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Because they can't be sunk.

Aircraft carriers were expensive and took a long time to build. The aviators who flew from them required specialized training. They were vulnerable to submarines. Dozens of submarines could be built for the cost of a single carrier. The crew of a carrier was as many men as in twenty or more sub crews. Carriers required a dozen or more ships of other types to protect them from submarines and aircraft.

Carriers only have room for a limited number of aircraft. And those aircraft have to be relatively small, so they can take off and land in the few hundred feet of carrier deck - an area shorter than a football field. Because these aircraft have to be relatively small, they are limited in the amount of fuel they can hold, and in the amount of bombs and ordnance they can carry to the target. A WWII carrier aircraft could range out about 250 miles from its ship and be able to return after making its attack. All WWII carrier aircraft had to be single engine, and the heaviest could carry about one ton of bombs. A land airfield could be as big as the island. On Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas huge airfield complexes were built, each home to dozens of heavy, four engine bombers, which could carry tons of bombs two thousand miles and return.

Islands do not move. In darkness or bad weather they can be found. Finding a carrier the same conditions in a vast expanse of ocean was not easy in WWII.

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Continue Learning about Military History

Were there us aircraft carriers in the World War 2 European theater?

None were necessary since the British Isles provided plentiful air bases. However, in the Mediterranean theater, US escort carriers (aka jeep carriers or CVE's) were used to support amphibious landings. These were small aircraft carriers capable of operating about 30 aircraft each, which left the larger US fleet carriers with 70-80 aircraft each available for the Pacific theater.


What the American's aircraft do in World War 2?

The American aircraft was extremely important for bombing raids, such as the Doolittle raids or attacks on Germany from Allied bases in England. They also helped in the war in the Pacific, where aircraft carriers proved invaluable while fighting the Japanese.


What was the purpose of aircraft carriers in World War 2?

The main reason for the u.s using aircraft carriers in WWII was the abillity to provide air support to ground, naval, and air attacks while still being in the ocean, this ability allowed for aircraft to be closer to the enemy and deal more powerful and deadly attacks. An example of this is the Doolittle raid, without aircraft carriers the b-25's involved in this operation would not have been able to reach tokyo.


Why were military bases built in Texas during World War 2?

It's the biggest continental state. More space to build bases = Bigger bases. Bigger is better.


What role did naval warfare play in World War 2?

In the European theater, naval warfare primarily involved the transportation of troops and equipment; bringing war materials to England, and transporting armies to Africa and Europe. In the Pacific theater, the war itself was primarily a naval conflict. The Japanese aicraft launched from aircraft carriers made the initial strike against Pearl Harbor. In May 1942, in the first naval battle in which the opposing naval forces never saw each other in the Battle of the Coral Sea, carrier-based aircraft prevented the Japanese invasion of Australia. In June 1942, at the Battle of Midway, American carrier-based aircraft sank four Japanese carriers and broke the back of the Japanese Navy. From then until the end of the war, the Japanese were retreating. As American forces advanced in island-hopping advances using amphibious assault, the American Marines and Army grew closer to the homeland of Japan. After the assault on Guam and Saipan, American air bases were built close enough to Japan to begin continuous bombardment of the Japanese factories and cities.

Related questions

Where are the aircraft carriers?

Navy bases around the world.


Were there us aircraft carriers in the World War 2 European theater?

None were necessary since the British Isles provided plentiful air bases. However, in the Mediterranean theater, US escort carriers (aka jeep carriers or CVE's) were used to support amphibious landings. These were small aircraft carriers capable of operating about 30 aircraft each, which left the larger US fleet carriers with 70-80 aircraft each available for the Pacific theater.


How were the Americans able to attack japan?

We attacked them with aircraft carriers, marines and the rest of the Pacific Fleet. We uses our marines to invade key islands in a sort of chain action all the way to Japan. We used our aircraft carriers as floating air bases to house our aircraft that we used to attack Japanese controled island bases and to cripple their navy. And we used our other surface vessels to defend the carriers and landing forces. And last, we uses our submarines to destroy enemy shipping lanes and other surface vessels. Theres your answer.


What the American's aircraft do in World War 2?

The American aircraft was extremely important for bombing raids, such as the Doolittle raids or attacks on Germany from Allied bases in England. They also helped in the war in the Pacific, where aircraft carriers proved invaluable while fighting the Japanese.


Does Australia need aircraft carriers?

not really the place is too big we have remote Air Force bases run by skeleton crews which can be made operational at a moments notice


What bases have C5 aircraft?

Sorry, but that type of information is classified.


When was the war plane made?

are warships that evolved from balloon-carrying wooden vessels into nuclear powered vessels carrying dozens of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Since their introduction they have allowed naval forces to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations.Balloon carriers were the first ships to deploy manned aircraft, used during the 19th and early 20th century, mainly for observation purposes. The advent of fixed wing aircraft in 1903 was followed in 1910 by the first flight from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the mid 1920s, resulting in ships such asHMS Hermes (1924),[1] Hōshō, and the Lexington-class aircraft carriers.Most early aircraft carriers were conversions of ships that were laid down (or had even served) as different ship types: cargo ships, cruisers, battlecruisers, or battleships. During the 1920's, several navies started ordering and building aircraft carriers that were specifically designed as such. This allowed the design to be specialized to their future role, and resulted in superior ships. During the Second World War, these ships would become the backbone of the carrier forces of the US, British, and Japanese navies, known as fleet carriers.World War II saw the first large-scale use of aircraft carriers and induced further refinement of their design, leading to several variants. Escort carriers, such as USS Bogue, were built as a stop-gap measure to provide air support for convoys and amphibious invasions. Subsequent Light aircraft carriers, such as USS Independence, represented a larger, more "militarized" version of the escort carrier concept. Although the light carriers usually carried the same size air groups as escort carriers, they had the advantage of higher speed as they had been converted from cruisers under construction


does the navy fight?

The United States Navy has many different roles and platforms in which to accomplish those roles. They have submarines, combat vessels such as destroyers, aircraft carriers to support aviation superiority away from land bases, professional men and women who are trained to diligently perform their given roles.


How does the navy fight?

The United States Navy has many different roles and platforms in which to accomplish those roles. They have submarines, combat vessels such as destroyers, aircraft carriers to support aviation superiority away from land bases, professional men and women who are trained to diligently perform their given roles.


What was the purpose of aircraft carriers in World War 2?

The main reason for the u.s using aircraft carriers in WWII was the abillity to provide air support to ground, naval, and air attacks while still being in the ocean, this ability allowed for aircraft to be closer to the enemy and deal more powerful and deadly attacks. An example of this is the Doolittle raid, without aircraft carriers the b-25's involved in this operation would not have been able to reach tokyo.


Where were the bases of the aircraft that raided Glasgow?

Nearly all ETO (European Theater of Operations) US Army Air Corps/Force aircraft operated out of Great Britain.


What are considered bases?

Bases are any substance with a pH level of 7.1 to 14.