment within it, like a flare gun, some emergency rations, and a small amount of water (but no towel). Later in the war, a small...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Glossary
• Introduction
• Part I. Carrier Operations
• Part II. Carrier Battles of World War II
• Part III. The Art and Evolution of Carrier Operations
• Appendix - Postwar Developments
• Notes on Sources
• Bibliography