Aircraft Carriers - The Fleet Aircraft Carrier in the Interwar Years (1929-1939) 

Pinned post for Q&A :)

"It was thought that one bomb hit should impair a carrier's operations and two would knock it out of operational tasks completely" Apparently Enterprise didn't get the memo.

The history of interwar CVs look like a constant struggle between lads who wanted or didn't want 8 inch guns on their carriers ngl

This is off the subject, but in this video, and others, mention is made of US ships being equipped with .50 machine guns for AA defense at the beginning of WWII. They were ineffective and largely replaced with 20-mm guns. Fast forward 70 years, and .50 machine guns are back on our ships for force protection against small boats. Sometimes called the “forever machine gun, they have in essence been in production since 1921. Over 6 million were produced for every service (USA, USN, USAF, USMC, and USCG) and keeping track of all of them is impossible. They are periodically sent in for repair, and in 2015 a US Army arsenal received one with serial number 324, meaning it was 94 years old!

this is so much better than any history show 1. no ads like history 2. actually freaking informative

"Ranger with a pair of triple 8-inch guns" *DUDE. WHAT.*

That beacon on Arc Royal was a brilliant idea. I love how in the past people came up with all of these brilliant and sometimes insane ideas to accomplish things we have computers do for us now. The amount of imagination and tinkering that went into that is just terrific.

Enterprise and Warspite. Neither ship should have been scrapped. Both deserved to be museum ships. The Old Lady and Grey Ghost gave everything they could, survived hit after hit to be taken out not by the enemy but by bureaucrats ballancing ledgers. Injustice, aye.

Drach, how do you manage to you manage to create such a volume of high-quality content? Many thanks to you.

"result in an HMS Captain moment" is my favorite analogy for a boat rolling over now. Thanks, Drach!

I think it's interesting that each of the carrier navies recognized the need for a dedicated carrier design once the treaty allowed it. All three designed their new carrier: Hiryu/Soryu, Ranger, Ark Royal. All three were unhappy with their first designs, and all three then went down a different path and built the design they liked/went with: Shokaku, Yorktown, Illustrious.

Last time I was this early, the Kido Butai weren’t coral reefs

"Oh hey a Drachinifel upload, Imma just watch this real qui-MARY MOTHER OF GOD AN HOUR ON FLOATING AIRPORTS."

"armed with effectively US Navy versions of the Skua" it was not a long scream but there was a scream at that thought

"Part Three, when he gets around to it." Hmm...Maybe if we all email him a picture of a Roundtoit, it'll speed things up?

The non-alternating machinery spaces were a weakness because in the event a fireroom or engine room suffering a hit or an engineering casualty the entire propulsion plant could be knocked offline causing the ship to go "hot, dark and quiet", something you never want to see. The Essex Class ships answered this in a huge way by alternating two forward firerooms, Main Control (#1 Engine Room), then two more firerooms, each having an SSTG and finally the after engine room. The Main Steam System was also able to cross-connect throughout the engineering plant, both port and starboard side so #8 boiler in four fireroom could provide steam to the forward engine room. The Navy took every lesson learned in the twenties and thirties and incorporated them into the Essex and Iowa class ships. The last Essex class ship was in service for almost fifty years, the final straw for her was the degradation of her watertight integrity. I was on board for her last operational engineering inspection, it was a very sad day when word came down that it was over... Like that, one day we were thinking about the next time we would get underway to finding out we were to decommission her and all get orders to our next commands. The last time I sailed on her I was on watch in one of the firerooms, the only lights we had were from the emergency lights, the boilers were cold iron and the only thing you could hear was the water rumbling under the hull while they towed us about five miles from the Downtown Pensacola pier to the pier at NAS Pensacola. The USS Lexington even outlasted the USS Coral Sea, which was supposed to replace her but ended up being decommissioned a year or two earlier.

