Pearl harbor was actually too successful and taught Americans

there's a point in there, somewhere.

WWII enthusiasts who really don't know that much will go on and on at length about how in WWII, battleships became obsolete and were superseded by carriers. And they go on to imagine this generation of crusty old battleship admirals who didn't know what they were doing, while the young dynamic carrier admirals came in to save the day, etc. etc.

Well the reason that carriers superseded battleships is because the American navy made it happen. They had to. Carriers were all they had left, and needed to pioneer carrier warfare out of necessity.

Well, they also had their submarine fleets. But the Americans did all they could to not advertise just how huge an impact they had on the outcome of the war.

>>2132171
>Well, they also had their submarine fleets. But the Americans did all they could to not advertise just how huge an impact they had on the outcome of the war.
That might be partly because of the horrific casualty rate. The more you brag about your subs, the more you'll make people aware of how many died.

>>2132171

>I have no idea what I'm talking about: The Post.

America entered the war with 16 Battleships afloat (17 if you count the Wyoming), and another 7 in various states of construction. Pearl Harbor "sank" 4 of the oldest, and half of those were dredged back up eventually.

Carriers were not "all they had left" you daft bastard.

>>2132182
Not literally, you cunt. The surface fleet in the pacific had been decimated (again, not literally), and while they did manage to refloat some later in the war, many of those ships were far away on the U.S. east coast and slated for war with Germany. For the first few months after Pearl, the U.S. was completely outgunned by the IJN, and the only bright spot were the carriers they had left.

>>2132236

Their carriers were also outmatched (at least on paper) by the IJN carriers, no different from the BB.

Fuck, they'd go on to lose the Lexington at Coral Sea, the Yorktown at Midway, and the Hornet at Santa Cruz, meaning that a larger proportion of CV were sunk than the then extant battleship fleet, nevermind the ultimatley constructed battleship fleet.

The shift to carriers had to do with inter-war realizations as to the value of them and naval aviation in general. It wasn't some ad hoc policy decided upon because of the losses at Pearl.

I'd recommend this book, if you want to actually learn a bit about the subject.

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Sea-Breaking-Storm-1919-1945/dp/0826217028