I agree with this list. There are many more but since the list is only top 8, all the important CVs I think have been included in particular Enterprise, Akagi and Kaga. Its a shame Enterprise was not preserved. It would have been awesome to see this ship to this day. Would think a lot of Trekkies would make pilgrimage to that ship :)
@@joshrogers3406 The Fairey Swordfish wasn't a WW1 plane, but it was obsolescent, if not obsolete, by the outbreak of WW2. Having said that, they not only crippled the Bismarck, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Italian fleet at Taranto...
@@johngregory4801 >> Absolutely! It would have been hard because of the combat damage but so worth it. HMS Vanguard would have been very cool. I wouldn’t have said no to HMS Renown; and I’m not the biggest fan of the KGVs, but better one of them than nothing at all. Nelsons, though…just too ugly for my taste.
She was one of a kind. The history of the damage she survived and damage inflicted alone, deserved to be enshrined for generations. She was the fighting American spirit embodiment in steel. Damn near every battle participated at sea had her to fear.
The USS Enterprise was the most successful carrier not only in WW ll, but in history. She was the only one of the 7 carriers afloat prior to Pearl Harbor that was still afloat and fighting at the end of the war. She earned 20 out of a possible 22 battle stars and next closest ship had just 16. She was responsible for sinking 3 or 4 of the 6 Japanese carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor. Prior to the October 26, 1942 battle off Santa Cruz, Enterprise and Hornet were our only 2 operational carriers and Hornet was sunk during that battle leaving a badly damaged Enterprise as our only carrier left. Enterprise along with the light carrier Independence were the very first carriers in US Naval history to operate their airplanes at night and in bad weather. My Dad was a TBM pilot in Night Torpedo Squadron 90 December 1944- May 1945.
Saratoga was still in service at the end of the war. After her final round of repairs, there were so many Essex carriers in the Western pacific that Saratoga was used to train pilots. She was big enough to do carrier quals for the biggest, newest USN and USMC fighters and bombers.
@@timclaus8313 The Saratoga never went back to war. She was too old. Once Enterprise was repaired, she went back into service and was part of the fleet that brought our troops home from the war. Saratoga did not participate in Magic Carpet.
@@MrSuzuki1187 Sara did not go back to the war zone, but she did continue air operations for training on the west coast. She was the biggest and newest carrier available for training. In the end, Sara was part of the Bikini Atoll testing.
@@dangertrebor nothing was worse than the movie Pearl Harbor. What a waste of an opportunity to show an important historical event. And the completely factionalized the Doolittle raid. What a mess that was.
@@dangertrebor from what I’ve heard that 2019 movie midway which is what I assume you are referring to is pretty realistic actually, it’s just that midway was so over the top in real life it seems unrealistic
The Enterprise was America`s greatest ship. She should have been declared a national monument. That it did not happen was and still a national travesty even to this day. RIP.
Enterprise had been badly damaged multiple times, and would have taken a lot of work to get it back to a safe condition as a museum ship. As with Warspite, Saratoga and Illustrious, survival left a lot of scars during their service lives.
@@robertpapalia Blame it on Congress, they are the ones that set the budget, manpower and equipment limits for the military. The at that time, Department of War, had to fit what Congress mandated under the budget cap. Every branch got hammered severely once the war time troops were home again.
yeah those yorktown class carriers pulled their wieght multiple time. and i think its a shame that CV-6 wasnt preserved as a museum ship. that thing stood alone as a fleet carrier against the might of the IJN and earned 20+ battle stars. also a little addition to IJN Kaga: on launch that thing had THREE flight decks for starting planes.
They were not only very effective, they were beautiful. The Essex Class was designed for high volume production and was very functional, but not as attractive as the Yorktown class, IMO.
It's a national disgrace that Enterprise was sent to the breakers! Possibly only matched by Great Britain allowing Warspite to be scrapped. Great video!😎
A bankrupt nation trying to rebuild it's cities and you think people would have been happy to know we were putting money aside to preserve a ship before building new homes for them? You'd be voted out of office at the next election.
Both were very accomplished old war horses. Unfortunately, the cumulative damage during their carers meant both would have required considerable repairs to be retained in any capacity. In a post-war draw down, there wasn't funding for that, especially for Warspite. The US also cancelled 9 Essex carriers, had built 140 carriers of all sizes during the war, and had 3 massive Midways ready to join the fleet. There just wasn't funding, nor manpower, to retain Enterprise, and the big push to save ships was still at least a decade away (remember that Congress took a chainsaw to the War Department budget after WWII, which in a large way led to the Korean War.
Somewhere on that list should have been HMS Victorious, whose planes incapacitated the Bismark. She was loaned to the US Navy and served as the USS Robin in the Pacific. She was involved in other notable actions as well.
I'm pretty sure the one who incapacitated KMS Bismarck was HMS Ark Royal. HMS Victorious did participate and struck Bismarck but It didn't slowed down the Bismarck because of its insane armour.
I also think Victorious should be on the list rather than Illustrious, even after W.W.II Victorious carried on serving, she was the only large British carrier from that war that continued to serve into the 1960’s whereas the rest of the large British carriers had all been scrapped by the mid fifties.
Well, not exactly. Victorious wasn't "loaned". She still had a British crew, flew a British flag and had British planes. The carrier was merely sent to reinforce the US Pacific Fleet as the US Navy was desperately in need of help. Fortunately the Japanese were also too weakened to try and take advantage.
Hard to argue with the list, though as others have said there could be substitutions and additions. IJN Hiryu (for Pearl & Midway) and HMS Ark Royal (for the Bismarck) could/should be here. USS Saratoga (CV-3) sold be here. And the carriers of replacement carriers USS Yorktown (CV-10) and USS Lexington (CV-16) were arguably as significant & exciting as their namesakes. At least we can all agree on USS Enterprise (CV-6), a ship whose history practically WAS the history of the War in the Pacific…a name so legendary its become an unofficial flagship for the Navy and inspired the writer of the longest running sci fi franchise in media history.
Should remove two of the Japanese carriers and replace with Shokaku and Hiryu. Hiryu was an awesome carrier led by a fantastic commander. If not for her Midway would have been a complete disaster. Hiryu single-handedly sank Yorktown and earlier in the Indian Ocean raid she sank by herself HMS Hermes, a British aircraft carrier.
@@rogerfox9028 You should look up the final report from Capt. Buckmaster after the Yorktown was sunk . The battle report is extremely accurate and full for being in the middle of battle and gave a lot of good suggestions for changing gun placement to provide better air cover in the future.
All things considered, the value of service is often related to when it occurred and under what circumstances. Enterprise is obvious. Yorktown served at the Battle of Coral Sea, the first ever carrier v carrier duel, at a time when Japan was perceived as invincible. Though we lost the Lexington and are considered to have lost the tactical battle, it was a strategic victory,...and our first success, nearly 6 months after Pearl Harbor. Some goes for Midway. Her planes and those from Hornet were responsible for sinking four of the six carriers from the attack on PH. When combined with air crews lost during the Battle of Coral Sea, Midway saw the elimination of nearly all of Japan's Naval aviation skill & experience. They were not the same foe after this battle. Hornet launched the B25s for Doolittle's Raid, which was extraordinary by itself,...but again it's the when the action happened and how important it was to the morale of our country overall. For all the newer Essex Class carriers, though each of them was the superior carrier design, We had many of them, they were defended by better radar, better AA guns, better fighters (Hellcats instead of Wildcats), more fighters (bigger aircraft carriers) and they were facing a less formidable enemy due to IJN losses at Coral Sea and Midway.
@@christiansoldier1968 About "more fighters" on the Essex Class carriers--that was more than merely being a bigger carrier. There was a doctrine change--up to at least the Battle of Midway the Yorktown Class had air groups with 15 torpedo bombers, 36 scout and dive bombers (the SBD filled both roles), and only 18 fighters to provide both protective CAP and to escort the strike force. After Midway the fighter squadrons were increased to 27 fighters and late-war air groups had two fighter squadrons, one torpedo bomber squadron, and one dive bomber squadron--with the fighter squadrons able to perform fighter-bomber duties as well as Combat Air Patrol over the fleet or strike group escort. The dogmatic 18 Wildcat fighters were not able to both conduct CAP and escort the bomber force at the same time--either there was going to be insufficient fleet fighter defense or there weren't enough escorts. I'm getting too wordy here, but the prewar doctrine was that a strong strike group was more important than having fighter protection for either the carrier or escorting the bombers.
@@alancranford3398 not too wordy at all. Ironic that not two hours after I posted my first comment, I read of a different doctrine change after Coral Sea, and that's where I thought you were going at first. The initiative was for a small section of SBDs to serve as fighter cover for the TBD (To Be Destroyed) Devastators. Thanks for the details on future doctrine. I was just studying the differences between the Douglas Devastator and the Grumman Avenger, with it's dual torpedo/bomb capability and dramatically better cruising speed. I'm sure that one of Ian Toll's books will talk about this, but I'm not there yet. ...wondering if replacing the Devastators with Avengers immediately fixed the problem of our air groups arriving at the enemy at the same time,...or if it was some other change.
6:18 Regarding Yorktown, instead of it saying, "following repairs" it should say "while STILL under repair" as they estimated she would need several MONTHS in drydock to repair but she was ordered to sail with repair crews still aboard after only 72 hours at Pearle Harbor to join the Midway operation. Japanese forces would report sinking her on 4 occasions, with the first 3 obviously being in error.
And Yorktown's sinking likely had as much to do with the load of depth charges on Hammann (corrected) going off right alongside as from any other damage. Not sure if the I 168s torpedos actually hit Yorktown, or if the explosions on the fantail of Heermann actually caused the fatal breaches in the hull of Yorktown.
@@timclaus8313 USS Hammann, not Heermann (Heermann was at Samar, but survived), but yes very probable that her ordnance 'assisted' the Japanese. Those Yorktown class CV's took so much punishment. When Hornet was hit and abandoned, our destroyers tried to sink her and couldn't (Gotta love those Mark 14 torpedoes) and then had to bug out as the Japanese came in and finally finished her. Enterprise was hit numerous times, but time and again her damage control teams put out fires, patched up the deck and got planes back in the ait to counter attack.
@@kpdubbs7117 Thanks, too many destroyers with names that were fairly similar. The Yorktown and Essex classes proved they could take a lickin' and keep in tickin'. They were very well built and tough ships. Amazing that with the rate of ship building in the US during the war that quality and design standards were so high. Not to mention the effectiveness and speed of repair.