Im still in awe in how they can build something so big that floats on the water, and able to flex and yet stay rigid and be able to stay together, and yet stay afloat after being hit with bombs and torpedoes, etc.... It really is a work of art

Yes! What a fantastic video to wake up to! "IJN Ryujo, aka the great loophole exploiter"

The three main purpose-built CV classes (Yorktowns, Shokaku-class/the Cranes, Illustrious-class) in the late 1930s are among my favourites (in fact, they’re probably my favourite capital ships from any period in modern naval history): they’re the carriers built around the time naval aviation came of age and rendered battleships obsolete, and all three of these classes saw serious action, especially against each other in the Pacific. Seriously the Yorktowns and Shokakus really went at each other (until the latter ran out of pilots) in the single greatest rivalry between enemy capital ships in history.

In that “Scout Carriers” lunacy you can almost see the genesis of the infamous and often unfairly maligned CVE Escort Carriers. The “Kaiser Carriers” were surprisingly effective in their niches. “Convoy Escort and Sea Patrol” in the Atlantic. And as fully organic air units for invading ground forces. Thus freeing up the heavy hitting fleet carriers for direct offensive operations.

There was a loophole in the Washington treaty the Brits could have exploited. According to the treaty, any carrier in commission or building, at the time of the treaty, was regarded as experimental and exempt from the treaty's replacement schedule, meaning they could be replaced with new carriers at any time. Argus, Eagle and Hermes all met that criteria. Eagle wasn't that bad. It had a bit of speed and a bit of size. It could cruse with a division of QEs and provide CAP and recon. But Argus had no speed and Hermes had no size. Argus and Hermes could both have been reclassified as something non-carrier, like sub tenders, and free up enough tonnage to build a second Ark Royal.

The Interwar carriers demonstrate that the strength of the aircraft carrier vs gun ships is not only increased range, but the ease of upgrading the main weapon. Fly on a new generation of aircraft and the main strike weapon is greatly increased. Only the nuclear shells of the Iowa's gave battleships a post build attack upgrade of the same type of magnitude.

That thing you say about the USS Enterprise: that is absolutely true. The most decorated US ship of the war was scrapped despite Adm. Halsey and many others' protests. I read "The Big E" by Barrett Tillman, and in interviews with Enterprise crew members, he brings up that some people didn't want it to be preserved as a museum because of the notion that it would desecrate the importance and loss of life endured on the ship. However, that does not take away from the fact that she was ultimately scrapped and now we will never get to enjoy seeing her in real life, save that one stern plate they did preserve. That being said, I believe it's ultimately the people, the crew members and their individual stories and experiences that make the difference rather than the ships. We need to get more veterans' stories before they're all gone. Great video, very thorough.

A fascinating 5-minute (plus or minus a hour) analysis of the mission driven design choices of the major interwar carrier fleets.

It takes drach 4 days to put out the same amount and level of content dan carlin does in 4 months. superhuman.

Agreed with your assessment that the loss of Enterprise is one of the greatest travesties towards preserving ships that ever was. Right up there with the rather egregious treatment of USS Texas.

I'm glad you agree that one of the biggest crimes against ship preservation was scrapping CV-6. :( And HMS Warspite. But at least the latter is understandable and reasonable given the UK's post-war situation (lamentable, but reasonable). The former? Not so much. I have a feeling that jackass who wanted the 8-in guns on every carrier design was responsible. Either him or the asshat behind the Mk 14 debacle. ...Okay, maybe not them, but I gotta blame someone and asshats like that are good targets.

*"THIS MEANS YOU, JAPAN!"*

A note on Wasp. She was originally planned on being restricted to the Atlantic like the Ranger, but due to the losses at Coral Sea, and Midway reduced the numbers of fleet carriers in the Pacific and Wasp was sent to alleviate these losses.

Is this after the cv rework?

The five minute guide to warships!!!! Somewhat exceeding your treaty obligations, don't you think!

