Carriers

On May 8, 1942, the first Carrier VS Carrier battle climaxed between the US Navy and Imperial Japan. For the past 4 days the two fleets had been on a collision course.

On May 8, 1942, the first Carrier VS Carrier battle climaxed between the US Navy and Imperial Japan. For the past 4 days the two fleets had been on a collision course. A lot has been written about this historic fight, and we in no way presume to rewrite all the excellent work which has been done on the battle. ù

What we will do is attempt to show how historic an engagement Coral Sea was, as two navies who both were Pioneers of Aircraft Carrier Technology met to engage in History’s First Carrier vs Carrier Battle between two Adversaries who fought OVER THE HORIZON, with neither side’s ships ever physically seeing the other. Coral Sea marks the first time such an event occurred, discounting the loss of HMS Hermes to the overwhelming force of Imperial Japan’s Kido Butai in the Indian Ocean the previous month.

Coral Sea marked the first time BOTH sides had Carriers with full Air Groups. On Imperial Japan’s side was the Shokaku and Zuikaku, newest and most powerful Carriers in the Imperial Fleet. Facing them were Lexington and Yorktown, the one America’s first real Aircraft Carrier, and the other the nameship of the best class of American Prewar Aircraft Carriers.

Aviators on both sides faced launching on sorties to find a moving target at sea, in the middle of a Big Ocean, fighting their way to their targets, thence returning to an unknown and variable Carrier’s Position of Intended Movement, referred to as “Point Option” at the end of their Mission. They did so using navigation aids as simple as mechanical flight computers, the plotting board on their instrument panel, and Radio Direction Finders to home in on their ship.

Both sides would blunder into an action neither side really knew how to fight. Errors would be made on both sides as each realized they were facing carriers on the opposite side. The US would launch a strike and sink the first Carrier lost by Imperial Japan, the luckless Shoho covering the Imperial Navy’s Port Moresby Landing Force.

The Imperial Japanese would batter the oiler Neosho and sink her luckless escort, the destroyer Sims. The Imperial Japanese would also launch a late day attack against the American carrier fleet which ended in the strike getting lost in the gloomy weather surrounding both Task Forces, and incredibly, several Imperial Japanese strike aircraft would actually be shot down while attempting to join the landing circuit for the AMERICAN Task Force.

Things would come to a head on May 8, when Both sides made the all important discovery of the other’s position and send strikes to neutralize the other. The result would be Shokaku receiving damage to her flight deck, Zuikaku losing most of her Air Group, and the US Navy losing Lexington. Thus two carriers were lost in the first Carrier VS Carrier Battle ever fought between two navies, one light carrier for Imperial Japan, and the pioneer of much of prewar American Naval Aviation operations on the US Side.

As Navy Ace and future 4-Star Admiral Noel Gayler quipped in John Lundstrom’s excellent book The First Team “Twas a rugged day to be flying the Wily Wildcat.” The Lexington remains on the bottom of the Coral Sea, in waters deep enough to retain her gray paint and the markings on her aircraft. She stands as a monument to the lives lost, as Aviators sacrificed themselves to perfect a doctrine still being developed as both sides made the ultimate Test of their carrier technology.

Strategically, the Battle remains an American Victory, as Port Moresby’s seaward invasion was repulsed, and Imperial Japan had to fight across the Owen Stanley Mountains overland, rather than capture the main port in New Guinea. Both Navy’s would face again the following month, though the mauling of Shokaku and the losses to Zuikaku aircrew kept both carriers of CarDiv5 out of Midway. Meanwhile, Yorktown, damaged by a single bomb, would be repaired in time for Round 2 of the 1942 Carrier World Cup at Midway.

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo by: U.S. Navy and Hangar B Productions

‘At this stage Hermes had a very heavy list to port and it was obvious that she was about to sink. As the sea was now only feet below our gun deck I gave the order “over the side lads, every man for himself, good luck to you all,”’ Sam Curtis, Royal Navy

The life of HMS Hermes, or as we shall call her, Hermes 21, was still a life full of adventure. Designed in the aftermath of the Great War, with the benefit of the Royal Navy’s experience with carrier operations during that conflict, the Hermes was designed from the keel up to be an aircraft carrier. As such she had an Island Superstructure, offset to the side, something which allowed her to have a bridge like a traditional warship without her superstructure getting in the way or causing wind interference.

Hermes pioneered carrier operations in the Royal Navy along her step sister, the converted Battleship HMS Eagle. Prewar, the Royal Navy both benefited and was hindered by pioneering Carrier operations. They had HMS Argus, whose flatiron like appearance influenced the design of America’s first carrier USS Langley. However, the British also had HMS Furious, which had been built as a Battle Cruiser for Lord Fisher’s Baltic Project and was converted into a carrier by building a flight deck forward. She could launch aircraft but recovery was a dicey affair, with only one pilot capable of doing so, Sqd. Leader Dunning, who managed to sideslip aboard but died trying to repeat that feat.

