Awakening the Sleeping Giant, Pt. 1—The War’s First Year | Channel Markers

There’s a popular belief that after Japan had awakened the sleeping industrial giant by destroying the fleet at Pearl Harbor, the US Navy was afforded virtually unlimited resources to build the largest naval fighting force in history, one that humbled its allies and rolled over its enemies like a tsunami. While the idea has a ring of truth to it, we know the fleet was not totally destroyed. But were the resources unlimited? If so, what happened, for example, to the Montana-class battleships? Or why did the President initially oppose the Midway-class carriers? On the other hand, why were so many underage ships decommissioned after the war? Did the Navy have enough of the types of ships we needed? Or too many of others? In 1942, the Navy saw its prewar carrier fleet whittled down from 6 carriers to 2 in six months of combat. No new carriers arrived to relieve Enterprise (CV-6) and Saratoga (CV-3), the two survivors. In fact, the newest big ships coming online in 1941-1942 were battleships. In this multi-video series we will look at the political and strategic factors behind the Navy's expansion before and during the war. In today's video, about the 1942, the first full year of war for the US, well-taken decisions in 1939-1940 have unintended consequences for the US Navy, which struggles with a lack of carriers and cruisers in the Pacific, and convoy escorts in the Atlantic. The enormous Navy envisioned during 1942 won't be fully realized until 1946. Did we build too many ships during the war? The answer is yes, but perhaps not for the reasons expected. Did the Navy roll over its enemies, especially Japan, like tsunami? In the end, yes, it did. As always, however, with so much money and so many resources involved, some of the Navy's biggest battles are fought in Washington, DC.

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For additional reading:

Joel R. Davidson, The Unsinkable Fleet: The Politics of U.S. Navy Expansion in World War II (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996).

Norman Friedman, U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated History, rev. ed. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2022).

John C. Reilly, Jr., comp. and ed., Operational Experience of Fast Battleships: World War II, Korea, Vietnam (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1989).

Image & video Sources: US National Archives; US Naval Institute, Naval History & Heritage Command.

Channel Markers, Ep. 21 | Pt. 1, 1942