How Aircraft Carriers Helped the US in WWII - Research Paper Example

? How Aircraft & Aircraft Carriers Helped the U.S in WWII How Aircraft & Aircraft Carriers Helped the U.S in WWII During the worldwar II, the air craft and aircraft carriers also known as air power, this was a vital part of the was in the sense that it enabled the transportation of all sorts things needed for the war from one place to another. These things include medical supplies for the injured; armoury for the soldiers at war mail for the commanding officers and soldiers from their loved ones, delivering of food for the soldiers also survivors of the war to their countries. In the war, it was a case of ensuring the enemy did not have access to the U.S territory. Air power facilitated the surveillance of the U.S land. The use of aircraft in the World War II was part of a national grand strategy. Higham observes that the use of aircraft in the war during the 20th century consisted of strategic planning by the government and tactical operations, which follows the, principles of war and commerce (2002, 1). In this paper, we focus the discussion on how aircraft and the aircraft carriers were of help to the U.S army during the World War II. Air power consists of the air forces, airlines, aircraft and the ancillary industry. For the operation of this industry, it requires management that entails command control communications and intelligence. All this things were a vital part for any U.S air force soldier to be familiar with before taking command of any U.S air force airline. During World War II, Higham points out that the air power was still a not an area familiar to the American army. However, over the years the airpower became a force to reckon with, the air force was vital to the ground power in the World War II. For instance, in the war against France, most of the air operations took place in the western front this included reconnaissance activities, these activities included obtaining information, photographic and making maps for the ground-based power the Air Force also fought to prevent others that are the enemy from gaining the same access to the information they had retrieved (Higham 2002, 1). The aircrafts became utilized in the ground attack late in the war. Higham notes the use of air power in the bombing of Britain Germany and Japan. At the pacific, see the land, based air forces and the carrier task forces were in use. The U.S utilized the air force to patrol the sea-lanes in the north Atlantic; photoreconnaissance was also a part of the role done by the air force in the wars. The British and Americans used the air power for guerrilla warfare. In his book, the rise of American Air power, Sherry examines the American bombing strategy of specific interest is the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. The author approaches this from the cultural point of history. Sherry points out that the U.S utilized the dropping of the atom bombs as a defence and due to its terror potential. Culturally speaking the use of air power was not because of the technological advancement of the weapons used in war but it was a continuation of the fantasy of scientific warfare and the evolving of political social and military views (1987,239). With the technological advancement in the air power, the dropping of the atom bombs was an easy way for the U.S to block the enemy’s ability to wage war. The Japanese according to sherry’s observation gave in to an unconditional surrender. Sherry does point out that in the use of aircraft; the aerial bombing was a chaotic and haphazard affair that yielded unintended consequences that included massive civilian casualties. This to sherry was a failure because it did not in any way address the necessity to defeat the main body of the enemy military forces (1987, 145). Sherry observed that the use of aircraft as an offensive strategy in the warfare did achieve its target because it did fuel for revenge between combatants. This was because of the inhumane pain inflicted upon the civilian population. The whole idea of developing technology related to aircraft warfare was just a strategy of one side wanting the ability to annihilate the other side; this annihilation of one side grew from the thought of being able to have control over the war. Historically at the beginning of World War II the two nations that had a plan to bomb program were Britain and America. This was because these two nations drew inspiration from the strong political appeal that they would achieve a quick victory at a relatively low cost. The Americans for, some time, had maintained the air service for the ground support, but a group officers came up with the idea of offensive attacks to the enemy economies. This involved the bombing of chosen targets in the service systems and industrial areas of the enemies’ economy (Tucker and Roberts 2005: 2). The U.S evidently had devoted massive financial, material and personnel resources to the bomber aircraft, the believe that, with an aircraft, the war was already won .what the United state needed to do was concentrate on the massive bombing missions and how to execute the missions. Here, the political decision of the country that resorted to bombing missions raised so much doubt. Sherry clearly does disapprove the bombing missions so does tucker and Roberts because there was a case of massive deaths of innocent civilians. Although, these missions were successful in annihilating the enemy, but it had serious consequences, it widened the enmity that existed between the nations. During the World War II, we read that the United States and the Great Britain joined forces to create the combined offensive force with the British preferring to bomb at night the U.S preferred the daytime bombings. The 1945 nuclear bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saw the end of World War II, but the effective the strategic bombings are still put to question to this day. The U.S aircraft carrier forms a vital part of the American security force. The U.S carriers have their bases at the international waters and the carriers’ house naval aircraft that are utilised for diplomatic reasons. Hovert recounts to us about the pacific air war we make the conclusion that; all these wars that involved was more of an intellectual war to measure the technological advancement of the enemy country. The pacific war as reported begun with the Japanese carrier aircraft launching an attack on the U.S base Pearl Harbour in 1941. This attack as Hovert states made the world aware of the power of aviation forces. On the same day, the Philippines’ base was also attacked. Luckily, for the U.S military the three carriers