Furious had her after deck cleared as well, and retained her bridge and superstructure amidships, but this caused so many air currents that aircraft were rarely able to land on her flight deck aft. Still, Furious achieved the unique distinction of being the first Aircraft Carrier to launch aircraft into combat, sending her flight of Sopwith Camels on a special mission against German Zeppelin sheds in Tondern, Germany in mid 1918.

Hermes was designed with the benefit of this hard earned experience, and her island superstructure was similarly adapted on HMS Eagle. Unlike pre flush flight deck Furious, Hermes was designed to Launch AND recover aircraft. An experimental Carrier HMS Argus was constructed with a complete flush deck, and ironically Furious was fitted with a minimal island as well when razeed into a true Carrier. Still, Hermes paved the way for carrier designs ever since. For the two decades in the 1920s and 30s, she alternated with Eagle on the China Station, while Furious’s half sisters Courageous and Glorious did the same in the Med. Hermes pioneered a unique mission during her time in the China Station, Aircraft Carrier Anti Piracy Operations.

The specter of Silver Winged aircraft of the British Empire hunting down Chinese pirates during the roaring 20s has enough of a hook to send storytellers scrambling to write screenplays. Yet Hermes actually performed this mission while on the China Station, and later helped maintain British interests while Imperial Japan began expanding the scope of their own interests there. This erupted into a series of incidents flaring up into the Manchuria Incident of 1931 and later the Shanghai Incident of 1937, which marked the beginning of Japan’s war of conquest in China.

As war clouds loomed in Europe, Hermes was recalled home, but still served a useful role as a kind of auxiliary carrier. Relatively small at only 600 ft, about 25 percent smaller than most contemporary WW2 carriers, Hermes was a relatively lightweight cruiser carrier, displacing only 10,000 tons at “Standard” displacement and around 13,000 at full. This gave her only a third of the displacement of the Giant American Lexingtons and Japanese Akagi/Kaga cousin carriers. Her “stepsister” Eagle, shared no design relation, Eagle was a converted Chilean Battleship that had been taken over at the start of WW1 and kept by the Royal Navy after being converted to a carrier during the War. Hermes was built as another sort of experiment, a ship that would carry a similarly sized air group without a battleship’s 20,000 plus tons of displacement.

Her designers succeeded, though Hermes was rather small by the end of her career. She served well as an auxiliary carrier a la Ryujo, but not so much as a first line battle carrier. Hermes was a fine presence ship and a useful counterinsurgency vessel, both over China Prewar and against Iraqi rebels in 1941. While roaming round the backwaters of the world looking for Pirates or later Surface Raiders, she had her uses, but when facing the World’s most powerful carrier task force at the time, she was clearly out of her element.

After the near miss between Formidable and Indomitable vs the Kido Butai on 5 April, 1942, Hermes’s Days were numbered. Rear Admiral Yamaguchi Tamon’s Dragons of CarDiv 2 had hunted down and sunk Cornwall and Dorsetshire, but those two cruisers frantic maneuvering soaked up their attacks and allowed the British carriers time to escape. Meanwhile, Hermes had lost a significant portion of her Torpedo Bomber compliment on Ceylon and was operating with a minimal air group to begin with. She was sent to the opposite side of the island to Trincomalee in the wake of the attack on Columbo to prepare to serve in the upcoming Royal Navy invasion of Vichy French Madagascar, a continuation of the proud British Military tradition to wage war against the French for at least once per century dating back to the Hundred Years War.

When the Kido Butai returned to strike the Royal Navy Base at Trincomalee, the Hermes sortied from the Harbour in company with HMAS Vampire, a veteran of the what was nicknamed the “scrap iron” Flotilla off North Africa. Sadly, an old carrier and scrap iron escort were no match for the such a force and when found the end was all but inevitable.

According to the survivor’s report by Survivor Sam Curtis appeared on BBC;

‘We waited and waited but no aircraft put in an appearance, only Japanese. At 10.30am we had the report, “enemy aircraft in sight” immediately our A.A. opened up, Hermes was a sitting duck, our anti aircraft defence was inadequate against the number of dive bombers that attacked us, there were 85 of them. Zero dive bombers each carrying a 250lb bomb that was delay fused, they went through our flight deck (we had no armour plating) exploding below decks.

‘The planes dived out of the sun and apart from a few near misses every bomb was on target, they went through our flight deck like sticking your finger through tissue paper causing absolute destruction below decks. One of the first casualties was our forward lift, it received a direct hit, was blown 10ft in the air to land upside down on the flight deck eventually sliding into the sea, all personnel in that area were instantly killed.

‘Wave after wave of these Zeros came at us. Our Captain was doing his best to dodge the bombs by using the speed of the ship. We were moving flat out at about 20-25 knots shuddering from stem to stern, not only from the speed, but from the continual pounding we were getting from those little “Sons of Nippon” up in the air. Where oh where was our fighter cover, we never did get any. Up until then we had a commentary of what was happening up top.