Enterprise, the most famous ship of WWII, was scrapped in 1958 because the state of New York and private interests could not come up with sufficient funds to buy her from the Navy and turn her into a memorial. What an ignoble end to the fightingest ship in the US Navy.
@@car296rd Mainly because they served into a later era where more funds for charitable activities like museum foundations etc, had access to funds needed to save ships. Immediately after the war, the Naval budget took massive cuts, laying up ships that were virtually brand new, regardless of class. Unless a situation like with the Texas came up where the state ponied up a big chunk of funding and met Navy requirements for preservation, the Navy had their hand forced to scrap anything older that had not undergone extensive modifications and modernization like Tennessee, California and West Virginia, and even those 3 were gone by the late 50s.
I would change one item since it's inclusion is extremely limiting and that is the USS Essex CV-9. As a class all the Essex Class carriers contributed greatly to the Battle in the Pacific. Some of the Essex carriers actually achieve more than CV-9. Very hard to honestly pick out one from the 12 that were launched and able to serve till the end of the war.
Intrepid (CV-11) comes to mind, as it did itself great service in battles for the Marshall Islands especially in Operation Hailstone against the Japanese base at Truk..
There is a serious case to be made of “Enterprise CV-6” being the most successful warship of all time. Not only for individual major and minor ships sunk (70+) but for the impact those sinkings had on its war. HMS Victory by comparison sank or captured zero ships and participated in only 2 major battles, one of which she played a major role in. (Epic line breaking maneuver)
Of Kido Butai, Kaga is the least accomplished during WWII (she did quite a bit vs China before Pearl Harbor) because she hit a reef and missed out on the Indian Ocean Raid. In addition, Soryu and Hiryu participated in the second invasion of Wake Island, so either of those ought to have been put in place of Kaga.
Junyo probably deserves Kaga's slot, she participated in the Aleutians Operation, numerous battles around Guadalcanal including Santa Cruz (where her aircraft contributed to the loss of Hornet), Operation Ke, and Operation I-GO (her aircraft sinking USS Aaron Ward), later participating in the Marianas Turkey Shoot, and survived the war even (albeit in a heavily damaged state), having survived getting torpedoed by US Submarines twice and bombed by US Carrier Aircraft once.
Strange that there was only one British carrier mentioned (no "Ark Royal"?) only one Essex class, and no mention of the "Saratoga". Interesting choices.
I’m the proud son of a Navy aviator who served aboard CV-6 USS ENTERPRISE. He was a member of VT-10 and was in an Avenger torpedo bomber. His aircraft was shot down by enemy action during the battle of Leyte.
Wish my grandpa's ship was on this list, USS Long Island, CVE-1. That was the first US converted cargo ship to aircraft carrier, the first "baby carrier" Proved the viability of the concept. It didn't participate in combat but provided training to pilots, how to land on an aircraft carrier in San Diego. Made several voyages across the Pacific to the front line transporting new planes, would have been an easy, slow target for a Japanese u-boat. Transported troops home after the war, made several trans-pacific voyages in that role as well. Yeah none of the battle glory(and blood/guts/death) of bigger aircraft carriers, she was a pioneer in a concept of converted merchant ships that provided the logistical and training support that won the war.
Maybe the USS Langley CV1 should also be on this list as well, as it was the training ground for most US carrier borne pilots in the early days of carrier aviation.
Enterprise right where she belongs! The ship so hard to kill that it earned the title "Gray Ghost" through its service. Even when the war ended she was undergoing repairs for a hit that, by the sight of it at the time, you'd think should've been a death blow. Yet she was made fighting capable once more, and then....we scraped her. Anyone who appreciates history tends to see that as a crime against the outstanding service record of that vessel.
Saratoga was just as hard to kill and hold be on the list instead of Hornet. Sara and Lex were also the best of the battlecruiser conversion fleet carriers.
@@timclaus8313 I'd say "just as hard to kill" is a bit of a stretch...but on the other hand she did arguably get refit into a training ship before she could be through the few extra fights that would've proved her just as tough, so maybe I'm just being to strict iny judgement criteria.
That kamikaze hit on Enterprise in May 1945 was a death blow though. She was no longer in combat ever since that devastating kamikaze strike and they didn't even finish repairing her, which was why they de-armed her and turned her into a training carrier. Same thing like Franklin and Bunker Hill. Those two carriers were never actually repaired but were cosmetically repaired only for copium by the U.S. Navy. The kamikazes did their job by forcibly early retiring Saratoga, Enterprise, Franklin, and Bunker Hill. The Japanese didn't have to sink carriers in 1945. They just had to forcibly retire them early which they did yet the USN loves to lie to us and claim that "kamikazes didn't do anything" as a copium.
Enterprise was also awarded the Presidential Citation in 1943 as well before Essex did. The closest ship in regards to battle stars had 17 but she had 7 more than any US Carrier did during the whole war.
Saratoga should have replaced Hornet. Sara fought all through the war, received serious damage several times and returned to service. Hornet did a lot for one year, but that is the sticking point, 1 year. On the other hand, Yorktown took 4 tries to finally put her down. After the first round of damage at Midway, the crew actually got the damage under control and started flight operations again. It was even being towed out the combat area when finally torpedoed by I 168.
I agree Saratoga never gets her just do. She was hit in every battle she fought in and still made it through the end of the war. Only Enterprise has a better record.
for me, Saratoga suffers because she missed Coral Sea and Midway, when our navy found it difficult to refuel at sea and the IJN pilots were mostly having their way with our aviators,...though our pilots got better with every operation, learning to fight using the planes they had. Though all of the battles were important, things were just easier with the arrival of the Essex class. I'm reading Ian Toll's pacific war trilogy, so perhaps my opinion will change once I get into book two.
@@jamessabol8397 Well, the Essex class benefitted from those pre-war lessons from the Lexington and Yorktown class, plus as the later ships came out, from the lessons learned during the carrier actions early in the war. In the end, I think the Essex/Ticonderoga validated the US doctrine of being able to hit very hard being more important than having protection on the flight deck. After Midway, regardless of how the IJN carriers were rated, they could never match the number of aircraft per carrier that the USN could put on site.
Difficult decisions to be made, for sure. I'd say the list is reasonable and valid via an observational personal opinion. The information provided for the reasonings behind the picks was interesting and, in some cases, provided me with previously unknown knowledge. Good video.
My personal favorite are the USS Hornet for its sharp and sleek design and Doolittle raid, USS Enterprise for Richard best, and Kaga for tall and bulky design and torpeado bombers
Pretty Poor. Incorrect Photos. Dubious Histories with much omitted. Your selection of the Top 8 boggles the mind... why not the Top 10? 12? What about the Ark Royal? And others. Is this the best you can do! Ugh.
Nice to have a list by someone that did some reading and looked at a few pictures thus becoming an expert. Pictures of Akagi, island right in one picture and then left in next. A junior high project by an exchange student gone awry.
I have 3 kids and have had 3 baby carriers, this being the third and BEST one. My first one was a high end brand that was clunky and complicated. My second was a wrap style which was not easy to use which = me not using it. This is easy to put on yourself and get the baby in and it’s low profile; it reminds me of putting on a backpack. I highly recommend!
Enterprise had *better* be in the top 2 or 3! Especially since it was one of the few pre-war carriere that survived the war. In fact, unless I'm mistaken she was the *only* pre-war Pacific Fleet carrier to have survived the war, with Ranger fighting only in the Atlantic and Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, and Hornet all being sunk by the Japanese.
It is a shame Enterprise was broken up for scrap rather than becoming a museum. It is the ship that most symbolizes American victory in the Pacific War.
@@collinwood6573 yes, but by war's end it had been relegated to a training ship. Make no mistake, having *so* many carriers operational that you can use one *solely* for training new pilots was a valuable luxury that Japan would've *loved* to have had. But Saratoga was no longer a Frontline combat ship.
Saratoga CV-3 also survived the war while serving in the Pacific. She along with Enterprise pioneered night fighting. In late 1944 she was damaged and became a training carrier. Enterprise was damaged in May of 1945, and never saw active service again except for operation magic carpet; which Saratoga also participated in.
Saratoga survived the war, repairs completed, and was fixing to be a training carrier on the West Coast, as there were more Essex carriers being completed at the same time, plus the Midway, FDR and Coral Sea were all nearing completion. Due to the much older design, a battlecruiser conversion in the '20s, Sara had a much slower sortee rate than the Yorktown or Essex class carriers. But she was still one of the largest carriers in the world when WWII ended.
The list should have included Hiry instead of Kaga, Hiryu's aircrafts achieved more than Kaga's by sinking USS Arizona and dooming USS Yorktown and by participating in every IJN major carrier operations from Attack on Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway and including the capture of Wake Island. Meanwhile Kaga missed the Indian Ocean Raid and was the first to be crippled by Dautless dive bombers at Midway and her 27 knot speed. Zuikaku should be at the top 2 side by side with USS Enterprise considering her contribution to Japan's war effort and her rivalry with the USS Enterprise. Also, removed USS Hornet and replace her with USS Saratoga. Aside from bombing Japan by using B-25 bombers, USS Hornet (CV-8) didn't achieved anything significant, and add the 'flight to no where' and 'VT-8' fiasco of her airgroups during the Battle of Midway.
Something I find extraordinary is that during the battle of the phillipine sea the zuikaku was hit so hard that the captain ordered abandon ship, however due to the experience of the damage control crew that had been on board since the ship was first commissioned they managed to save the ship when everyone, even the Captain thought she was sunk. The damage control crew of the zuikaku had balls of steel and did the unbelievable
Shokaku was more impressive. She had the same thing happen to her TWICE, at Coral Sea and Santa Cruz Islands, and Shokaku still successfully sank Lexington and Hornet and contributed to damage on Yorktown which later led to sinking due to the combined damage from Coral Sea and Midway. Shokaku should have been in this list, not Zuikaku, and Hiryu should have replaced one of the Japanese carriers. Hiryu made Midway not a complete disaster for the Japanese when she singlehandedly sank Yorktown. The loss of Yorktown made Guadalcanal a living hell for the Marines and Navy during that horrible 6 month long campaign. The loss of Yorktown also forced Wasp (which was designed for Atlantic operations) to go to the Pacific where she was sunk very early in the Guadalcanal campaign.
Unless memory fails, Hornet was sunk by friendly forces to prevent capture after her abandonment, not the Japanese. USS Franklin should have been on the list; her survival was an epic tale.
