These mythical carriers did not exist in 1941 and could not have. An absolutely immense number of escort carriers were built by the US during the war, and contributed heavily to the outcome in the outcome in the Atlantic, but there's no way they could have been ready in quantity before superior ASW aircraft were also ready in quantity.
Fundamentally, winning the Battle of the Atlantic relied on other technical means than mere aircraft alone: HF-DF, much better (and smaller) airborne radar, improved sonar, codebreaking, and improved ASW weapons. No single aircraft platform earlier in the war would meaningfully have changed the situation without these other improvements as well.
These mythical carriers did not exist in 1941 and could not have.
Here is my alternate history scenario:
IF the US had Fairey Swordfish that had proven effective in combating Japanese submarines on the West Coast, Which they had but Admiral Nimitz did not believe the reports. The Fiarey Swordfish were superior ASW aircraft in 1934. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
And IF the US had hundreds or thousands more Fairey Swordfish they had built. This is the alternate history part. The US had the tools to set up an assembly line in storage and forgot to tell anyone after Prime Minister Churchill told President Roosevelt how important they were.
And IF the US had used those newly American-made Swordfish to drive the German U-boats away from the US East Coast, moving the Battle of the Atlantic farther out to sea,
And IF the US then wanted to convert any ship in production to be a light carrier designed to carry Fairey Swordfish and escort convoys,
I am not talking about magically building more Hornet or Essex class fleet carriers. I'm talking about changing history so that light cruisers were converted into escort carriers and Fairey Swordfish hunted U-boats in the Atlantic long before this really happened.
I contend 2 changes would have shortened World War 2 massively:
1. The US should have never mass-produced the Mark 14 torpedo and instead tested the heck out of the Mark 10.
2. The US should have mass-produced a variant of the Swordfish, instead of mass-producing the TBD as a torpedo plane.
I would love to move up the production of Kaiser's Escort Carriers, but that would be too risky. The magic of Kaiser's escort carriers could be sabotaged by a butterfly flapping its wings. I would only supply them with a bunch of Swordfish when they were available to go with their F4F Wildcats and SBD Dauntlesses.
Comments
These mythical carriers did not exist in 1941 and could not have. An absolutely immense number of escort carriers were built by the US during the war, and contributed heavily to the outcome in the outcome in the Atlantic, but there's no way they could have been ready in quantity before superior ASW aircraft were also ready in quantity.
Fundamentally, winning the Battle of the Atlantic relied on other technical means than mere aircraft alone: HF-DF, much better (and smaller) airborne radar, improved sonar, codebreaking, and improved ASW weapons. No single aircraft platform earlier in the war would meaningfully have changed the situation without these other improvements as well.
Here is my alternate history scenario:
IF the US had Fairey Swordfish that had proven effective in combating Japanese submarines on the West Coast, Which they had but Admiral Nimitz did not believe the reports. The Fiarey Swordfish were superior ASW aircraft in 1934. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish
And IF the US had hundreds or thousands more Fairey Swordfish they had built. This is the alternate history part. The US had the tools to set up an assembly line in storage and forgot to tell anyone after Prime Minister Churchill told President Roosevelt how important they were.
And IF the US had used those newly American-made Swordfish to drive the German U-boats away from the US East Coast, moving the Battle of the Atlantic farther out to sea,
And IF the US then wanted to convert any ship in production to be a light carrier designed to carry Fairey Swordfish and escort convoys,
Then some or all of the 8 light cruisers the US completed in 1942 (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_in_World_Wa...) could have been converted as the Independence Class aircraft carriers were converted from the Cleveland Class light cruisers (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence-class_aircraft_ca...)
I am not talking about magically building more Hornet or Essex class fleet carriers. I'm talking about changing history so that light cruisers were converted into escort carriers and Fairey Swordfish hunted U-boats in the Atlantic long before this really happened.
I contend 2 changes would have shortened World War 2 massively: 1. The US should have never mass-produced the Mark 14 torpedo and instead tested the heck out of the Mark 10. 2. The US should have mass-produced a variant of the Swordfish, instead of mass-producing the TBD as a torpedo plane.
I would love to move up the production of Kaiser's Escort Carriers, but that would be too risky. The magic of Kaiser's escort carriers could be sabotaged by a butterfly flapping its wings. I would only supply them with a bunch of Swordfish when they were available to go with their F4F Wildcats and SBD Dauntlesses.