‘The AA guns crews did a magnificent job and to assist them because the planes at the end of their dive flew along the flight deck to drop their bombs and because the guns could not be fired at that low angle, all the 5.5.`s, mine included had orders to elevate to the maximum so that as the ship slewed from side to side to fire at will hoping that the shrapnel from the shells would cause some damage to the never ending stream of bombers that were hurtling down out of the sun to tear the guts out of my ship that had been my home for the past 3 years.

‘Suddenly there was an almighty explosion that seemed to lift us out of the water, the after magazine had gone up, then another, this time above us on the starboard side, from that moment onwards we had no further communication with the bridge which had received a direct hit, as a result of that our Captain and all bridge personnel were killed.

‘Only about fifteen minutes had passed since the start of the action and the ship was already listing to port, fires were raging in the hanger, she was on fire from stem to stern, just aft of my gun position was the galley, that received a direct hit also, minutes later we had a near miss alongside our gun, talk about a tidal wave coming aboard, our crew were flung yards, tossed like corks on a pond. Picking myself up and finding no bones broken, I called out to each number of our crew and got an answer from all of them (no-one washed overboard), we were lucky; our gun was the only one that did not get hit.

‘At this stage Hermes had a very heavy list to port and it was obvious that she was about to sink. As the sea was now only feet below our gun deck I gave the order “over the side lads, every man for himself, good luck to you all”.

‘Abandon ship had previously been given by word of mouth, the lads went over the side and I followed, hitting the water at 11.00 hours, this is the time my wristwatch stopped (I didn’t have a waterproof one).

‘As she was sinking the Japs were still dropping bombs on her and machine gunning the lads in the water. In the water I swam away from the ship as fast as I could, the ship still had way on and I wanted to get clear of the screws and also because bombs were still exploding close to the ship, the force of the explosions would rupture your stomach, quite a few of the lads were lost in this way after surviving Dante’s Inferno aboard, so it was head down and away.’

Though Curtis misidentifies the Aichi D3A dive bombers as Zero Bombers, his report clearly shows why the Hermes was sunk so quickly. No ship on earth could outmaneuver a force of 85 dive Bombers launched from the most powerful carrier strike force on earth. Because Hermes didn’t have her compliment of aircraft this was not a true Carrier vs Carrier battle, but it did mark the first time an Aircraft Carrier had been sunk by one of its own kind.

The opportunity to do that again would come the following month, but only part of the Kido Butai would participate in the world’s first true Carrier vs Carrier Battle. Still, Hermes, long serving veteran of the China Station, was gone. Another would rise in her place and 40 years later be on her way to another unexpected conflict zone, but that is another story……

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo by U.S. Navy and Crown Copyright

The US Navy is currently studying extending the service lives of the oldest Nimitz-class aircraft carriers

The US Navy is currently studying extending the service lives of the oldest Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Jay Stefany, who is currently performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters in a phone call on Apr. 20, 2022.

“I don’t know when that’s due to be reported out, but that is part of our [Program Objective Memorandum] 24 efforts that we’re working on now is how that would play out as far as potentially extending at least a couple of the first Nimitzs,” Stefany said of the study.

According to USNI News, while the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2023 30-year shipbuilding plan shows the service decommissioning USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in FY 2025 and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in FY 2027 – which aligns with the carriers’ 50-year service lives – the Navy still has time to alter that plan if necessary.

Vice Adm. Scott Conn, the deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities (OPNAV N9), said during the same media call that “Nimitz was supposed to go into a late Fiscal Year ’23 [availability] where the extension could have been done. Bottom line is we will revisit Nimitz as part of the FY-24 shipbuilding plan.”

Conn described extending the lives of any of the Nimitz-class carriers as “pre-decisional.”

“There are questions based on real-world events – does it make sense? Based on the number of planned carriers we may have in maintenance in certain years, it may make sense and maybe worth the return on investment of getting another year or more from the carriers that we have,” he said.

The Navy has been mulling extensions for the Nimitz-class carriers for the last few years. In September 2020, Program Executive Officer for Carriers Rear Adm. James Downey said Nimitz had more potential beyond its scheduled timeline and that it could be in service from 52 to 55 years.

The U.S. Navy 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS George Washington (CVN 73), USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), are the largest warships in the world, each designed for an approximately 50-year service life with just a single mid-life refueling. The next generation of aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford-class (CVN 78) was ordered in September 2008 as the force structure replacement for USS Enterprise (CVN 65), which inactivated in 2012.

The typical air wing aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier consists of:

• Four Strike Fighter (VFA) Squadrons, with twelve F/A-18E/F Super Hornets each [One squadron of Super Hornets will be replaced by a squadron with ten Navy or USMC F-35C Lightning IIs in the near future. Actually, ten F-35Cs belonging to the VFA-147, the first active-duty US Navy Lightning II unit, have recently completed their first operational deployment aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). Moreover 10 Marine Corps F-35Cs from the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314), the first USMC F-35C Squadron, are currently aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)].
• One Electronic Attack (VAQ) Squadron, made up of five EA-18G Growlers.
• One Carrier Airborne Early Warning (VAW) Squadron, with four E-2C Hawkeyes or five E-2D “Advanced” Hawkeyes.
• One Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) Squadron of eight MH-60S Seahawks.
• One Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron of eleven MH-60R Seahawks, 3–5 of which are typically based in detachments on other ships of the carrier strike group.
• A Fleet Logistics Support (VRC) Squadron Detachment of two C-2A Greyhounds.