USS Franklin (with an "i", not a "y") had this heroic battle for survival to her credit - and it is well worth note, but she was not terribly effective (through no fault of hers or her crew). She got kamikazed and she went back the the US where she was scrapped; not a spectacular career. Perhaps you missed this, but there is an Essex class in this list. USS Essex herself was featured right after USS Hornet.
One notable missing is the Ark Royal who launched the Fairey Swordfish in the attack on Bismarck. "Ark Royal took part in many of the major operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Among these were the search for the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spree, the Norway Campaign and the destruction of the French Fleet at Dakar. In May 1941 the Ark Royal played a key role in the destruction of the German Battleship DKM Bismarck when a torpedo from one of its Swordfish aircraft severely damaged the battleship's steering."
The USS Enteprise, why did they not preserve her? It would’ve been such a dream for us ship enthusiasts and historians to see her! Such a shame that an amazing and big piece of history was then scrapped for parts, she was the only sister ship left after the sinking of both her sisters Yorktown and Hornet, but the US decided she had to go too.
As someone who knows nearly nothing about naval ships and warfare I always though that the current most high end ships at that time would be the most powerful, strongest and decorated. oooh boy I was mistaken. I remember being told don't underestimate the Yorktown class carriers they really pulled their weight in WW2.
The 4 who were member of the Kidou Butai (First Air Fleet ) Akaga being the First Carrier Division and Souryuu and Hiryuu being the Second Carrier Division. Shoukaku and Zuikaku also member kf the Kidou Butai but didint participate the battle
Fun fact of British WW2 carries, they had armored flight deck, when US was still using wood. During one combat US sailors on one US-ships saw a kamikaze plane hit the British carrier flight deck, they american tough they lost the carrier, due to on a wooden deck, they aircraft would have penetrated into the hangar. But on the British carrier whit it's armored flight deck, it didn't happen. The british sailors just pushed the aircraft of the deck and into the ocean, cleaned the flight deck, and resumed operation. If your carrier can do that, it is a good carrier, down side, is it reduce the number of aircraft it can carry.
A US Navy officer serving as liaison aboard HMS Indefatigable had this to say about the effectiveness of armoured decks on British fleet carriers: "When a kamikaze hits a US carrier it's six months of repairs at Pearl Harbor. When a kamikaze hits a British carrier it's 'Sweepers, man your brooms'."
@@daniellastuart3145 True, but if you have more fighters the enemy may never even have the chance to get close enough to attempt to drop a bomb let alone hit the carrier.
Would have been even more formidable if the British developed better carrier based aircraft as well.. They still used the obsolete Swordfish biplanes for torpedo planes? YIKES!
There is a legend that CV-6, Enterprise, can be seen in New York harbor, when our nation is in danger...the last time she appeared, was on 9/11, her bow pointed toward the Middle East.
If one had to choose between Japan's SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU, I think the choice should be SHOKAKU. Yes, ZUIKAKU survived her sister by a few months, but SHOKAKU's air groups did more damage against the U.S. Fleet, delivering the major share of blows against LEXINGTON at Coral Sea, against ENTERPRISE at Eastern Solomons, and against HORNET at Santa Cruz. At Santa Cruz her torpedo bomber squadron delivered the hits that killed HORNET's machinery on the morning of Oct 26, 1942, leaving her to be finished off that afternoon, after the U.S. Navy lost control of the airspace in the battle zone.
I believe that the carrier Enterprise CV-6 was scrapped because there was another carrier named Enterprise CVN-65, and more modern versions are to come when the newest Gerald Ford class is named Enterprise CVN-80.
CVN 65 came along quite a few years after the decision to scrap CV 6. Naming the first nuke carrier Enterprise was the Navy paying tribute to the the Big E, along with naming a new Ford carrier Enterprise. The name lives on, even into Star Fleet, lol....
The name could have been stricken off the naval register as Enterprise CV6, with the hull redesigned, to allow reuse of the name. At that point, Enterprise would have been a hulk retained pending disposition.
The Enterprise was one of six US Aircraft Carriers built before US and one of three that survived the War. Anyone hear much of the Saratoga and Ranger. It was the most decorated US warship of WW2 with an unsurpassed 20 battle stars. During the early part of the Pacific War, it was the only one that could deliver Decisive blows against the Japanese. The Japs claimed it had sunk it so many times, it was nicknamed “The Galloping Ghost”. So impressive of its service, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry named his famed star ship, “Enterprise”.
Saratoga always had mechanical difficulties, while Ranger was way too small and slow for faster Pacific operations and barely carried 36 aircraft at most...
@@northerntruthseeker The Japanese Admiralty were Victims of their own propaganda. They planned on fighting “The Grand Battle” where their overwhelming numbers of warships would wipe out the depleted US Fleet in one Grand Battle. The Japanese employed this successfully in the 1905 Russo Japanese War. They “got High inhaling their Supply”. “Cruising for a bruising” strategy for Drug dealers and Military leaders alike. The U.S. Navy would not play this game until 1944, when it had out-manufactured the Japanese in Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers and Warplanes. The Enterprise participated successfully in the Ambush Hit and Run strategy of the U.S. Navy up and until this time. Another thing, the Japanese “blew chunks” in having a lack of success with their damage control teams on their Aircraft Carriers. That is why they blew up and burnt so fast at Midway. Of course, having “cracked” the Japanese Naval Code helped with that Victory and in shooting down Admiral Yamamoto’s plane.
There is no question that the Essex-class carriers were the best aircraft carriers of WWII, even if they were the most modern and last carrier class developed before the war ended. Given all specs and performances, USS Enterprise was the greatest aircraft carrier of the war even if I think, as a class, IJN Shokaku/Zuikaku were overall better carriers than the Yorktowns.
Agree to some extent, at least until the Japanese launched the Taiho class which was restricted to only one vesseL, The IJN Taiho itself, that was sunk by a lone torpedo from the USS Albacore at the battle of the Philippine Sea....
@@northerntruthseeker As I recall, Taiho was just a Shokaku with an armored flight deck, and unfortunately, a crew that was far less ready for battle than the crew of the Shokaku.
There is still one further unnamed Gerald R Ford class carrier in the works after completion of CVN-80 the new USS Enterprise... But the US has a fixation of naming carriers now after US Presidents, or naval admirals...
USS Illustrious was some kind of different interpretation to employ aircraft carriers. One fifth of air group of fighters (Fairey Fulmar) and the remaining a mix of Stringbags and Skuas (+ or - 30 airplanes). She had a strong AAe defence of 16 4.7 inch guns plus a 48 Bofors. HMS Illustrious was hit 6 times by Stuka 500 kg bombs and survived !
Absolutely.. One Japanese land based plane broke through the screen around Princeton on October 23rd, 1944 that got a lucky shot that blew the guts out of the carrier and forced it to be sunk by US torpedoes...
Almost certainly would have just delayed the inevitable. Assuming that Japan lost no carriers I'm guessing you mean the US lost all 3. This would have meant they would have had to wait for the Essex's to come online before launching any major offensives, ie loosing Guadalcanal, but still would have won in the long run
Ouh, a lot American and Japanese carriers although a large amount was lost. I miss HMS Ark Royal that severely damaged the KMS Bismarck and HMS Victorious who was involved too and took a lot of other important battles. Maybe HMS illustrious was the most successful British carrier by „doing more damage to the Regia Marina in Tarento within 2 hours than the Grand Fleet to the Hochseeflotte during the whole battle of Jutland“. So she has to be under the top 3. Her sister should also be under the top 8. Perhaps it needs top 10 to place the Ark Royal.
@@craigclemens986 it depends on the circumstances. In Bismarck‘s case it was decisive for her to give up escape and take a fight against KGV and Rodney that she couldn’t win…
No funding for the needed repairs, and the Navy was hammered with funding cuts, both after WWII and again after Korea. It still cost money to keep ships in mothballs.
I agree with most of the list, but would probably swap out HMS Arc Royal for Hornet. Arc Royal's planes hit the Bismarck with torpedoes jamming her rudder and slowing her down. British surface units were then able to catch her before she reached the safety of German occupied French bases where she could make repairs. While Hornet did launch the Doolittle raid and participated in a few other raids, her air groups at Midway were notorious for their blunders. The position they were ordered to fly to to intercept the Japanese carriers was no where near correct position. After arguing with the squadron leader en route, the flight leader of Hornet's torpedo bombers disobeyed orders and turned in the direction he believed the Japanese carriers to be and in fact found them. Without air cover from his group's fighters and without the added distraction of his group's dive bombers, all 15 of Hornet's torpedo planes would be shot down and 29 of the 30 men aboard were killed while scoring no hits on the enemy. Meanwhile, after hours searching empty ocean, Hornet's fighters and dive bombers turned back for home but nearly half were lost due to running out of fuel or getting lost looking for their carrier. Also, Hornet's service life was short, as she would be sunk just a few days after her reaching 1 year of service. Another point, during the battle of Coral Sea that first damaged Yorktown, she lost many of her flight group. A few months earlier, USS Saratoga was hit by a torpedo and was forced to make repairs at the US West Coast, but her pilots and planes were intact. Her flight group was transferred to Yorktown to replace her losses. One could say that Saratoga's contribution at Midway far outweighed Hornet's in that it was her planes and pilots, launching off of the limping Yorktown's deck, that scored key hits to 2 of the 4 Japanese carriers that were sunk during the battle.
Too be fair, the Hornet was a new ship with brand new aircrews at Midway. Rookie mistakes happen in all navies, you just hope the crew can survive them and gain the needed experience to survive.
IJN Kaga did not go into the Indian Ocean. She was undergoing repairs. Pix of Essex was POST WW2. Angled flight decks did not exist in WW2. At Midway, CV-6 Enterprise planes damaged 4 ships including Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Mikuma. All 4 damaged carriers would be scuttled and Mikuma a CA of Mogami class would sink by damage. CV-3 planes operating off of CV-5 Yorktown would claim the 4th carrier Soryu at Midway. Some of Yorktown planes may have contributed to Hiryu damage and Mikuma damage.
Enterprise had 20 battle stars and had most impressive record yet they couldn’t save her from scrapping. It’s like when the Navy does something honorable, it turns around and does something dishonorable to cancel out. Great for action, shitty on the veterans and ships.
