What mix of aircraft & what type would you have on a "raiding" CVL?

[freebird]

Originally Posted by DBII

Looks like the 12 fighter option has taken a big lead over the 12 recon/fb option. If the carrier is being used as a commerce raider, I would rather have more recon/fb. If the carrier is escorting a pocket Battleship, I would go with the 12 fighters. I was reading about a Bf 109T designed for carrier operations last night. It would be interesting to take them on a cruise.

DBII

I think you are right DB, if there was a Recon/FB that was halfway decent it would work. In '43 I would take 12 Firefly's & 6 Seafires.

If it was in '41, I would probably go with 10 Fulmar as Recon/FB, 8 Seafires or SeaHurri's & 6 Sea skua FB/TB. That way there would be enough protection if you were attacked by a dozen fighters escorting some bombers {for example} yet still have enough Recon to be effective.

[renrich]

If I knew then what I would have known at the end of the war, all AC on board would be one type. The F4U could fulfill all the missions(except torpedo attack and it could have been adapted for that) admirably. The Navy found out it was almost as accurate as a dive bomber as the SBD. It had plenty of range for recon or strike fighter and it could of course carry out the CAP role. Having only one type on board simplifies spare parts, maintenance, etc. Sort of like today when the majority of AC on an American carrier are one type(FA18 Hornets and Super Hornets)

[DBII]

That is a great plan.

dbII

[freebird]

Originally Posted by renrich

If I knew then what I would have known at the end of the war, all AC on board would be one type. The F4U could fulfill all the missions(except torpedo attack and it could have been adapted for that) admirably. The Navy found out it was almost as accurate as a dive bomber as the SBD. It had plenty of range for recon or strike fighter and it could of course carry out the CAP role. Having only one type on board simplifies spare parts, maintenance, etc. Sort of like today when the majority of AC on an American carrier are one type(FA18 Hornets and Super Hornets)

The problem Ren is that with the limited search technology in the 40's, a single pilots ability to do recon was very limited. The naval war in the pacific was very "hit & miss", because they couldn't find each other most of the time. For example the faulty recon at Coral & Midway & Singapore and so many other places. The Japanese were surprised by the appearance of "Force Z" because the day before the japanese recon flight had mistook two tankers for P. of W. & Repulse. The escorts for the US TB's at Midway got lost & separated, they couldn't find the Japanese carriers even though they already knew roughly where they were. The British had 9 CA's/CL's in the South Atlantic {with recon floatplanes & patrol aircraft} in the fall of '40 looking for "Scheer" but were unable to find her, she slipped back to Germany.

The second crewman as a radar operater & spotter was needed as the pilot couldn't do it all, with the rudimentary avionics of WWII.

Remember that the primary duty of the CVL with the Raider/Hunter group in distant oceans would be recon, much different than the attack/defence duties of the airgroup in a CV battle group

[MacArther]

I assume that in 1943 you would replace the Widcats with Hellcats and the Dauntless with Helldivers?

Actually, no. Because the Wildcats were smaller and had a shorter take-off and landing length, they were continually used to the end of the war by escort and light carriers. Also, with the advent of the FM-2 model, the Wildcat becomes formidable in its own right, with the ability to carry two 250 lb bombs or rockets. As for the Helldiver, it may have been faster, and had a higher bomb carrying capacity, but from what I've read it was not really well liked. Part of the reason may have been that the Helldiver was a larger aircraft than the Dauntless, and thus was slower to respond to commands, but even with this in mind it was still sluggish on the controls (according to my sources). Also, I think I remember hearing that the Dauntless could still take more punishment than a Helldiver and bring the pilot home.

All that being said, for other nations I would do as follows

British
Fighter: Sea Hurricane (it could carry bombs, something that the Seafire could only do in the much later marks)
Bomber/Recon: Swordfish (able to take loads of punishment, and could function as a torpedo or dive bomber, as well as recon)

German
Fighter: He 100 (good mix of firepower, speed, manuevering, and good sized landing gear unlike the Bf-109)
Recon/Torpedo: Ju-88, baring that a Fw-187 (it can be a fighter, a fighter bomber, or a torpedo plane depending on the fitting!)
Bomber: That one Henkiel biplane that was used until there weren't any left.