Photo by: U.S. Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Ryujo was a unique, one-off hybrid of a cruiser hull with an aircraft carrier superstructure grafted on to it

The Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Ryujo was a unique, one-off hybrid of a cruiser hull with an aircraft carrier superstructure grafted onto it. Built in order to exploit a loophole in the original Washington Naval Treaty that stated ships under 10,000 tons wouldn’t be counted against Capital Ship limits, the lightweight Ryujo was designed to displace only 8,000 tons, and thus not be counted against Imperial Japan’s treaty limits.

Unfortunately for that attempt to circumvent treaty limits, that loophole was closed by the 1931 London Naval Treaty, Had the loophole remained, the Ryujo might have found herself as the lead ship of a swarm of these early “through Deck Cruisers” (to use a similarly sneaky Admiralty term for the Invincible Class). Instead, the window to this plan was shut and Ryujo found herself a kind of an orphan ship. Lightweight, a flush flight deck, and a Bridge at the front of her Hangar Structure, the Ryujo suffered from the kind of seakeeping flaws inherent in such an arrangement.

The Ship suffered serious damage in the 1934 Fourth Fleet Incident, where the Imperial Navy’s Fleet of that name sailed into the teeth of a Typhoon, losing several ships and sustaining serious damage in the process. This lesson served Ryujo well, her structure was strengthened, and she went on to serve off China during the China incident. Because she wasn’t as seaworthy as her larger cousins who later made up the Kido Butai, she found herself assigned to support duties, which made better use of her strengths than assignment to the Kido Butai.

In many ways, Ryujo was a forerunner of the later American CVL class of Light Carriers. With cruiser hulls and a similarly sized Air Group, both types provided useful auxiliaries to their larger cousins. A light carrier can stand in for a regular carrier in areas where the full strength of a regular Carrier Air Group isn’t necessary, a lesson the United States Navy is taking to heart today as it begins equipping its LHD Amphibious assault ships as new proto CVL’s with enhanced Marine F-35B Air Wings. These modern ships can serve a useful role in performing a mission set similar to that of Ryujo during the first 9 months of the Second World War.

Ryujo launched the first Imperial Japanese Navy Air Strike on U.S. forces in the Philippines on 8 December 1941, finding the seaplane tender U.S.S. William B. Preston at Davao Gulf at 0800. Her air group comprised of Mitsubishi A5M2 fighters and Nakajima B5N1 carrier attack aircraft, second-line equipment but still useful in light of her secondary support role for Imperial Navy amphibious forces. Ryujo managed to lose one of each in its first strike but managed to destroy 2 U.S. Navy PBY-4s which had remained behind near Preston when word of the outbreak of war had been received.

According to Pacific Wrecks;

On December 8, 1941, in the morning, Catalina and PBY Catalina 1230 were moored in Malalag Bay off Davao Del Sur. Shortly before 8:00 a.m., nine Japanese fighters strafed both flying boats sinking them both.

US Navy official history adds:

[Japanese fighters] “strafed the helpless PBYs, turning them into colanders of metal and fabric and setting them afire… Ensign Robert Tills died in the fusillade of bullets.”

Aside from that sad historic first, Ryujo subsequently covered Imperial Japanese Navy landings in the Gulf of Davao, before going on to help support further operations during Imperial Japan’s conquest of the Dutch East Indies. During these operations, she destroyed the wreck of the Dutch Destroyer Van Ghent, which had run aground a few days prior. In the wake of the Battle of Java Sea, Ryujo chased remnants of Allied Warships attempting to escape South of the Malay Barrier to Ceylon and Australia, catching H.M.S. Exeter and assisting in her sinking. In addition, Ryujo caught the destroyer U.S.S. Pope, and her aircraft assisted in that sinking as well.

During the Indian Ocean Raid of April 1942, Ryujo operated independently with what was called the Malay Group, joining a cruiser force to independently cruise after allied shipping.

Altogether, the Malay Force (consisting of Ryujo, six cruisers, and four destroyers) sank 19 ships totaling almost 100,000 gross register tons (GRT), before reuniting on 7 April and arriving at Singapore on 11 April.

Ryujo then teamed up with the converted ocean liner carrier Junyo to form Carrier Division 4, which was sent on Yamamoto’s diversion to the Aleutian Islands. Much has been written about how valuable those extra two carriers would have been at Midway, but their speeds and seakeeping ability weren’t on the same level, and in this case, they probably were better utilized as the diversion force they were meant to be. Ryujo’s Air Group was also upgraded to include Zeros, a mixed blessing for Imperial Japan as her Alaska assignment would prove.

