Episode 57: Carrier War in World War 2
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Episode 57: Carrier War in World War 2
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About this listen
In this 45-minute episode of Mil History Talk, we trace the evolution of U.S. Navy aircraft operations across World War II and explain why the aircraft carrier emerged as the central instrument of American naval power. Picking up themes introduced earlier in the series, the discussion follows the Navy’s hard-won learning curve—from the fragile, improvisational carrier warfare of 1942 to the fully systematized, scalable carrier operations of 1943–1945. We examine key campaigns including Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, and Tarawa, highlighting how losses in ships, aircraft, and trained aircrews reshaped doctrine, training, and force design. Particular attention is given to operational tempo, survivability, radar-directed air defense, and the industrial capacity that allowed the United States to fight—and win—a war of attrition. By the end of the war, the carrier was no longer an experiment or supporting arm, but the backbone of U.S. naval strategy, a status that would carry directly into the Cold War and beyond.