If I remember correctly, their was only one aircraft carrier on the Japanese side that survived, I think it was the Kaga, the other three were just sunk flat out
@@jiyuhong5853 The US could have lost all 3 carriers, and Midway, and the Japenese lost nothing, and it would have delayed the final result by a year or so. The US would have made good their losses in fleet carriers by mid april 1943 plus add four more Essex that year and multiple light and many escort carriers. The IJN would not get another fleet carrier until Taiho in 1944. Add to the fact that even if they took Midway they could not keep the garrison supplied without ruinous damage to the merchant fleet, there was really no way for them to 'win' this. Japan kept looking to find their Tushima to cap their Port Arthur in WW2 and that strategy would never work against something with the industrial capability of the US in the Forties.
I see a lot of comments already about HMS Ark Royal not being on the list. That ship should have been included. It had quite a reputation for success and even the mere mention of it ordering fuel close to Buenos Aires was enough to influence the scuttling of the Graff Spee.
A good list of great aircraft carriers. However, I have mentioned this on other videos, please don't use computer generated voices, especially, as in this case, they continually mispronounce names. This one was one of the worst I've heard and it takes away from a good video.
I would replace the USS Hornet with IJN Hiryu. Hornet, while being marvelous ship didn't do as much as her sisters Enterprise and Yorktiwn, while Hiryu sunk 2 Alied Carriers, 2 Heavy cruisers, 2 destroyers (some of those together with Soryu). I oribably missed something. Euther way, that's quite a lot more than Hornet, right?
I disagree to a point. Name the Carriers Hiryu sunk? I can only think of the Hermes, during the Indian Ocean raid. While it damage the Yorktown at Midway, it was actually a submarine (I-???) that actually sank it along with the destroyer Hamman.
Akagi and Kaga weren't "badly damaged" at Midway...they were SUNK. I find it odd that you mention other carriers on the list as sunk, but not these 2???
@@ivancaraig1715 Gone is gone, the IJN couldn't take the chance of them being captured if the fires burned out. Even as hulks, they had value as scrap steel. Same reason the US tried to put Hornet down.
You may want to check the side and top views of the carriers. Lots of errors in relation to the left or right side installation of the island on the de decks. Top view often shows another situation than depicted in the side view. Some seem to show different carriers altogether. Not to mention wrong deck markings.
No mention of the USS Sable and USS Wolverine? They probably did more than any other aircraft carrier in WWII to keep the pipeline of trained carrier pilots filled to meet the demand.
While I agree with the importance of their contribution, I am reminded of the old saying, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." You could also add all the supply ships, oilers, tenders, etc to these lists. Without the work of thousands of auxiliaries, none of the rest could have been done.
The main objective of the Imperial Navy of Japan was to destroyed three Main Battle Group Carrier the USS ENTERPRISE , USS YORKTOWN and the USS HORNET in Pearl Harbor 1941 . At that time when Japanese attack Pearl Harbor the three Main Battle Group Carrier are absent the USS ENTERPRISE was patrolling in the Wake island in the Pacific and the USS HORNET was in Midway Island and while the USS YORKTOWN is patrolling in the South Atlantic
Yep, but i the end, Pearl did nothing for Japan besides piss off the US. Sunk some obsolete battleships and destroyed some pretty much obsolete aircraft. Left all the vitals on the base intact and the carriers weren't even there. LOL
Actually the Enterprise Was about 200 miles southwest of pearl harbor during the attacks. Her scout planes were flown into pearl during the attacks and some were shot down. And even sent an attack out to search and attack the carriers. In the wrong direction though
Akagi and Kaga? 2 major battles each, one of which they played a minor role in except for getting sunk. 2 minor raids each. They don’t fit on the list really at all. Yes they were at Pearl Harbor, but so were Zuikaku, which deserves its place in the list, and Shokaku, which did not make the list, but deserved to more. Shokaku and Zuikaku were in Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea (sinking Lexington), Eastern Solomons, heavy damage to Enterprise, Battle of Santa Cruz, and Philippine Sea for Shokaku, and Leyte Gulf for Zuikaku. Both were far more impactful on the war for Japan than Akagi or Kaga. Then there are all the US ships missed. Yes Enterprise most decorated and fighting alone for a time. USS Hornet for her major role in Doolittle Raid, Midway, other raids, and Santa Cruz. Yorktown CV5 is arguable. Really only a few battles, Coral Sea and Midway. Her planes did major damage there. Far overlooked was Saratoga CV3. Eastern Solomons. She stood alone after Enterprise was knocked for a while for repairs, operating with HMS Victorious-USS Robin before the Essex class began to arrive-7 battle stars. The US really could have filled out this list easy. USS Essex-13 Battle Stars and other decorations. USS Yorktown CV-10 11 battle stars and multiple decorations. USS Lexington CV16 with 11 battle stars as well. Light carrier Belleau Wood-12 battle stars and decorations. These last four ships were involved in so many heavy actions from 1943 on, Marshalls, Marianas, Philippines, Truk, Wake Island raid, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Japanese Islands raids. They don’t get the attention, but they too were far more impactful than Akagi and Kaga. Illustrious earned a spot. So did Victorious. I would have made a list of 12: Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown CV5, Essex, Yorktown CV-10, Lexington CV-16, Belleau Wood, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Saratoga, Illustrious, Victorious.
I agree with this list. There are many more but since the list is only top 8, all the important CVs I think have been included in particular Enterprise, Akagi and Kaga. Its a shame Enterprise was not preserved. It would have been awesome to see this ship to this day. Would think a lot of Trekkies would make pilgrimage to that ship :)
It should have been a top 10 list so that Ark Royal and Saratoga could make it.
J. Tan As an ex swabbie I sure agree with you on the Enterprise
Didn’t the The Arc Royal cripple the Bizmark with WW1 planes
@@joshrogers3406 The Fairey Swordfish wasn't a WW1 plane, but it was obsolescent, if not obsolete, by the outbreak of WW2. Having said that, they not only crippled the Bismarck, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Italian fleet at Taranto...
Agree. It would have been great to have a pre-Essex class carrier preserved. They held line.
It's a travesty that Enterprise was not preserved as a museum ship. Of all ships to go the breakers, she's the last one that should have.
Very true! As bad as Britain’s failure to preserve ANY 20th century battleship.
@@jaybee9269 But especially HMS Warspite. The Grand Lady earned her place in history.
@@johngregory4801 >> Absolutely! It would have been hard because of the combat damage but so worth it. HMS Vanguard would have been very cool. I wouldn’t have said no to HMS Renown; and I’m not the biggest fan of the KGVs, but better one of them than nothing at all. Nelsons, though…just too ugly for my taste.
If any two ships deserved to be preserved it was USS Enterprise and HMS Warspite. I do understand the British couldn’t afford it but America could.
She was one of a kind. The history of the damage she survived and damage inflicted alone, deserved to be enshrined for generations. She was the fighting American spirit embodiment in steel. Damn near every battle participated at sea had her to fear.
The USS Enterprise was the most successful carrier not only in WW ll, but in history. She was the only one of the 7 carriers afloat prior to Pearl Harbor that was still afloat and fighting at the end of the war. She earned 20 out of a possible 22 battle stars and next closest ship had just 16. She was responsible for sinking 3 or 4 of the 6 Japanese carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor. Prior to the October 26, 1942 battle off Santa Cruz, Enterprise and Hornet were our only 2 operational carriers and Hornet was sunk during that battle leaving a badly damaged Enterprise as our only carrier left. Enterprise along with the light carrier Independence were the very first carriers in US Naval history to operate their airplanes at night and in bad weather. My Dad was a TBM pilot in Night Torpedo Squadron 90 December 1944- May 1945.
I imagine he had some good stories!
Saratoga was still in service at the end of the war. After her final round of repairs, there were so many Essex carriers in the Western pacific that Saratoga was used to train pilots. She was big enough to do carrier quals for the biggest, newest USN and USMC fighters and bombers.
@@timclaus8313 The Saratoga never went back to war. She was too old. Once Enterprise was repaired, she went back into service and was part of the fleet that brought our troops home from the war. Saratoga did not participate in Magic Carpet.
@@MrSuzuki1187 Sara did not go back to the war zone, but she did continue air operations for training on the west coast. She was the biggest and newest carrier available for training. In the end, Sara was part of the Bikini Atoll testing.
You forgot about the USS Ranger and the USS Saratoga.
Those IJN carriers weren't badly damaged at Midway. THEY WERE SUNK!
I agree, gotta love how Asians live to try to rewrite history. Kinda like watching that 2017 Midway piece of shit film.
😂😂😂 MF keep on sayin badly damage!
Technically Kaga was badly damaged and scuttled, but the rest were indeed sunk by enemy action
@@dangertrebor nothing was worse than the movie Pearl Harbor. What a waste of an opportunity to show an important historical event. And the completely factionalized the Doolittle raid. What a mess that was.
@@dangertrebor from what I’ve heard that 2019 movie midway which is what I assume you are referring to is pretty realistic actually, it’s just that midway was so over the top in real life it seems unrealistic
The Enterprise was America`s greatest ship. She should have been declared a national monument. That it did not happen was and still a national travesty even to this day. RIP.
Agreed 100%
Enterprise had been badly damaged multiple times, and would have taken a lot of work to get it back to a safe condition as a museum ship. As with Warspite, Saratoga and Illustrious, survival left a lot of scars during their service lives.
@@timclaus8313 If it was declared a national monument that would have been funded by the Feds. Point is moot. Ship is gone.
@@timclaus8313 Stop making excuses for the bean counters
@@robertpapalia Blame it on Congress, they are the ones that set the budget, manpower and equipment limits for the military. The at that time, Department of War, had to fit what Congress mandated under the budget cap. Every branch got hammered severely once the war time troops were home again.
yeah those yorktown class carriers pulled their wieght multiple time. and i think its a shame that CV-6 wasnt preserved as a museum ship. that thing stood alone as a fleet carrier against the might of the IJN and earned 20+ battle stars. also a little addition to IJN Kaga: on launch that thing had THREE flight decks for starting planes.
They were not only very effective, they were beautiful. The Essex Class was designed for high volume production and was very functional, but not as attractive as the Yorktown class, IMO.
It's a national disgrace that Enterprise was sent to the breakers! Possibly only matched by Great Britain allowing Warspite to be scrapped. Great video!😎
Both of these are my fav allied ships of the WW2. Also Warspite had a very significant role in the WW1 too.
A bankrupt nation trying to rebuild it's cities and you think people would have been happy to know we were putting money aside to preserve a ship before building new homes for them? You'd be voted out of office at the next election.