That homing beacon watch trick is amazing

Drach will get to look back with grey hair and a dram of Scotch in 40 years and know he's created definitive historical RU-vid content that will stand the test of time. As I believe he once said, he developed this content because he looked for it and it simply didn't exist at the time.

I love your site and the work you do. I'm an old ex US Navy destroyer sailor, Charles F Adams class DDG, USS Barney DDG-6. Thank you so much for what you do.

"Emdens". Mucke der Emden. One of the greatest sagas of adventure ever. German raider Emden's story is a worthy one for any naval enthusiast.

Your mention of HMS Ark Royal reminded me of the one laid down in 43'. Back in the late 60's I caroused around with a bunch of Royal Marines from the HMS Ark Royal R 09, playing drinking games, playing darts and trading punches all in fun, great crew and great ship, this old cruiser sailor and a few friends will never forget the comradery, but at 71 I'm not sure how long they can be remembered. USS Newport News (CA-148) November - India - Quebec - Quebec "Fair Winds and Following Seas" Brothers

This was a fascinating time for carrier development. I have offered, from time to time, that the USN was nuts building the Lexingtons. The USN had so little experience with Langley, and a bit of advice from the Brits, that they really didn't know what they were doing. It's a miracle the Lexingtons came out as well as they did. On the other hand, without the Lexingtons, there would have been enough tonnage in the treaty quota to build three more Yorktowns, with enough left over to build Wasp as another full sized Yorktown, or enough tonnage to build three 27,000 ton proto-Essexes, while refusing to go along with the Brit's push to cut carrier tonnage to only 23,000.

Given the circumstances of the war, it seems to me that the lack of torpedo protection was less important than it seems. Ultimately it was destroyed by being hit by 3 submarine torpedoes. These three hits resulted in an abandon ship yet was still not enough to put the carrier under the waves. Ultimately it had to receive an additional 3 torpedoes to sink only to go under hours later. The damage it received would put most any carrier under including those with torpedo protection. The Wasp provided immense help early in the war, and its large carrying capacity proved valuable just for ferrying aircraft; ask Malta. The addition of this imperfect design helped early in the Pacific war in the Guadalcanal campaign and elsewhere ultimately achieving a strategic stalemate through 1942 which was pretty good considering how the war started.

I always liked the Soryu and Hiryu’s names. They mean “Green Dragon” and “Flying Dragon” respectively. 😉

That was a fantastic video! In discussing HMS Ark Royal, the size of the drydock she was built in restricted the length of the ship’s underwater hull, but that was compensated for by having the flight deck 118 ft longer. In the graving docks I am familiar with, the ship’s length overall (when sitting on the blocks) must be factored in. It would be helpful to see a sketch or photo of Ark Royal in drydock.

Note that, while it is possible to build a "surface only" gun by limiting the elevation, there is no such thing as an "anti-aircraft only" gun. This was demonstrated by any number of night time encounters by US cruisers who's 5"/25 guns felt no compunction against banging away at surface targets. Also, "American version of the Skua": I believe the SBD Dauntless covers this pretty well, being equipped with two M2 0.50" machineguns for the pilot. This was certainly adequate for shooting down other recon aircraft in the Pacific.

Another brilliant video. It's really interesting to hear about why the ships were designed and built the way they were and the reasoning behind the inevitable compromises. Can't believe the video is over an hour long, certainly doesn't feel it. Wish half my lectures had been this interesting....

Also known as The birth of the legends, the Yorktown's

Your euphemisms and analogies are blissful as ever, Drach.

As an engineer, It would be hell. The admirals would rebalance complement, armor, armament, speed, etc, then send you back to the board to run the numbers. Around and around it would go. Then when they settled, newer planes showed and back to the board. Good thing mild steel welds easily.

Ah, now this is a video I’ve been waiting for ! Shame it’s 7am and I haven’t slept yet...

