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In the modern battle fleet, the aircraft carrier takes pride of place.
Documentary on the rise of aircraft carriers in WWII, focusing on Japan's Pearl Harbor attack and the pivotal Battle of Midway.
Key Takeaways
- Aircraft carriers revolutionized naval warfare and became essential for superpower fleets.
- The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor demonstrated the offensive power of carrier-based air strikes.
- Failure to destroy American carriers at Pearl Harbor allowed the US Navy to regroup and counterattack.
- The Battle of Midway was a critical turning point that weakened Japan’s carrier strike capability.
- The era of the battleship ended as the aircraft carrier took naval supremacy.
Summary
- Aircraft carriers became central to modern naval warfare during World War II.
- The Japanese Imperial Navy's carrier strike force launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
- Admiral Nagumo led a fleet of six large aircraft carriers capable of deploying over 360 warplanes.
- The attack aimed to cripple the US Pacific Fleet and force America into peace negotiations.
- Despite initial success, the American aircraft carriers were not in port and escaped damage.
- Admiral Yamamoto planned further strikes to destroy the remaining US naval power.
- The Battle of Midway marked a decisive turning point, with the smaller American force defeating the Japanese carrier fleet.
- The loss at Midway shifted the balance of naval power irreversibly in favor of the Allies.
- The aircraft carrier emerged as the dominant capital ship, replacing the battleship in naval strategy.
- The documentary highlights the strategic foresight and risks involved in carrier warfare during WWII.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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It is now unthinkable that a modern superpower could join battle without the aircraft carrier at the heart of its fleet.
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Carriers only rose to prominence during the maelstrom of World War II, when the cunning of the Japanese Imperial Navy unleashed the full power of the carrier on an unsuspecting world.
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In the dim morning light of December 5th, 1941, far out in the North Pacific, a powerful Japanese fleet was steaming rapidly eastwards with great stealth. The commander, Admiral Nagumo, deliberately steered a course to minimize the risk of observation by foreign ships or aircraft. The destination, Pearl Harbor.
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The huge Japanese armada under Nagumo's command was radically different from any naval task force ever before assembled.
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At its core, rode a group of six large ultra-modern aircraft carriers, which between them, could fly off more than 360 warplanes.
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The long sea-going reach of the carriers, matched with the formidable strike capacity of their air component, gave the combined fleet an offensive capability unprecedented in naval history.
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The concept of a mass air strike mounted exclusively from ships was still novel, and Admiral Nagumo was not convinced it would prove effective.
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Nevertheless, he prepared his fleet for action, following a meticulously prepared timetable. The attack could only be stopped by express orders from the Commander-in-Chief in Tokyo, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
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For some time, Japan and the United States had been moving closer to war.
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Japan nurtured ambitions to become the dominant regional power in Asia, and her aggressive expansion on the Chinese mainland roused American anxieties.
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So far, American retaliation had been limited to crippling economic sanctions. High-level negotiations between the two sides were continued in Washington, but by midnight on December 6th, both sides knew they would surely fail.
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As the talks continued, the task force swung around on a more southerly course, heading for a bearing 200 miles from the Hawaiian Islands.
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Far away in Tokyo, Yamamoto closely monitored his fleet's progress. The Admiral was Japan's most gifted commander.
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It was because of his energy and foresight that the Imperial Navy possessed its magnificent carrier force.
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The strategy devised for the forthcoming campaign was also largely Yamamoto's creation.
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He knew that the Soviet Union and Britain were desperately embroiled in their mortal struggle against Hitler's Germany.
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In the early months of the war, Japan's principal enemy would be the United States.
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In the coming war, Yamamoto believed that Japan's best, and perhaps only chance, was to strike first and to strike hard, so that a weakened America might just be persuaded to sue for peace.
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With hindsight, it was a long shot, but in December 1942, the Japanese High Command were convinced it would succeed.
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A vital centerpiece of the hit first strategy was a surprise attack against the American base at Pearl Harbor, home of the US Pacific Fleet.