Ryujo managed to perform her mission in Alaska bombing Dutch Harbor as part of her Diversionary Mission.

According to Wikipedia, at dawn on 3 June, she launched nine B5Ns, escorted by six Zeros, to attack Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. One B5N crashed on takeoff but six of the B5Ns and all of the Zeros were able to make it through the bad weather, destroying two PBYs and inflicting significant damage on the oil storage tanks and barracks. A second airstrike was launched later in the day to attack a group of destroyers discovered by aircraft from the first attack, but they failed to find the targets. One Zero from Ryujo from the second strike was damaged by a Curtiss P-40 and crash-landed on the island of Akutan. The aircraft, later dubbed the Akutan Zero, remained largely intact and was later salvaged and test-flown. On the following day, the two carriers launched another airstrike, consisting of 15 Zeros, 11 D3As, and 6 B5Ns, which successfully bombed Dutch Harbor. Shortly after the aircraft were launched, the Americans attacked the carriers but failed to inflict any damage. A Martin B-26 Marauder bomber and a PBY were shot down by Zeros, and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber was shot down by flak during the attack.

Ryujo arrived back at Mutsu Bay on 24 June and departed for the Aleutians four days later to cover the second reinforcement convoy to Attu and Kiska Islands and remained in the area until 7 July in case of an American counterattack. She arrived at Kure on 13 July for a refit and was transferred to Carrier Division 2 a day later.

As can be seen, Ryujo managed to give a priceless gift to the American War effort, the Akutan Zero, which was salvaged and put through its paces as the first Captured Zero to make it back to the Continental USA (another had been rebuilt in China by Claire Chennault’s maintenance crew.). When the U.S. Invaded Guadalcanal, Ryujo was summoned south and was assigned to Carrier Division 1, with Shokaku and Zuikaku, which were finally ready for combat after the Midway debacle. On August 24, 1942, Ryujo was sent on a final independent mission, to perform an air strike against Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. Her mission would result in a combat situation that echoed the Battle of Coral Sea in its own unique way.

Per Wiki;

Ryujo launched two small airstrikes, totaling 6 B5Ns and 15 Zeros, beginning at 12:20 once the Diversionary Force was 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north of Lunga Point. Four Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters from Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-223 on combat air patrol (CAP) near Henderson Field spotted the incoming Japanese aircraft around 14:20 and alerted the defenders. Ten more Wildcats from VMF-223 and VMF-212 scrambled, as well as 2 United States Army Air Corps Bell P-400s from the 67th Fighter Squadron in response. Nine of the Zeros strafed the airfield while the B5Ns bombed it with 60-kilogram (130 lb) bombs to little effect. The Americans claimed to have shot down 19 aircraft, but only three Zeros and three B5Ns were lost, with another B5N forced to crash-land. Only three Wildcats were shot down in turn.

Around 14:40, the Detached Force was spotted again by several search aircraft from the carrier USS Enterprise; the Japanese ships did not immediately spot the Americans. They launched three Zeros for a combat air patrol at 14:55, three minutes before two of the searching Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers narrowly missed Ryujo 150 meters (490 ft) astern with four 500-pound (230 kg) bombs. Two more Zeros reinforced the patrol shortly after 15:00, just in time to intercept two more searching Avengers, shooting down one. In the meantime, the carrier USS Saratoga had launched an airstrike against the Detached Force in the early afternoon that consisted of 31 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses and 8 Avengers; the long-range precluded fighter escort. They found the carrier shortly afterward and attacked. They hit Ryujo three times with 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs and one torpedo; the torpedo hit flooded the starboard engine and boiler rooms. No aircraft from either Ryujo or Saratoga were shot down in the attack.

The bomb hits set the carrier on fire and she took on a list from the flooding caused by the torpedo hit. Ryujo turned north at 14:08, but her list continued to increase even after the fires were put out. The progressive flooding disabled her machinery and caused her to stop at 14:20. The order to abandon ship was given at 15:15 and the destroyer Amatsukaze moved alongside to rescue the crew. The ships were bombed several times by multiple B-17s without effect before Ryujo capsized about 17:55 at coordinates 06°10′S 160°50′ECoordinates: 06°10′S 160°50′E with the loss of 7 officers and 113 crewmen. Fourteen aircraft that she had dispatched on raids returned shortly after Ryujo sank and circled over the force until they were forced to ditch. Seven pilots were rescued.

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Photo by: U.S. Navy

USS Carl Vinson resumed flight operations shortly after the crash of the F-35C Lightning II

According to a statement released on Jan. 25, 2022, by the US 7th Fleet, the F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter that crashed on Jan. 24 on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and injured seven sailors was lost over the edge of the flight deck.

As reported by USNI News, Carl Vinson resumed flight operations shortly after the crash of the F-35C.

“An F-35C Lightning II assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, embarked aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) had a landing mishap and impacted the flight deck and subsequently fell to the water during routine flight operations. The impact on the flight deck was superficial and all equipment for flight operations is operational. Carrier Air Wing 2 and USS Carl Vinson have resumed routine flight operations in the South China Sea,” the statement said.