Both were very accomplished old war horses. Unfortunately, the cumulative damage during their carers meant both would have required considerable repairs to be retained in any capacity. In a post-war draw down, there wasn't funding for that, especially for Warspite. The US also cancelled 9 Essex carriers, had built 140 carriers of all sizes during the war, and had 3 massive Midways ready to join the fleet. There just wasn't funding, nor manpower, to retain Enterprise, and the big push to save ships was still at least a decade away (remember that Congress took a chainsaw to the War Department budget after WWII, which in a large way led to the Korean War.
You should add that the Enterprise is the only non English ship ever to receive and Admiralty Pennant.
I can name ten Scottish ships off the top of my head that received it, and some from Northern Ireland.
@@krashd Non British is probably what they mean.
@@krashd Still an impressive feat you got to give them that
Somewhere on that list should have been HMS Victorious, whose planes incapacitated the Bismark. She was loaned to the US Navy and served as the USS Robin in the Pacific. She was involved in other notable actions as well.
I'm pretty sure the one who incapacitated KMS Bismarck was HMS Ark Royal. HMS Victorious did participate and struck Bismarck but It didn't slowed down the Bismarck because of its insane armour.
@@callmeheinz3815 You are correct. Thank you for the clarification.
Its Ark Royal who yeeted Bisko
I also think Victorious should be on the list rather than Illustrious, even after W.W.II Victorious carried on serving, she was the only large British carrier from that war that continued to serve into the 1960’s whereas the rest of the large British carriers had all been scrapped by the mid fifties.
Well, not exactly. Victorious wasn't "loaned". She still had a British crew, flew a British flag and had British planes. The carrier was merely sent to reinforce the US Pacific Fleet as the US Navy was desperately in need of help. Fortunately the Japanese were also too weakened to try and take advantage.
I remember being so obsessed with the uss hornet when I was still a kid. But over all I still like this video
Hard to argue with the list, though as others have said there could be substitutions and additions. IJN Hiryu (for Pearl & Midway) and HMS Ark Royal (for the Bismarck) could/should be here. USS Saratoga (CV-3) sold be here. And the carriers of replacement carriers USS Yorktown (CV-10) and USS Lexington (CV-16) were arguably as significant & exciting as their namesakes. At least we can all agree on USS Enterprise (CV-6), a ship whose history practically WAS the history of the War in the Pacific…a name so legendary its become an unofficial flagship for the Navy and inspired the writer of the longest running sci fi franchise in media history.
Should remove two of the Japanese carriers and replace with Shokaku and Hiryu. Hiryu was an awesome carrier led by a fantastic commander. If not for her Midway would have been a complete disaster. Hiryu single-handedly sank Yorktown and earlier in the Indian Ocean raid she sank by herself HMS Hermes, a British aircraft carrier.
Glad to see my Father's Yorktown in the mix. It was incredible the turn around at Pearl between Coral Sea and the Midway conflict.
Fletcher and Cv-5 were a great combo
@@rogerfox9028 You should look up the final report from Capt. Buckmaster after the Yorktown was sunk . The battle report is extremely accurate and full for being in the middle of battle and gave a lot of good suggestions for changing gun placement to provide better air cover in the future.
I found it interesting that the entire Yorktown carrier class (Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet) made your list.
Fairly ludicrous. Enterprise, though, certainly!
Nice observation. Thanks for that one.
All things considered, the value of service is often related to when it occurred and under what circumstances. Enterprise is obvious. Yorktown served at the Battle of Coral Sea, the first ever carrier v carrier duel, at a time when Japan was perceived as invincible. Though we lost the Lexington and are considered to have lost the tactical battle, it was a strategic victory,...and our first success, nearly 6 months after Pearl Harbor. Some goes for Midway. Her planes and those from Hornet were responsible for sinking four of the six carriers from the attack on PH. When combined with air crews lost during the Battle of Coral Sea, Midway saw the elimination of nearly all of Japan's Naval aviation skill & experience. They were not the same foe after this battle. Hornet launched the B25s for Doolittle's Raid, which was extraordinary by itself,...but again it's the when the action happened and how important it was to the morale of our country overall. For all the newer Essex Class carriers, though each of them was the superior carrier design, We had many of them, they were defended by better radar, better AA guns, better fighters (Hellcats instead of Wildcats), more fighters (bigger aircraft carriers) and they were facing a less formidable enemy due to IJN losses at Coral Sea and Midway.
@@christiansoldier1968 About "more fighters" on the Essex Class carriers--that was more than merely being a bigger carrier. There was a doctrine change--up to at least the Battle of Midway the Yorktown Class had air groups with 15 torpedo bombers, 36 scout and dive bombers (the SBD filled both roles), and only 18 fighters to provide both protective CAP and to escort the strike force. After Midway the fighter squadrons were increased to 27 fighters and late-war air groups had two fighter squadrons, one torpedo bomber squadron, and one dive bomber squadron--with the fighter squadrons able to perform fighter-bomber duties as well as Combat Air Patrol over the fleet or strike group escort. The dogmatic 18 Wildcat fighters were not able to both conduct CAP and escort the bomber force at the same time--either there was going to be insufficient fleet fighter defense or there weren't enough escorts. I'm getting too wordy here, but the prewar doctrine was that a strong strike group was more important than having fighter protection for either the carrier or escorting the bombers.
@@alancranford3398 not too wordy at all. Ironic that not two hours after I posted my first comment, I read of a different doctrine change after Coral Sea, and that's where I thought you were going at first. The initiative was for a small section of SBDs to serve as fighter cover for the TBD (To Be Destroyed) Devastators. Thanks for the details on future doctrine. I was just studying the differences between the Douglas Devastator and the Grumman Avenger, with it's dual torpedo/bomb capability and dramatically better cruising speed. I'm sure that one of Ian Toll's books will talk about this, but I'm not there yet. ...wondering if replacing the Devastators with Avengers immediately fixed the problem of our air groups arriving at the enemy at the same time,...or if it was some other change.
6:18 Regarding Yorktown, instead of it saying, "following repairs" it should say "while STILL under repair" as they estimated she would need several MONTHS in drydock to repair but she was ordered to sail with repair crews still aboard after only 72 hours at Pearle Harbor to join the Midway operation. Japanese forces would report sinking her on 4 occasions, with the first 3 obviously being in error.
And Yorktown's sinking likely had as much to do with the load of depth charges on Hammann (corrected) going off right alongside as from any other damage. Not sure if the I 168s torpedos actually hit Yorktown, or if the explosions on the fantail of Heermann actually caused the fatal breaches in the hull of Yorktown.
@@timclaus8313 USS Hammann, not Heermann (Heermann was at Samar, but survived), but yes very probable that her ordnance 'assisted' the Japanese. Those Yorktown class CV's took so much punishment. When Hornet was hit and abandoned, our destroyers tried to sink her and couldn't (Gotta love those Mark 14 torpedoes) and then had to bug out as the Japanese came in and finally finished her. Enterprise was hit numerous times, but time and again her damage control teams put out fires, patched up the deck and got planes back in the ait to counter attack.
@@kpdubbs7117 Thanks, too many destroyers with names that were fairly similar. The Yorktown and Essex classes proved they could take a lickin' and keep in tickin'. They were very well built and tough ships. Amazing that with the rate of ship building in the US during the war that quality and design standards were so high. Not to mention the effectiveness and speed of repair.
@@kpdubbs7117 Thanks for the correction. Those depth charges probably had some impact on the high death toll for Hammann.
Enterprise, the most famous ship of WWII, was scrapped in 1958 because the state of New York and private interests could not come up with sufficient funds to buy her from the Navy and turn her into a memorial. What an ignoble end to the fightingest ship in the US Navy.
But they saved the Lexington Yorktown and hornet all Essex class carriers with little to no history
@@car296rdcause they are new.
@@car296rd Mainly because they served into a later era where more funds for charitable activities like museum foundations etc, had access to funds needed to save ships. Immediately after the war, the Naval budget took massive cuts, laying up ships that were virtually brand new, regardless of class. Unless a situation like with the Texas came up where the state ponied up a big chunk of funding and met Navy requirements for preservation, the Navy had their hand forced to scrap anything older that had not undergone extensive modifications and modernization like Tennessee, California and West Virginia, and even those 3 were gone by the late 50s.
I would change one item since it's inclusion is extremely limiting and that is the USS Essex CV-9. As a class all the Essex Class carriers contributed greatly to the Battle in the Pacific. Some of the Essex carriers actually achieve more than CV-9. Very hard to honestly pick out one from the 12 that were launched and able to serve till the end of the war.
Intrepid (CV-11) comes to mind, as it did itself great service in battles for the Marshall Islands especially in Operation Hailstone against the Japanese base at Truk..
Haven't even seen the video yet, but I'm liking seeing all three of the Yorktown class in the thumbnail!
There is a serious case to be made of “Enterprise CV-6” being the most successful warship of all time. Not only for individual major and minor ships sunk (70+) but for the impact those sinkings had on its war.
HMS Victory by comparison sank or captured zero ships and participated in only 2 major battles, one of which she played a major role in. (Epic line breaking maneuver)
USS Enterprise, battle 360. She was a beast 💪
Your understatements are biblical. If Akagi and Kaga were "badly damaged" at Midway, I suppose Titanic "scratched the paint" against an ice cube.
Kaga didn't just sink, she torpedoed into the bottom of the Pacific up to her top deck.
Of Kido Butai, Kaga is the least accomplished during WWII (she did quite a bit vs China before Pearl Harbor) because she hit a reef and missed out on the Indian Ocean Raid. In addition, Soryu and Hiryu participated in the second invasion of Wake Island, so either of those ought to have been put in place of Kaga.
Junyo probably deserves Kaga's slot, she participated in the Aleutians Operation, numerous battles around Guadalcanal including Santa Cruz (where her aircraft contributed to the loss of Hornet), Operation Ke, and Operation I-GO (her aircraft sinking USS Aaron Ward), later participating in the Marianas Turkey Shoot, and survived the war even (albeit in a heavily damaged state), having survived getting torpedoed by US Submarines twice and bombed by US Carrier Aircraft once.
Strange that there was only one British carrier mentioned (no "Ark Royal"?) only one Essex class, and no mention of the "Saratoga". Interesting choices.
Agreed. Sister Sara was there for the whole war as well.
Still, it's hard to argue with the choice of Enterprise as #1.
@@vic5015 No argument there, that was one tough and lucky ship. The USN and RN seemed to breed a lot of crews that just would not give up the fight.
With eight ships, I'd have a hard time putting two British carriers on the list.