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The entire air strength of Yamamoto's carrier force was committed to this single operation.
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The entire plan had been carefully tested in a series of war games.
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Directly after the first raid on Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto intended to launch a rapid series of further attacks against a wide variety of objectives to destroy the US fleet.
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There was never a serious intention of an assault on the US mainland.
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Yamamoto's only hope was that by the time America had rebuilt her naval strength, Japan would have secured a great empire, protected by a vast ring of island bases around the Pacific, from which she could successfully negotiate a peace settlement.
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Success in the initial carrier strike was therefore crucial.
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Yamamoto's confidence had been strengthened by the performance of similar British carriers in the European war.
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He had made an intensive study on the raid of Taranto Harbor the previous year, when a strong Italian battleship was disabled by a handful of elderly British biplanes.
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Yamamoto saw to it that his aircraft carried torpedoes, specifically adapted to drop and run in shallow harbor waters.
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As the carrier group approached the attack station, Nagumo's ship enjoyed the cover of cloud and gray skies.
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Ahead and below the warships, traveled a stealthy advanced guard of Japanese submarines.
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Yamamoto's major concern was that not all the American fleet would be in the port.
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Intelligence reports suggested that they were.
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This was a significant development, as by then, the Washington negotiations had finally broken down.
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Yamamoto knew he must destroy the American carriers to prevent any US counter-strike.
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Aboard the Japanese ships, everybody now knew that war was imminent.
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Expectations rose to fever pitch.
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Yamamoto signaled his message to the fleet: "The fate of the Empire hangs on this enterprise.
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Every man must devote himself unsparingly to the task at hand."
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At 6:00 local time, the carriers turned into the wind and increased their speed to 24 knots.
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The decks vibrated to the roar of powerful engines.
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On the pilots' headbands were inscribed the Japanese characters meaning "certain victory."
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By 6:30, the first wave of 100 aircraft was aloft and speeding in the skies towards Pearl Harbor.
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Shortly before 8:00, the attackers reached the target zone.
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Visibility and weather conditions were ideal, and to their delight, the Japanese found they had caught their enemy hopelessly off guard.
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Surprise was complete.
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American resistance was disorganized and ineffectual.
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On the airfield, both squadrons of American warplanes were destroyed where they stood.
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In the great harbor, Japanese bombs and torpedoes transformed the great battleship row below them into a nightmare inferno of explosions, fires, and smoke.
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In achieving all this, just 29 Japanese aircraft had been lost.
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This was heartening for Yamamoto, who had been prepared to sacrifice one-third of the task force.
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Only one thing spoiled the euphoria of the celebrations.
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None of the reported American aircraft carriers was actually in port during the attack, and all had escaped unscathed.
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For Yamamoto, this was a matter of serious concern.
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From Tokyo, he urgently signaled Admiral Nagumo, ordering him to find and sink the American carriers.
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Yamamoto also urged further strikes against Pearl Harbor, designed to destroy the remaining installations there.
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Meanwhile, American submarines had intervened to deadly effect, with enormous loss of life.
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It was 5:10 in the afternoon and the Battle of Midway was over.
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The smaller force had defeated the larger.
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The Imperial Navy's magnificent carrier strike force, which that morning had sailed to battle with such proud hopes, had passed into oblivion.
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Although Midway had brought about a decisive and irreversible shift in the balance of power, a huge and grueling struggle had yet to be endured before the Americans and their allies achieved final victory.
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The crowds awaiting returning American servicemen were as glad and as jubilant as were those rejoicing the end of the Great War in 1918.
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But in one respect, this homecoming was different. Whereas the ships steamed slowly in, it was the aircraft carrier, not the battleship, that held pride of place.
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The day of the carrier had dawned.
Topics:aircraft carrierPearl HarborBattle of MidwayJapanese Imperial NavyWorld War IIAdmiral YamamotoAdmiral Nagumonaval warfarecarrier strikeUS Pacific Fleet