As we have already reported, the crash occurred while the F-35C was conducting routine flight operations in the South China Sea. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and was recovered via US military helicopter.

According to the 7th Fleet statement, “The pilot and two other sailors were [evacuated] to a medical treatment facility in Manila, Philippines, and four sailors were treated by on-board medical personnel.”

A US 7th Fleet spokesman did not immediately respond to a follow-up question from USNI News as to whether the Navy intended to recover the fighter.

On Dec. 7, 2021, the UK and the US recovered the Royal Air Force (RAF) F-35B that crashed in the Mediterranean while taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth (R06) on Nov. 17.

As we have already explained the F-35C that crashed on Jan. 24 most probably belonged to the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147).

More than two dozen Navy and Marine F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are currently operating aboard US Navy ships in the Indo-Pacific, amid heightened tensions between the US and China.

Ten Navy F-35Cs belonging to the VFA-147 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore are embarked aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), while 10 Marine Corps F-35Cs from the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314) from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., are aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

Moreover, six Marine F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant aircraft are operating aboard USS America (LHA-6). This makes the total number of naval F-35s operating in the region 26.

This represents the largest assembly of deployed US naval F-35s to date.

Photo by U.S. Navy

This represents the largest assembly of deployed US naval F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters to date.

Taken on Jan. 22, 2022, the photos in this post feature aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 and CVW 9 flying over a formation consisting of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) JS Hyuga (DDH 181), USS America (LHA 6), USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Spruance (DDG 111), USS Chafee (DDG 90), USS Gridley (DDG 101), and USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) while transiting the Philippine Sea.

Operating as part of the US Pacific Fleet, units assigned to Carl Vinson and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Groups, America and Essex Amphibious Ready Groups alongside Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), are conducting training to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Currently, more than two dozen Navy and Marine F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are operating aboard US Navy ships in the Indo-Pacific, amid heightened tensions between the US and China.

As a US Navy spokesman told USNI News, ten Navy F-35Cs belonging to the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147) based at Naval Air Station Lemoore are embarked aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), while 10 Marine Corps F-35Cs from the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314) from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., are aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

Moreover, a Marine Corps spokesman confirmed to USNI News that meanwhile, six Marine F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant aircraft are operating aboard USS America (LHA-6). This makes the total number of naval F-35s operating in the region 26.

This represents the largest assembly of deployed US naval F-35s to date. In 2021, the US and UK deployed 18 F-35Bs aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R06).

The massing of fifth-generation American fighter jets in the region comes as the Navy begins deploying its new blended carrier air wing. The Carl Vinson CSG with Carrier Air Wing 2 embarked features the first F-35Cs and CMV-22B Ospreys to deploy together aboard an aircraft carrier.

As we have previously reported, VMFA-314’s deployment on Abraham Lincoln is the first Marine F-35C squadron to deploy on a carrier.

Asked recently how he feels about Marine F-35s on carriers, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said “I’m all for it.”

“We are doing it now. And not only are we doing it now, but we’ve deployed the F-35Bs on the Izumo, which is the Japanese converted destroyer version of their aircraft carrier. And did it very very successfully. And so, this is the way of the future,” Del Toro told the Navy Memorial SITREP speaker series on Jan. 18, 2022, referring to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Izumo (DDH183).

Lawmakers on the House Armed Services seapower and project forces subcommittee recently cited the potential for China to invade Taiwan within the next five years in making the case for a larger naval fleet with a consistent presence in the Indo-Pacific.

Photo by MC2 Haydn N. Smith, MCSN Larissa T. Dougherty, MCSN Elizabeth Grubbs, MCSA Leon Vonguyen

An F-35B Lighting II from VMFA-122 touched down on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) on Jan. 11, 2022, marking the first time the ship has landed the new fifth-generation fighter.

As the video in this post shows, an F-35B Lighting II from Marine Strike Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122 touched down on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) on Jan. 11, 2022, marking the first time the ship has landed the new fifth-generation fighter.

Tripoli has been steadily operating and training the crew in preparation for the underway flight operations with VMFA-122, which culminated in the fixed-wing certification for the ship.

“This is what Tripoli was built for,” said Capt. Joel Lang, Tripoli’s Commanding Officer, to Lt. Davis Anderson, USS Tripoli Public Affairs, for the article Tripoli Recovers F-35Bs, certifies for fixed-wing operations. “The crew and supporting organizations have worked incredibly hard to get us to the point where we can launch and recover aircraft, rising to every challenge the Navy has put before them since we were commissioned. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished.”

Bringing the aircraft to the ship required a lot of coordination between Tripoli and the Marines who operate the fighter.

“It was an honor to support Tripoli in accomplishing such an important event,” said Maj. Randy Brazile, the landing signal officer embarked from VMFA-225. “The Marines and pilots from VMFA-122 and (Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron) VMX-1 are excited to see Tripoli achieve its fixed-wing flight certification.”