Well, the Ark Royal that participated at Taranto and got the hits on Bismarck was sunk in 1941.
I’m the proud son of a Navy aviator who served aboard CV-6 USS ENTERPRISE. He was a member of VT-10 and was in an Avenger torpedo bomber. His aircraft was shot down by enemy action during the battle of Leyte.
Wish my grandpa's ship was on this list, USS Long Island, CVE-1. That was the first US converted cargo ship to aircraft carrier, the first "baby carrier" Proved the viability of the concept. It didn't participate in combat but provided training to pilots, how to land on an aircraft carrier in San Diego. Made several voyages across the Pacific to the front line transporting new planes, would have been an easy, slow target for a Japanese u-boat. Transported troops home after the war, made several trans-pacific voyages in that role as well.
Yeah none of the battle glory(and blood/guts/death) of bigger aircraft carriers, she was a pioneer in a concept of converted merchant ships that provided the logistical and training support that won the war.
My Father served on cve73 Gambier Bay and this list should have a CVE on it.
Maybe the USS Langley CV1 should also be on this list as well, as it was the training ground for most US carrier borne pilots in the early days of carrier aviation.
Enterprise right where she belongs! The ship so hard to kill that it earned the title "Gray Ghost" through its service. Even when the war ended she was undergoing repairs for a hit that, by the sight of it at the time, you'd think should've been a death blow. Yet she was made fighting capable once more, and then....we scraped her. Anyone who appreciates history tends to see that as a crime against the outstanding service record of that vessel.
Saratoga was just as hard to kill and hold be on the list instead of Hornet. Sara and Lex were also the best of the battlecruiser conversion fleet carriers.
@@timclaus8313 I'd say "just as hard to kill" is a bit of a stretch...but on the other hand she did arguably get refit into a training ship before she could be through the few extra fights that would've proved her just as tough, so maybe I'm just being to strict iny judgement criteria.
That kamikaze hit on Enterprise in May 1945 was a death blow though. She was no longer in combat ever since that devastating kamikaze strike and they didn't even finish repairing her, which was why they de-armed her and turned her into a training carrier. Same thing like Franklin and Bunker Hill. Those two carriers were never actually repaired but were cosmetically repaired only for copium by the U.S. Navy. The kamikazes did their job by forcibly early retiring Saratoga, Enterprise, Franklin, and Bunker Hill. The Japanese didn't have to sink carriers in 1945. They just had to forcibly retire them early which they did yet the USN loves to lie to us and claim that "kamikazes didn't do anything" as a copium.
I would suggest revising this list to the top 10. Including the HMS Ark Royal and the USS Saratoga to your list.
There is a reason they called her the sorry Sara.
Oh Yeah, She and Enterprise are the only U.S Carriers that fought through the entire war.
Indeed. The Lexingtons were enormous.
@@YoGI-ic4ow Except the Saratoga didn’t do much fighting she spent most of WW2 in the ship yard.
@@matthewhuszarik4173 Are you serious?
Enterprise was also awarded the Presidential Citation in 1943 as well before Essex did. The closest ship in regards to battle stars had 17 but she had 7 more than any US Carrier did during the whole war.
Saratoga should have replaced Hornet. Sara fought all through the war, received serious damage several times and returned to service. Hornet did a lot for one year, but that is the sticking point, 1 year. On the other hand, Yorktown took 4 tries to finally put her down. After the first round of damage at Midway, the crew actually got the damage under control and started flight operations again. It was even being towed out the combat area when finally torpedoed by I 168.
I agree Saratoga never gets her just do. She was hit in every battle she fought in and still made it through the end of the war. Only Enterprise has a better record.
for me, Saratoga suffers because she missed Coral Sea and Midway, when our navy found it difficult to refuel at sea and the IJN pilots were mostly having their way with our aviators,...though our pilots got better with every operation, learning to fight using the planes they had. Though all of the battles were important, things were just easier with the arrival of the Essex class. I'm reading Ian Toll's pacific war trilogy, so perhaps my opinion will change once I get into book two.
I dont think the Hornet was very effective at Midway. Then she was sunk soon after at Santa Cruz. Was only in the war 6 or 7 months.
@@jamessabol8397 Well, the Essex class benefitted from those pre-war lessons from the Lexington and Yorktown class, plus as the later ships came out, from the lessons learned during the carrier actions early in the war. In the end, I think the Essex/Ticonderoga validated the US doctrine of being able to hit very hard being more important than having protection on the flight deck. After Midway, regardless of how the IJN carriers were rated, they could never match the number of aircraft per carrier that the USN could put on site.
Difficult decisions to be made, for sure. I'd say the list is reasonable and valid via an observational personal opinion. The information provided for the reasonings behind the picks was interesting and, in some cases, provided me with previously unknown knowledge. Good video.
My personal favorite are the USS Hornet for its sharp and sleek design and Doolittle raid, USS Enterprise for Richard best, and Kaga for tall and bulky design and torpeado bombers
Pretty Poor. Incorrect Photos. Dubious Histories with much omitted. Your selection of the Top 8 boggles the mind... why not the Top 10? 12? What about the Ark Royal? And others. Is this the best you can do! Ugh.
Yeah, it was quite bad.
Agreed.
Fantastic episode 🇨🇦 Vet
Great as always. Thanks.
Nice to have a list by someone that did some reading and looked at a few pictures thus becoming an expert. Pictures of Akagi, island right in one picture and then left in next. A junior high project by an exchange student gone awry.
I have 3 kids and have had 3 baby carriers, this being the third and BEST one. My first one was a high end brand that was clunky and complicated. My second was a wrap style which was not easy to use which = me not using it. This is easy to put on yourself and get the baby in and it’s low profile; it reminds me of putting on a backpack. I highly recommend!
良く纏められた動画に感謝申し上げます。
いくつか指摘することをお許しください。
1:38 この画像の船は赤城（AKAGI）ではなく、瑞鶴（ZUIKAKU）です。
3:09 瑞鶴（ZUIKAKU）と紹介されている船は翔鶴（SHOKAKU）です。加えて翔鶴の艦橋は右舷ですので画像が反転しています。
Enterprise had *better* be in the top 2 or 3! Especially since it was one of the few pre-war carriere that survived the war. In fact, unless I'm mistaken she was the *only* pre-war Pacific Fleet carrier to have survived the war, with Ranger fighting only in the Atlantic and Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, and Hornet all being sunk by the Japanese.
It is a shame Enterprise was broken up for scrap rather than becoming a museum. It is the ship that most symbolizes American victory in the Pacific War.
Saratoga also survived the war
@@collinwood6573 yes, but by war's end it had been relegated to a training ship. Make no mistake, having *so* many carriers operational that you can use one *solely* for training new pilots was a valuable luxury that Japan would've *loved* to have had. But Saratoga was no longer a Frontline combat ship.
Saratoga CV-3 also survived the war while serving in the Pacific. She along with Enterprise pioneered night fighting. In late 1944 she was damaged and became a training carrier. Enterprise was damaged in May of 1945, and never saw active service again except for operation magic carpet; which Saratoga also participated in.
Saratoga survived the war, repairs completed, and was fixing to be a training carrier on the West Coast, as there were more Essex carriers being completed at the same time, plus the Midway, FDR and Coral Sea were all nearing completion. Due to the much older design, a battlecruiser conversion in the '20s, Sara had a much slower sortee rate than the Yorktown or Essex class carriers. But she was still one of the largest carriers in the world when WWII ended.
The list should have included Hiry instead of Kaga, Hiryu's aircrafts achieved more than Kaga's by sinking USS Arizona and dooming USS Yorktown and by participating in every IJN major carrier operations from Attack on Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway and including the capture of Wake Island. Meanwhile Kaga missed the Indian Ocean Raid and was the first to be crippled by Dautless dive bombers at Midway and her 27 knot speed.
Zuikaku should be at the top 2 side by side with USS Enterprise considering her contribution to Japan's war effort and her rivalry with the USS Enterprise.
Also, removed USS Hornet and replace her with USS Saratoga. Aside from bombing Japan by using B-25 bombers, USS Hornet (CV-8) didn't achieved anything significant, and add the 'flight to no where' and 'VT-8' fiasco of her airgroups during the Battle of Midway.
Something I find extraordinary is that during the battle of the phillipine sea the zuikaku was hit so hard that the captain ordered abandon ship, however due to the experience of the damage control crew that had been on board since the ship was first commissioned they managed to save the ship when everyone, even the Captain thought she was sunk. The damage control crew of the zuikaku had balls of steel and did the unbelievable
Shokaku was more impressive. She had the same thing happen to her TWICE, at Coral Sea and Santa Cruz Islands, and Shokaku still successfully sank Lexington and Hornet and contributed to damage on Yorktown which later led to sinking due to the combined damage from Coral Sea and Midway. Shokaku should have been in this list, not Zuikaku, and Hiryu should have replaced one of the Japanese carriers. Hiryu made Midway not a complete disaster for the Japanese when she singlehandedly sank Yorktown. The loss of Yorktown made Guadalcanal a living hell for the Marines and Navy during that horrible 6 month long campaign. The loss of Yorktown also forced Wasp (which was designed for Atlantic operations) to go to the Pacific where she was sunk very early in the Guadalcanal campaign.
Unless memory fails, Hornet was sunk by friendly forces to prevent capture after her abandonment, not the Japanese. USS Franklin should have been on the list; her survival was an epic tale.
They tried but it wouldn't sink, she was finished off by Makigumo and Akigumo, both part of the IJN.
USS Franklin (with an "i", not a "y") had this heroic battle for survival to her credit - and it is well worth note, but she was not terribly effective (through no fault of hers or her crew). She got kamikazed and she went back the the US where she was scrapped; not a spectacular career.
Perhaps you missed this, but there is an Essex class in this list. USS Essex herself was featured right after USS Hornet.
Isn't the USS Essex (CV-9) an Essex? I'm not trying to be funny, but perhaps there's something I'm missing, as the USS Essex (CV-9) was on the list.
@@skyden24195 >> Of course, you are correct. I think I was too busy being pedantic. I stand corrected.
@@frednone Unlike US torpedos, the Japanese torpedos would hit and explode......
One notable missing is the Ark Royal who launched the Fairey Swordfish in the attack on Bismarck. "Ark Royal took part in many of the major operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Among these were the search for the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spree, the Norway Campaign and the destruction of the French Fleet at Dakar. In May 1941 the Ark Royal played a key role in the destruction of the German Battleship DKM Bismarck when a torpedo from one of its Swordfish aircraft severely damaged the battleship's steering."