were not present at the harbour during the attack. The U.S carriers started their pursuit on the enemy; the aim of the pursuit was to prove their ability to respond mobilize and pursue its objective that was to win the war. The U.S aircraft carriers of the World War II had been extensively modified. They had reinforced the angle flight deck, and an addition of mirror landing system was added to accommodate the jet aircraft. The carriers also had better underwater protection compared to the other nation’s carriers. The U.S naval air force had like 32 aircraft carriers for the war. The carriers came in handy as the refuelling stations for the aircrafts utilised in the war. They also acted as an emergency landing points for aircrafts that experienced tough situations like mechanical problems. For the airplanes that went on rescue missions, the aircraft carrier represented the stop points for the survivors to get medical attention. The aircraft carrier also provided deck landing and takeoff experience for naval aviation cadets. The history of the aviation industry does acknowledge that the aircrafts and the aircraft carriers had an enormous impact on the world war II, the main purpose for the airlines at the beginning of the war was to keep the troops and supplies to the front and the production chain was to be taken back home. The 2004 study on the development of aircrafts for the war revealed that, politically the United States had invested massively on the research of the best aircraft that would be suitable for the war. The government also had put in funds for the creation of the aircrafts of war. The industry had also received foreign funding for the creation of aircrafts for countries such as Britain and France (Airlines.org 2004, 38-40). Most of the designs that the researchers came up with were aircrafts that were faster could fly higher and further than the earlier aircrafts. The other innovations that the researchers managed to come up with were the radar and jet engines. The radar technology enabled the Americans to distinguish the enemy aircraft from their aircraft this was possible because the installed transponders on their aircrafts. The advanced aircraft was; later useful for the United States during the cold war with the Soviet Union. Another fundamental issue that arose during the World War II was a shortage of pilots. The political decision to recruit women and train them as pilots saw many young women enrol as volunteers to the war. The group known as WASPs were found to be as strong as men in the flying of that war aircrafts. The women ferried the new aircrafts from the factories to the military bases across the country. The women also helped in the testing of the newly overhauled aircrafts. He women also did testing on the new aircrafts; they towed and gave air gunners training on the shootings with live ammunitions. The women also did night training exercise on the planes. Thruelson gives an insight of the aircrafts that were used in the war. Most of the aircrafts were utilised in the transportation of firearms to the war base. In war tone areas, the aircrafts were used in rescue missions to save the injured soldiers as well as rescue soldiers when the enemies surrounded them. Thruelson also gives an account of the how the aircrafts were useful in dropping supplies for the ground-based armies. The delivery of mail was also a part of the aircrafts duty during the World War II. The war department also reports of the extensive training programs that were undertaken prior to the war. The military recruited crew and technicians who trained and were enrolled into the air force. The military department also made allies with the British military. Such commands that directed the air corps to make deliveries for the British at war were not a new thing. The air and transport commands controlled the supply and maintenance. The war department also acknowledged the usefulness of the carriers during the period of war during the attack on pearl harbour the carriers in the pacific were three another four carriers were located in the Atlantic. During the pacific war, the four carriers in the Atlantic were transferred to the pacific to strengthen the U.S team. The main purpose for the carriers during the World War II was carrying out carrier raids. They also participated in carrier versus carrier battles and most importantly they were useful in the amphibious landing support. To conclude the discussion we can say that new weapons and technology did improve the power of defence, this is a point agreed by all the authors in this discussion. However, the idea of bombing enemy economy as a way of instigating war is one strategy that is still in question to this day. The consequences of bombing are still felt to this day in states like Japan. The aircraft and aircrafts did strengthen the U.S military during the World War II. It also enabled the U.S make allies with the British and thus the British did award the U.S the contract of making their aircrafts for the war. The aircraft and aircraft carriers did allow the U.S army to gather information of the enemies’ territory as well as draw maps for their ground-based military. The aircraft and aircraft carriers indeed was a vital part of the World War II. The battle of the carriers in the pacific saw the U.S wins the battle over the Japanese. The U.S carriers proved to be invulnerable to the Japanese air power. The extensive research undertaken on the development of the aircraft and aircraft carriers enabled the U.S to strengthen their airpower. The use of the aircraft and aircraft carriers during the war was a political decision that underwent through a lot of discussion among the congress members, and they finally agreed on the issue f utilising these devices in the war. The idea of bombing was part of testing the intellectual capability of the U.S researchers in coming up with scientific weapons of destruction. Works Cited Airforce Historical Research Agency. 2008. The Growth of the United States Airforce. http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=10944&page=1 (accessed December 12, 2011). Airlines.org. Brief History of Aviation. 2004. http://www.airlines.org/Pages/Airline-Handbook Chapter-2-Economic-Deregulation.aspx (accessed December 12, 2011). Higham, Robin .2002. “AirPower: An Overview.” U.S Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/index2.cfm (accessed December 12, 2011). Sherry, Michael S. 1987. The Rise of American Air Power: The Creation Of Armageddon. New Haven: The Yale University Press. Tucker Dr.Spencer, Rogers Dr. Priscilla. 2005. Encyclopedia of World War II. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Read More