The Sailors who comprise the flight deck crew have trained their entire careers to run flight operations, and they worked efficiently and safely while accomplishing this milestone.

“Everything flowed perfectly,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Paul Salame. “We did everything we practiced for. I got to launch the first jet ever from Tripoli; it was a good feeling. We’re all very excited to do it again.”

As crewmembers crowded vulture’s row or viewed the flight operations on one of the ship’s monitors, the excitement was palpable throughout the command.

“The crew has sacrificed time away from their families and friends to accomplish our mission,” said Lang. “Days like today prove that the time those families have given us isn’t wasted.”

Tripoli is an America-class amphibious assault ship and was commissioned in July 2020. The ship is homeported in San Diego and operates under commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 3.

Tripoli is the second LHA to be delivered to the Navy, and the third in naval history to bear the name which harkens back to the first US battle fought on foreign soil. The name Tripoli was previously assigned to a Casablanca-class escort carrier that saw service in the Second World War. Later, the first amphibious assault ship with the name USS Tripoli (LPH 10) served in Vietnam and during the Gulf War.

Tripoli was built in Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Tripoli, the only America-class amphibious assault ship in San Diego, joins the Wasp-class large deck amphibious assault vessels USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Boxer (LHD 4), USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), and USS Makin Island (LHD 8). As the largest amphibious ship on the waterfront, Tripoli serves as an LHD variant designed to accommodate the Marine Corps’ future Air Combat Element (ACE) including the F-35B Lightning II and MV-22 Osprey.

U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana

On Jan. 15, 2022, the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) departed Bremerton for a 16,000-mile journey around South America for its ultimate fate: scrapping at a Texas shipyard.

On Jan. 15, 2022, the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), the US Navy’s last oil-fired aircraft carrier, departed Bremerton for a 16,000-mile journey around South America for its ultimate fate: scrapping at a Texas shipyard.

Among the onlookers, there were many former sailors aboard the Kitty Hawk. They watched as tugs pulled the aircraft carrier into Sinclair Inlet on a foggy Saturday morning. The warship will be tugged through the Strait of Magellan en route to Brownsville, Texas because at more than 1,000 feet long, the Kitty Hawk won’t fit in the Panama Canal.

As reported by Kitsap Sun, the Kitty Hawk follows from Bremerton’s mothball fleet the USS Constellation, USS Independence, and USS Ranger, which were all dismantled at the same place: International Shipbreaking Ltd. The company contracted for the warship, along with fellow carrier USS John F. Kennedy, for the stately price of one cent.

In 2021 the carrier got a rare visit to one of the Navy’s only two carrier dry docks so that its marine growth could be scraped off. Under an agreement with the state, Suquamish Tribe, and other groups, the ship’s hull could not be cleaned in Sinclair Inlet after a previous carrier’s scrubbing sparked environmental concerns.

The Kitty Hawk will not be turned into a museum like it already happened for five former US Navy aircraft carriers. The service declined to pursue that course although many sailors and others advocated for its preservation. In fact, since all of the nuclear-powered era aircraft carriers must be mangled to remove all radioactive remnants, advocates worried that there will never be another one preserved for posterity. The San Diego-ported USS Midway, a flattop that served from 1945 to 1992, was the last aircraft carrier the Navy turned into a museum.

The USS Kitty Hawk was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered airplane flight. She was the lead ship of the Navy’s second class of supercarriers [the other two were USS Constellation (CV-64) and USS America (CV-66)]. Initially commissioned as an attack aircraft carrier CVA-63, she was redesignated as a multi-purpose aircraft carrier CV-63 on Apr. 29, 1973.

The Kitty Hawk was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, on 27 Dec. 27, 1956. The ship was launched on May 21, 1960, and commissioned on Apr. 29, 1961.

The Kitty Hawk participated in combat operations during the nation’s wars in Vietnam (during her second WestPac tour of the Vietnam War, the ship spent 117 days at Yankee Station. CVW-11 aircraft flew 5,466 combat and 4,887 support sorties, dropping 11,780.64 tons of ordnance on a “resourceful and determined enemy.” “On the line” for 117 days, USS Kitty Hawk conducted key strikes, a total of 38, against North Vietnamese targets near Haiphong, Kep, Bac Giang, Hon Gai, Van Dien, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, and Ninh Binh, together with 15 mining missions), Afghanistan and Iraq.

For 10 years, Kitty Hawk was the forward-deployed carrier at Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan. In October 2008, she was replaced in this role by George Washington (CVN-73). Kitty Hawk then returned to the US and had her decommissioning ceremony on Jan. 31, 2009. She was officially decommissioned on May 12, 2009, after almost 49 years of service. The USS Kitty Hawk was replaced by the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).

The following video was taken on Nov. 17, 2017, and shows the USS Kitty Hawk filmed as it sat moored in Bremerton, WA.

Photo by PHAN Lee Mccaskill / U.S. Navy

US Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can outrun virtually every surface ship in most sea states. The rougher it is, the more they will be able to outdistance other watercraft.