I love the japanese carriers so much
The USS Enteprise, why did they not preserve her? It would’ve been such a dream for us ship enthusiasts and historians to see her! Such a shame that an amazing and big piece of history was then scrapped for parts, she was the only sister ship left after the sinking of both her sisters Yorktown and Hornet, but the US decided she had to go too.
Post war defense funding chops where draconian. The cuts were so deep it left the US pretty much unprepared for Korea 5 years later.
"THEY WERE BADLY DAMAGED AT MIDWAY"!!! They were SUNK!!!
Please work on your pronunciation, particularly of “canal”.
Can-ul 💀
Everyone have their own pronounciation and accent. You cant force everyone to change accent or pronounciation that is pleasing to others
The voice is clearly AI generated. Computers are quick, but not too bright.
As someone who knows nearly nothing about naval ships and warfare I always though that the current most high end ships at that time would be the most powerful, strongest and decorated. oooh boy I was mistaken. I remember being told don't underestimate the Yorktown class carriers they really pulled their weight in WW2.
In WW2 Japan lost it's 4 aircraft carrier against U.S.A in battle of Midway.great moment for US navy👍🏻
Four Japanese carriers were sunk at Midway -- Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu.
@@Exciteduser yup
4. Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu. All lost
The 4 who were member of the Kidou Butai (First Air Fleet ) Akaga being the First Carrier Division and Souryuu and Hiryuu being the Second Carrier Division. Shoukaku and Zuikaku also member kf the Kidou Butai but didint participate the battle
No, Junyo, Ryujo, Shokaku, and Zuikaku, were never at Midway and survived until later sunk in subsequent battles.
Fun fact of British WW2 carries, they had armored flight deck, when US was still using wood. During one combat US sailors on one US-ships saw a kamikaze plane hit the British carrier flight deck, they american tough they lost the carrier, due to on a wooden deck, they aircraft would have penetrated into the hangar. But on the British carrier whit it's armored flight deck, it didn't happen. The british sailors just pushed the aircraft of the deck and into the ocean, cleaned the flight deck, and resumed operation. If your carrier can do that, it is a good carrier, down side, is it reduce the number of aircraft it can carry.
A US Navy officer serving as liaison aboard HMS Indefatigable had this to say about the effectiveness of armoured decks on British fleet carriers: "When a kamikaze hits a US carrier it's six months of repairs at Pearl Harbor. When a kamikaze hits a British carrier it's 'Sweepers, man your brooms'."
But there is a lot to say about the extra offensive and defensive capabilities of double the number of aircraft.
@@highlanderknight but it dose not matter how many Aircraft you have if the carrier is out action due to a massive hole in the flight deck
@@daniellastuart3145 True, but if you have more fighters the enemy may never even have the chance to get close enough to attempt to drop a bomb let alone hit the carrier.
Would have been even more formidable if the British developed better carrier based aircraft as well.. They still used the obsolete Swordfish biplanes for torpedo planes? YIKES!
There is a legend that CV-6, Enterprise, can be seen in New York harbor, when our nation is in danger...the last time she appeared, was on 9/11, her bow pointed toward the Middle East.
If one had to choose between Japan's SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU, I think the choice should be SHOKAKU. Yes, ZUIKAKU survived her sister by a few months, but SHOKAKU's air groups did more damage against the U.S. Fleet, delivering the major share of blows against LEXINGTON at Coral Sea, against ENTERPRISE at Eastern Solomons, and against HORNET at Santa Cruz. At Santa Cruz her torpedo bomber squadron delivered the hits that killed HORNET's machinery on the morning of Oct 26, 1942, leaving her to be finished off that afternoon, after the U.S. Navy lost control of the airspace in the battle zone.
I believe that the carrier Enterprise CV-6 was scrapped because there was another carrier named Enterprise CVN-65, and more modern versions are to come when the newest Gerald Ford class is named Enterprise CVN-80.
CVN 65 came along quite a few years after the decision to scrap CV 6. Naming the first nuke carrier Enterprise was the Navy paying tribute to the the Big E, along with naming a new Ford carrier Enterprise. The name lives on, even into Star Fleet, lol....
The name could have been stricken off the naval register as Enterprise CV6, with the hull redesigned, to allow reuse of the name. At that point, Enterprise would have been a hulk retained pending disposition.
Id have put HMS Ark Royal in the list, its aircraft were instrumental in the sinking of the Bismarck
The Enterprise was one of six US Aircraft Carriers built before US and one of three that survived the War. Anyone hear much of the Saratoga and Ranger.
It was the most decorated US warship of WW2 with an unsurpassed 20 battle stars.
During the early part of the Pacific War, it was the only one that could deliver Decisive blows against the Japanese.
The Japs claimed it had sunk it so many times, it was nicknamed “The Galloping Ghost”.
So impressive of its service, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry named his famed star ship, “Enterprise”.
Saratoga always had mechanical difficulties, while Ranger was way too small and slow for faster Pacific operations and barely carried 36 aircraft at most...
@@northerntruthseeker
The Japanese Admiralty were Victims of their own propaganda. They planned on fighting “The Grand Battle” where their overwhelming numbers of warships would wipe out the depleted US Fleet in one Grand Battle. The Japanese employed this successfully in the 1905 Russo Japanese War.
They “got High inhaling their Supply”. “Cruising for a bruising” strategy for Drug dealers and Military leaders alike.
The U.S. Navy would not play this game until 1944, when it had out-manufactured the Japanese in Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers and Warplanes.
The Enterprise participated successfully in the Ambush Hit and Run strategy of the U.S. Navy up and until this time.
Another thing, the Japanese “blew chunks” in having a lack of success with their damage control teams on their Aircraft Carriers.
That is why they blew up and burnt so fast at Midway.
Of course, having “cracked” the Japanese Naval Code helped with that Victory and in shooting down Admiral Yamamoto’s plane.
There is no question that the Essex-class carriers were the best aircraft carriers of WWII, even if they were the most modern and last carrier class developed before the war ended. Given all specs and performances, USS Enterprise was the greatest aircraft carrier of the war even if I think, as a class, IJN Shokaku/Zuikaku were overall better carriers than the Yorktowns.
Agree to some extent, at least until the Japanese launched the Taiho class which was restricted to only one vesseL, The IJN Taiho itself, that was sunk by a lone torpedo from the USS Albacore at the battle of the Philippine Sea....
@@northerntruthseeker As I recall, Taiho was just a Shokaku with an armored flight deck, and unfortunately, a crew that was far less ready for battle than the crew of the Shokaku.
Yorktown deserves its spot on this list. There should be a new nuclear powered carrier named Yorktown.
There is still one further unnamed Gerald R Ford class carrier in the works after completion of CVN-80 the new USS Enterprise... But the US has a fixation of naming carriers now after US Presidents, or naval admirals...
the main thing I learned from this video is that I have been saying canal wrong all these years.
I would have thought that the whole of the Kido Butai should have rated a mention, given the effect it had up 'til Midway...
Might I mention USS Wasp carrying Spitfires to Malta? Slammed the door shut on Axis ambitions.
I also would have liked a picture of CV7. My dad sailed with the Wasp before WW2 was declared. USS Wasp served in both theaters.
I could give a damn less about the enemy's record!! I used to like your channel allot, but I will watch it no more.
USS Illustrious was some kind of different interpretation to employ aircraft carriers. One fifth of air group of fighters (Fairey Fulmar) and the remaining a mix of Stringbags and Skuas (+ or - 30 airplanes). She had a strong AAe defence of 16 4.7 inch guns plus a 48 Bofors. HMS Illustrious was hit 6 times by Stuka 500 kg bombs and survived !
USS Princeton was sunk by land-based air, not Zuikaku.
Absolutely.. One Japanese land based plane broke through the screen around Princeton on October 23rd, 1944 that got a lucky shot that blew the guts out of the carrier and forced it to be sunk by US torpedoes...
HMS Illustrious, armored flight deck, very tough. Took SEVEN bomb hits in one battle and survived. Seven!!!
In the battle of Midway, Japan had lost a lot of aircraft carrier. What would have happened if Japan hadn't lost any carrier????
Almost certainly would have just delayed the inevitable. Assuming that Japan lost no carriers I'm guessing you mean the US lost all 3. This would have meant they would have had to wait for the Essex's to come online before launching any major offensives, ie loosing Guadalcanal, but still would have won in the long run
What If Russia have an active aircraft carrier?
The Japanese could never have won the war in the Pacific, so, it would simply delay the inevitable
@@redblueyankee8343 >> The Soviet Union was mainly a land empire in those days.
@@jaybee9269 "was" 😂
Ouh, a lot American and Japanese carriers although a large amount was lost. I miss HMS Ark Royal that severely damaged the KMS Bismarck and HMS Victorious who was involved too and took a lot of other important battles. Maybe HMS illustrious was the most successful British carrier by „doing more damage to the Regia Marina in Tarento within 2 hours than the Grand Fleet to the Hochseeflotte during the whole battle of Jutland“. So she has to be under the top 3. Her sister should also be under the top 8. Perhaps it needs top 10 to place the Ark Royal.
Agreed. I would have swapped out Ark Royal for Hornet on this list.
A bent rudder is not severe damage.
@@craigclemens986 it depends on the circumstances. In Bismarck‘s case it was decisive for her to give up escape and take a fight against KGV and Rodney that she couldn’t win…
@@craigclemens986 It was maybe not 'severe' damage but it was 'critical' damage in so much as it sealed her fate.
@@craigclemens986 it is if keeps going round in circles allowing a enemy fleet to trap you so they can smash the crap out of you and then sink you
Still pisses me off that the USS Enterprise was not preserved as a museum
No funding for the needed repairs, and the Navy was hammered with funding cuts, both after WWII and again after Korea. It still cost money to keep ships in mothballs.
I agree with most of the list, but would probably swap out HMS Arc Royal for Hornet. Arc Royal's planes hit the Bismarck with torpedoes jamming her rudder and slowing her down. British surface units were then able to catch her before she reached the safety of German occupied French bases where she could make repairs.