This was one of your most enjoyable videos to watch. Each of these ships were important during WW2 and to learn of their design compromises was very interesting. Thank you.

CV-6 Enterprise’s ship bell is at Annapolis on the grounds and her stern nameplate is on public display in a town square in New Jersey which was Halsey’s birthplace and home.

As usual, very comprehensive overview of the interwar carriers. Good stuff, Drach.

G'day, from Copenhagen, Denmark. Allways a treat with new content from Drachnifel!

The WWII US carriers rumored to have coffee machines which would be enough to raise stream for emergency sailing... Something I might need :)

Drach's videos definitely shed a different light on naval history than that of 'navweaps' which gives a somewhat biased impression and certainly doesn't give the 'whole picture'. Thanks Drach.

"Okay but how do we guide our pilots back to the carrier at night?" "Radar?" "Without alerting the enemy." ".....okay, this is going to sound crazy, but how about a lighthouse?"

I don’t think I ever would be able to hear the fate of Enterprise without feeling pain in my heart.

Really looking forward to your episode that includes HMS Unicorn. My Grandfather served as a Royal Marine on her and I’ve never found out a great deal about her WWII service. It would give me another link too a great man. Thanks.

I loved this video. So informative and entertaining. What I love the most about it was that it broke down the strategic realities facing the 3 great Naval powers. What is good for the IJN, may not be the same for the USN or the RN, and the same for the realities facing the USN and the RN as well. Very well done.

I been watching vids everyday, for a week now and still have a huge volume of material to watch... Thank you for all tye quality work...

In 1921, the Japanese government asked the British to dispatch a naval air mission to help develop Japanese naval aviation. There were reservations on the part of the Admiralty about granting the Japanese unrestricted access to British technology, but the British government eventually relented, hoping it would lead to a lucrative arms deal. The Sempill Mission of 1921-1922 was led by Captain William Forbes-Sempill, a former officer in the Royal Air Force experienced in the design and testing of Royal Navy aircraft during World War I. The mission consisted of 30 members, who were largely personnel with experience in naval aviation and included pilots and engineers from several British aircraft manufacturing firms. The Japanese were trained on several new British aircraft such as the Gloster Sparrowhawk; ...These planes eventually provided the inspiration for the design of a number of Japanese naval aircraft. Technicians become familiar with the newest aerial weapons and equipment... Naval aviators were trained in various techniques such as torpedo bombing, flight control and carrier landing and take-offs; ... The mission also brought the plans of the most recent British aircraft carriers, such as HMS Argus and HMS Hermes, which influenced the final stages of the development of the carrier Hōshō... Sempill later become a Japanese spy. Over the next 20 years, he provided the Japanese with secret information on the latest British aviation technology. His espionage work helped Japan rapidly develop its military aircraft and its technologies before the Second World War. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sempill_Mission

Still wating for Part 3 and 4 He did promise he'll do all CV development until the Nimitz-class (now its up to Gerald R. Ford-class)

Impressive, as always!! Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge in these interesting topics.

Wholly Holy Molies. This episode is chock-a-block stuffed full of more detail than a one hour audio-video presentation can sustain: From physical design consideration to carrier tactics and operational concerns... to strategies for long-term deployment. Wow! Excelent work, Drach.

Wow, it's really interesting to see the different theories in design of the three navies, and you can really, really see the various design theories and the tinkering of carrier theory withing the R.N. Great video as always, Drachnifel, keep 'em coming!!

The greatest injustice to aircraft carriers as a whole was that none were ever built by France. The wine cellars aboard a French carrier would have been truly epic, just be sure to bring your own cheese. Priorities people, priorities.

Thanks Drach, I enjoy long videos like this one

Beautiful. This is one hour well-spent.

Gem! Excellent topic with almost no easily accessible info. Kudos on the amount of research done.

Facinating series, thanks. As an engineer I find the "why it is that way" just as important as the "this is what it is". However I would like a few captions on the photos so that I know which ship or class I am looking at and how it relates to the commentary.

