PART 5

World War II

1940-1945

Thirty years after the Navy had acquired its first air-

plane, and only 19 years after it had acquired its first

aircraft carrier, Naval Aviation faced the supreme test

of war. When it was called upon to carry the fight to

the enemy, it not only carried out its tasks, but forged

ahead to become the very backbone of fleet striking

power.

If it had not already been shown in combat before

the United States entered the war, all doubts as to the

potency of naval air power were removed by the infa-

mous, yet skillfully executed attack on Pearl Harbor,

when Japanese carrier aircraft in one swift stroke elim-

inated a major portion of the Navy's heavy surface

power. That our own forces had the kernel of a simi-

lar potential was demonstrated on a much smaller

scale as carrier forces struck the first retaliatory blows.

The geographic position of the United States put it

squarely between two wars that had little in common.

Air operations on the Atlantic side, except for partici-

pation in three amphibious operations, were essential-

ly a blockade and a campaign to protect ships deliver-

ing raw materials to our factories and war munitions

and reinforcements to our Allies. In the Pacific, it was

a matter of stopping an enemy advance which, in a

few short months, had spread over all the western and

parts of the south and central Pacific, and then carry-

ing out the bitterly contested task of driving him

homeward across the broad expanse of an island-dot-

ted sea.

The country was hardly ready for either campaign.

The Navy and Marine Corps air arms could muster

only 7 large and 1 small aircraft carriers, 5 patrol

wings and 2 Marine aircraft wings, 5,900 pilots and

21,678 enlisted men, 5,233 aircraft of all types includ-

ing trainers, and a few advanced air bases. But aided

by its distance from the enemy and fortunate in its

industrial power, the United States built the ships,

planes and equipment. Its military forces trained the

land, sea and air forces that ultimately beat down the

enemy, drove them from strategically located bases,

cut off their raw materials, and placed the allied forces

in position to launch final air and amphibious offen-

sives. These offensives were made unnecessary as the

awesome destructive power of the atom was released

upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For the first time in history, naval engagements were

fought entirely in the air without opposing surface

forces sighting each other. New words and phrases

entered the aviator's lexicon; words like air support,

hunter-killer, JATO, CIC, CAP, bogie, scramble and

splash. Radar pierced the night and gave new eyes to

the fleet; advances in technology, particularly in elec-

tronics, improved the defense and added power to the

offense. The scientist contributed directly to the war

effort in both the development of specialized equip-

ment and in the application of scientific principles to

operational tactics. Logistics took on new importance.

Refueling and replenishment at sea were developed to

a high art and increased the mobility and staying

power of fleet forces.

In the course of the war, Navy and Marine pilots

destroyed over 15,000 enemy aircraft in the air and on

..

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Exploding depth charge and line of splashes from machinegun bul-

lets bring the end of German submarine 44360

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