While Hornet did launch the Doolittle raid and participated in a few other raids, her air groups at Midway were notorious for their blunders. The position they were ordered to fly to to intercept the Japanese carriers was no where near correct position. After arguing with the squadron leader en route, the flight leader of Hornet's torpedo bombers disobeyed orders and turned in the direction he believed the Japanese carriers to be and in fact found them. Without air cover from his group's fighters and without the added distraction of his group's dive bombers, all 15 of Hornet's torpedo planes would be shot down and 29 of the 30 men aboard were killed while scoring no hits on the enemy. Meanwhile, after hours searching empty ocean, Hornet's fighters and dive bombers turned back for home but nearly half were lost due to running out of fuel or getting lost looking for their carrier. Also, Hornet's service life was short, as she would be sunk just a few days after her reaching 1 year of service.
Another point, during the battle of Coral Sea that first damaged Yorktown, she lost many of her flight group. A few months earlier, USS Saratoga was hit by a torpedo and was forced to make repairs at the US West Coast, but her pilots and planes were intact. Her flight group was transferred to Yorktown to replace her losses. One could say that Saratoga's contribution at Midway far outweighed Hornet's in that it was her planes and pilots, launching off of the limping Yorktown's deck, that scored key hits to 2 of the 4 Japanese carriers that were sunk during the battle.
Too be fair, the Hornet was a new ship with brand new aircrews at Midway. Rookie mistakes happen in all navies, you just hope the crew can survive them and gain the needed experience to survive.
IJN Kaga did not go into the Indian Ocean. She was undergoing repairs. Pix of Essex was POST WW2. Angled flight decks did not exist in WW2. At Midway, CV-6 Enterprise planes damaged 4 ships including Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Mikuma. All 4 damaged carriers would be scuttled and Mikuma a CA of Mogami class would sink by damage. CV-3 planes operating off of CV-5 Yorktown would claim the 4th carrier Soryu at Midway. Some of Yorktown planes may have contributed to Hiryu damage and Mikuma damage.
Enterprise had 20 battle stars and had most impressive record yet they couldn’t save her from scrapping. It’s like when the Navy does something honorable, it turns around and does something dishonorable to cancel out. Great for action, shitty on the veterans and ships.
The US Navy recognized Enterprise by naming both CVN 65 and now CVN 80 after her.
When she says "badly damaged" in referring to Japanese carriers, she mostly means "sunk".
If I remember correctly, their was only one aircraft carrier on the Japanese side that survived, I think it was the Kaga, the other three were just sunk flat out
@@F.R.E.D.D2986 >> No, Kaga went down from damage at the Battle of Midway.
@@F.R.E.D.D2986 Hiryu survived the 10:25 attack, but was fatally damaged later in the day.
@@frednone and very nearly won, if the japanese hadn't attacked the same carrier 2
@@jiyuhong5853 The US could have lost all 3 carriers, and Midway, and the Japenese lost nothing, and it would have delayed the final result by a year or so. The US would have made good their losses in fleet carriers by mid april 1943 plus add four more Essex that year and multiple light and many escort carriers. The IJN would not get another fleet carrier until Taiho in 1944.
Add to the fact that even if they took Midway they could not keep the garrison supplied without ruinous damage to the merchant fleet, there was really no way for them to 'win' this.
Japan kept looking to find their Tushima to cap their Port Arthur in WW2 and that strategy would never work against something with the industrial capability of the US in the Forties.
Zuijaku did not sink the Princeton, she was sunk by land based aircraft. And Kaga and Akagi we’re not damaged, they were SUNK!
Princeton was attacked by D4Y Suisei Kamikaze and scuttles by Reno
Akaga are scuttled by Nowaki, Maikaze and (i forgot the other one)
Well, that would damaged very badly, lol. And they were damaged a bit more on the way to their final resting places.
Akagi's superstructure was on the port side, yet you show it on the starboard side.
The Japanese carriers in battle of midway weren’t just seriously damaged they were sunk
I see a lot of comments already about HMS Ark Royal not being on the list. That ship should have been included. It had quite a reputation for success and even the mere mention of it ordering fuel close to Buenos Aires was enough to influence the scuttling of the Graff Spee.
Unfortunately, Ark Royal would have had to be recovered from the bottom of the ocean.
if only the Yorktown had held on after midway, she could have give enterprise a run for her money.
USS Block Island.
A good list of great aircraft carriers. However, I have mentioned this on other videos, please don't use computer generated voices, especially, as in this case, they continually mispronounce names. This one was one of the worst I've heard and it takes away from a good video.
It costs money to hire a narrator, it doesn't cost anything to use TTS software.
1:09 1954 photo of Illustrious prominently featuring two Dutch Sea Furys. Yeah - WWII carriers, right.
I would replace the USS Hornet with IJN Hiryu. Hornet, while being marvelous ship didn't do as much as her sisters Enterprise and Yorktiwn, while Hiryu sunk 2 Alied Carriers, 2 Heavy cruisers, 2 destroyers (some of those together with Soryu). I oribably missed something. Euther way, that's quite a lot more than Hornet, right?
I disagree to a point. Name the Carriers Hiryu sunk? I can only think of the Hermes, during the Indian Ocean raid. While it damage the Yorktown at Midway, it was actually a submarine (I-???) that actually sank it along with the destroyer Hamman.
@@coleparker I 168
Akagi... "badly damaged at the Battle of Midway"??? Kaga... "badly damaged at the Battle of Midway"???
The graphical top down view of the Yorktown is reverses/mirrored, it shows the island on the port side.
Same with the Hornet
Same with enterprise
Akagi and Kaga weren't "badly damaged" at Midway...they were SUNK. I find it odd that you mention other carriers on the list as sunk, but not these 2???
Scuttled and sunk
@@ivancaraig1715 Should've been stated in any case. Simply saying they were damaged can imply they were repaired.
@@ivancaraig1715 Gone is gone, the IJN couldn't take the chance of them being captured if the fires burned out. Even as hulks, they had value as scrap steel. Same reason the US tried to put Hornet down.
They should of said "Damaged beyond repair and sunk by japanese destroyers"
It's amazing that enterprise it's scrap.
Always saw the Hornet as the jinx ship of the fleet. Aside from launching B-25s against Japan not much good happened to/for her in her short career.
You may want to check the side and top views of the carriers. Lots of errors in relation to the left or right side installation of the island on the de decks. Top view often shows another situation than depicted in the side view. Some seem to show different carriers altogether. Not to mention wrong deck markings.
日本語で失礼します。瑞鶴の見分け方の一番分かり易いのは艦首部の飛行甲板にスと書かれているのが瑞鶴になります。ここを訪れている方々に失礼だと思いますけど一応ですから。翔鶴の場合も艦首飛行甲板上にシと書かれているのが翔鶴ですけど。
No mention of the USS Sable and USS Wolverine? They probably did more than any other aircraft carrier in WWII to keep the pipeline of trained carrier pilots filled to meet the demand.
While I agree with the importance of their contribution, I am reminded of the old saying, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." You could also add all the supply ships, oilers, tenders, etc to these lists. Without the work of thousands of auxiliaries, none of the rest could have been done.
What characteristics have you used to rate them ?
Im suprised japan managed to produce 18 aircraft carriers during WW2
Japan could not keep up with US shipbuilding, obviously.. But you are correct in this statement of fact..
I like USS Enterprise 👍👍👍
My fav air carrier
The main objective of the Imperial Navy of Japan was to destroyed three Main Battle Group Carrier the USS ENTERPRISE , USS YORKTOWN and the USS HORNET in Pearl Harbor 1941 . At that time when Japanese attack Pearl Harbor the three Main Battle Group Carrier are absent the USS ENTERPRISE was patrolling in the Wake island in the Pacific and the USS HORNET was in Midway Island and while the USS YORKTOWN is patrolling in the South Atlantic
Yep, but i the end, Pearl did nothing for Japan besides piss off the US. Sunk some obsolete battleships and destroyed some pretty much obsolete aircraft. Left all the vitals on the base intact and the carriers weren't even there. LOL
Actually the Enterprise Was about 200 miles southwest of pearl harbor during the attacks. Her scout planes were flown into pearl during the attacks and some were shot down. And even sent an attack out to search and attack the carriers. In the wrong direction though
The two ships that should have been saved are Enterprise and Nevada.
The graphic of the US carriers have the island on the wrong side.
Can you make a video about evolution of C-130 hercules
In the two shots of the Akagi, how did the island first appear on the starboard side, then switch to the port side?
Everytime I hear Yorktown I think of the CV-10.
The Japanese carriers were not 'badly damaged as you claim they were sunk.
It's too bad that the narrator of this video, otherwise very good, was not more fluent in English pronunciation.
The drawings for the Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet are wrong. The islands were on the STARBOARD side, not the portside as illustrated.
Crazy to think that these carriers are physically smaller, lighter, shorter, and skinnier than the yamato class.
Yamato and Musashi were BATTLESHIPS and not carriers.. Whole different animals...
@@northerntruthseeker as if I'm comparing their abilities 💀
@@northerntruthseekerdid you forget about the Shinano? The Yamato conversion
Akagi and Kaga? 2 major battles each, one of which they played a minor role in except for getting sunk. 2 minor raids each. They don’t fit on the list really at all. Yes they were at Pearl Harbor, but so were Zuikaku, which deserves its place in the list, and Shokaku, which did not make the list, but deserved to more. Shokaku and Zuikaku were in Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea (sinking Lexington), Eastern Solomons, heavy damage to Enterprise, Battle of Santa Cruz, and Philippine Sea for Shokaku, and Leyte Gulf for Zuikaku. Both were far more impactful on the war for Japan than Akagi or Kaga.
Then there are all the US ships missed. Yes Enterprise most decorated and fighting alone for a time. USS Hornet for her major role in Doolittle Raid, Midway, other raids, and Santa Cruz. Yorktown CV5 is arguable. Really only a few battles, Coral Sea and Midway. Her planes did major damage there. Far overlooked was Saratoga CV3. Eastern Solomons. She stood alone after Enterprise was knocked for a while for repairs, operating with HMS Victorious-USS Robin before the Essex class began to arrive-7 battle stars. The US really could have filled out this list easy. USS Essex-13 Battle Stars and other decorations. USS Yorktown CV-10 11 battle stars and multiple decorations. USS Lexington CV16 with 11 battle stars as well. Light carrier Belleau Wood-12 battle stars and decorations. These last four ships were involved in so many heavy actions from 1943 on, Marshalls, Marianas, Philippines, Truk, Wake Island raid, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Japanese Islands raids. They don’t get the attention, but they too were far more impactful than Akagi and Kaga. Illustrious earned a spot. So did Victorious.
I would have made a list of 12: Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown CV5, Essex, Yorktown CV-10, Lexington CV-16, Belleau Wood, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Saratoga, Illustrious, Victorious.