Awesome video. Learn something new all the time with you. And I thought I had a clue. Lots of great unseen photos. Great job Drach.

Such great content to play in the background whilst studying along with Mark Feltons content. Thanks a lot to you!

> The US navy was considering having multiple smaller carriers Jeune Ecole: Now this looks like a job for me

1: I want those 8in guns! 2: Dude, what do you want to use them against? 1: Enemy crusiers! 2: And do you by any accident know that our ship is not made to fight enemy cruisers at all?

As usual Drachinefel gives us the data and narrative with a level of excitement and interest we all like thank you!

"They were *supposed* to have been the same." Yeah. That's what they always say.

I think the Ryujou _could_ have stayed useful if the loophole hadn't been closed. Given that her redesigns were made _after_ the loophole got closed, it would stand to reason that her designers at that point weren't exactly concerned with tonnage restrictions anymore - given she would count against the carrier limit anyway. Had the loophole _not_ been closed, there would have been at least a _chance_ that her designers could have found a way to do away with her stability problems _within_ her tonnage limit.

What a brilliant coincidence, I just watched the previous part yesterday!

Another great video thank you! I look forward to your next one as always.

Yay finally the next installment. I've been waiting for this. Its about time you covered Americas best and largest cruisers they ever built.

The names of the 3 main American carriers for the 1st part of the war of such a ring to it Hornet, enterprise and Yorktown

Wasp was given an asymmetric hull to balance the weight of the island. Have you heard if there was an attempt to widen the flight deck on the port side to achieve this, while adding a certain amount of width to this limited design? This can also be asked of the hull conversions that are the CVL and CVE classes. The CVL flight deck was notably narrow, and would seem to benefit from this approach.

Great vid Drach, I really like the Ryujo's and USS Ranger's designs.

Estos videos tuyos son hermosos! Muchas Gracias!

The only remnant of USS Enterprise is the ship's name plate which is displayed at River Vale Veterans Memorial Park in River Vale, NJ

I love how you make American naval writers sound so British when you quote them! LOL!

Amazing research effort, script and narattion. Fine job!

Really great work. Thank you for this

5:55 - Say, if a nation defined a battleship with a flying-off deck or auxiliary carrier deck (like the IJN Ise for instance) as a regular battleship where the launching of aircraft is a secondary feature, and not its primary function. Would it count towards the aircraft carrier definition according to the treaty? Nevertheless, I got a pretty funny image in my head of Yamato with all her AA guns and secondary armaments stripped off and replaced by cranes and aircraft catapults in all directions. With a hanger at the rear end of the superstructure. Can't imagine that'd be a very effective AA defense system, but it would be one for the history books! xD

55:56 ...No, I won't give in, I won't give in until I'm Victorious!

Your knowledge is vast,research profound and presentation masterful,I salute you sir.

Can't wait for the next part honestly CVs are my favorite type of navy ship.

Finally, Thank you drach!

This was wonderful. I anxiously await the wartime carriers. Also...whenever the discussion turns to aircraft carriers, I'm reminded that I would love to hear your take on the two side paddle wheel training aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy...the USS Wolverine, and the USS Sable. Are they by chance on one of your to-do lists?

During the roaring 20s you could expect Al Jolson and his band hosting a jazz dance on the funnel of the Lexington. There was room to spare

i absolutely love your channel. thanks.

When you are so fast that the British haven't rendered your entire fleet useless

The systems like flooding lower decks with nitrogen was of immense value in USN carriers.

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL !!! GREAT WORK !! THANK YOU DRACHINIFEL FOR ALL YOU BRING TO US !!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🙂👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🙂🙂🙂🙂👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Fantastic video as always sir.

ah, yes, the most hated ships in WoWS. Including your own team

I'd assume the Shinano will also make an appearance in the next episode even though she was a conversion as well?

Excellent post sir!!!