Quote:
Originally Posted by Kakurin-san
This number's a bit misleading since most of them were small escort carriers which were of very limited use in fleet combat. Most of them were used to protect convoys and provide some support during amphibious landings. More useful, but no less impressive, is a look at true fleet carriers commissioned. Namely the Essex-class. Until 1946 the US completed 24 of them and the rain of Essexes started in 1943 with six of them put into service. The IJN compared to that only completed four true fleet carriers during the entire war - Taihō, Unryū, Amagi and Katsuragi. The latter three weren't of any use since they were completed after the Battle of the Phillippine Sea which practically eliminated the Japanese carrier arm. Moreover they were based on Hiryū's design, meaning they were significantly inferior to the American Essex-class, or the Shōkakus and Taihō for that matter.
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The 2nd part of it is the ability to put pilots in those planes. By the mid/end of the war, both the quality and quantity of the Japanese pilots declined to next to nothing. An example was those kamikaze pilots were just trained in the basics of keeping the plane in the air and pointing it in the direction they wanted to go (into an enemy warship) even navigation was not taught which was why they had a senior pilot guide them to the enemy fleet (the senior pilot needed to come back to lead the next batch) Sure they had experienced and deadly pilots left but replacement became a serious problem.