US Navy aircraft carriers continue to be the centerpiece of the forces necessary for operating forward. In times of crisis, the first question leaders ask is: “Where are the carriers?”

Aircraft carriers are the most adaptable and survivable airfields in the world. On any given day, Sailors aboard an aircraft carrier and its air wing come to the fight trained and equipped across a full range of missions. They are ready to control the sea, conduct strikes, and maneuver across the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace. No other naval force fields a commensurate range and depth of combat capabilities.

US Navy aircraft carriers also move fast. According to Forbes ‘Fast enough, in fact, to outrun most submarines. Because they can sustain speeds of 35 miles per hour, the Nimitz-class carriers populating the current fleet can move to anywhere within a 700-square mile area within 30 minutes. After 90 minutes, that area grows to over 6,000 square miles. So, finding a carrier isn’t the same thing for enemies as successfully targeting it. By the time their weapons arrive, it will likely be gone.’

James O’Shea, BS Electrical Engineering & History, explains on Quora:

‘Due to their size and engine power American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can outrun virtually every surface ship in most sea states. The rougher it is, the more they will be able to outdistance other watercraft. There are watercraft which can go faster than carriers, in good weather. In bad weather, carriers will outrun almost everything afloat. An antisubmarine frigate can’t possibly keep up. A destroyer would have a better chance but still would have problems. Since the old CALIFORNIA class nuclear cruisers were decommissioned, no American cruiser can keep up with a carrier. The Russian KIROV class battlecruisers might be able to stay with a carrier, maybe, but not for long, especially in bad weather.

‘Note that if you look up the official top speed of American carriers, you’ll see mealy-mouthed phrases like “in excess of 30 knots” as the Navy doesn’t want to say. USS KITTY HAWK once made a sprint in which she averaged 42 knots by simple math. USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) allegedly once hit 50 knots. Allegedly. The Navy refuses to say. CVN-65 is now decommissioned and will be replaced by a GERALD R. FORD class carrier, CVN-80, which is, allegedly, faster than CVN-65.’

O’Shea concludes;

‘The only surface warships which could sustain speeds close to or superior to those of an American nuclear-powered carrier would be the various fast minelayers of the WWII era, such as the British ABDIEL or MANXMAN, both of which could exceed 44 knots. Very large transatlantic liners such as QUEEN MARY could also go very fast, for much the same reasons as the carriers. QUEEN MARY once rammed and cut in two a cruiser without slowing down.’

Photo by U.S. Navy

The EMALS comes in 2 launcher configuration while the AAG will have 3 engines.

As noted by Alert 5, France has secured the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) for its next aircraft carrier as the US State Department approved the Foreign Military Sale on Dec. 21, 2021.

According to Transmittal No 21-65, the EMALS comes in 2 launcher configurations while the AAG will have 3 engines. The package is worth up to $1.321 billion.

EMALS is the US Navy’s newest complete carrier-based launch system designed for USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and future Ford-class carriers. The launching system is designed to expand the operational capability of Ford-class carriers, providing the Navy with the capability for launching all current and future carrier air wing platforms – lightweight unmanned to heavy strike fighters. The mission and function of EMALS remain the same as the traditional steam catapult; however, it employs entirely different technologies. EMALS uses stored kinetic energy and solid-state electrical power conversion. This technology permits a high degree of computer control, monitoring, and automation.

Benefits

• Increased reliability and efficiency
• More accurate end-speed control and smoother acceleration
• Expanded operational capability with increased sortie rates
• Cost reduction over time due to decreased manning and maintenance requirements
• Ability to launch a broader range of naval aircraft – from lightweight unmanned to heavy strike fighters- with less stress on the ship and aircraft
• Provides necessary higher launch energy capacity
• Substantial improvements in system weight, volume, and maintenance
• EMALS over steam catapults means quieter and cooler work and living spaces for Sailors
• More intuitive maintenance software will reduce troubleshooting times

AAG is a modular, integrated system consisting of energy absorbers, power conditioning equipment, and digital controls, designed as the follow-on to the Mark-7 (Mk-7) arresting gear. The Navy is currently utilizing the Mk-7 Mod 3 and Mk-7 Mod 4 designs on all Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

The AAG architecture, Health Monitoring Assessment and Prognostics technology, and digital control system provide built-in tests and diagnosis, resulting in the system requiring less maintenance and manpower to operate than the Mk-7. This change in architecture is designed to provide higher reliability and safety margins while allowing Sailors to focus on other areas of need. The system is also designed to allow the potential arrestment of a broader range of aircraft, from the lightest unmanned aerial vehicles to the heaviest manned fighters.

Benefits:

• Employs advanced technologies to provide higher reliability and safety margins
• Requires less maintenance and manpower to operate than the legacy arresting system
• Recovers all current and projected future carrier-based aircraft, from the lightest unmanned aerial vehicles to the heaviest manned fighters
• Allows for increased sortie rates, lower energy consumption, and a decreased gross ship weight

Photo by U.S. Navy