Pros:She can now launch about 7 times as many planes.Basically guaranteed air superiority all by herself.
Cons:Due to IJN's CV design,those flight decks are mostly made of just wood and not much else,with bombs and fuels directly underneath,she's also now at least 7 times as likely to become well-done turkey.
Pretty sure that the Yorktown-class & prior classes had wood decks. It wasn't until the Essex-class that the USA used steel decks.
In any case, wood decks, although flammable & weaker, are easier to repair & replace than steel decks. Apparently, the Enterprise, among others, were able to do so while underway & resume combat operations.
The main issue was that as time went on, planes & their ordinance became too heavy for the flight deck while enmasse. There is a limit on the amount of support below the deck because the hangar needs its space as well.
If I understand correctly, the real problem for IJN CVs, was ordinance handling & minimally armored hangar decks.
mikoyan
No problem with being a decoy as long as there's a good plan & capability, of which there was neither by the time she was the last one standing.
Oteck
They did? The planes & their ordinance became too heavy for the supports of the upper decks &, perhaps, an adequate center of gravity for the ship.
One has to wonder how she's going to fire that bow one-handed...
Yo_L2 said:
Show
Pretty sure that the Yorktown-class & prior classes had wood decks. It wasn't until the Essex-class that the USA used steel decks.
In any case, wood decks, although flammable & weaker, are easier to repair & replace than steel decks. Apparently, the Enterprise, among others, were able to do so while underway & resume combat operations.
The main issue was that as time went on, planes & their ordinance became too heavy for the flight deck while enmasse. There is a limit on the amount of support below the deck because the hangar needs its space as well.
If I understand correctly, the real problem for IJN CVs, was ordinance handling & minimally armored hangar decks.
The Essex-class were wooden-decked as well. The Midway-class (incomplete until after the war) were the first American armored-deck carriers.
That, however, doesn't tell the whole story. A wooden deck is one thing, but whether the rest of the ship had armor is another.
The problem with, say, Akagi, was that her ammo and fuel were virtually unprotected to the point that a single bomb was capable of destroying the whole ship.
Compared to, say, Enterprise, which survived multiple bombs, and even kamikaze attacks, or Shoukaku who is considered "unlucky" because she survived multiple attacks, or, Hell, a box of matches on a dry Summer day, the Akagi and Kaga were total tinderboxes.
