​🔗=====================>> The  WWII Japan > Japan Overreaches Submodule <<====================​🔗
subpages:  1942 Carrier Raids    Battle of the Coral Sea     Battle of Midway   
other links:  Naval War with Japan​     ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
USS Enterprise (CV-6)
USS Enterprise (CV-6)
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Japan Overreaches > 1942 Carrier Raids, © 2024 by Robert A. Christiansen​, updated by RAC 23 Apr 2024.

The United States entered World War II with a small fleet of seven aircraft carriers, listed below as CV-2 through CV-8. All survived the first few months of WWII, but four were lost before 1942 ended.

The first aircraft carriers in the United States Navy
  • USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3) - commissioned 20 Mar 1922; converted in 1936-37 to a seaplane tender; scuttled 27 Feb 1942 after air attacks south of Java.
  • USS Lexington (CV-2) - commissioned 14 Dec 1927; sunk 9 May 1942 after air attacks in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
  • USS Saratoga (CV-3) - commissioned 16 Nov 1927; survived WWII.
  • USS Ranger (CV-4) - commissioned 4 Jun 1934; served in the Atlantic; survived WWII.
  • USS Yorktown (CV-5) - commissioned 30 Sep 1937; sunk 7 Jun 1942 after air and submarine attacks in the Battle of Midway.
  • USS Enterprise (CV-6) - commissioned 12 May 1938; survived WWII.
  • USS Wasp (CV-7) - commissioned 25 Apr 1940; scuttled 15 Sep 1942 in the Guadalcanal Naval War after submarine attack in the South Pacific.
  • USS Hornet (CV-8) - commissioned 20 Oct 1941; sunk 27 Oct 1942 in the Guadalcanal Naval War after air attacks in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.
  • ​USS Essex (CV-9) - commissioned 31 Dec 1942; survived WWII.​​

All three United States aircraft carriers based in the Pacific, the Lexington, Saratoga and Enterprise, were at sea when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Soon thereafter the Yorktown and Hornet were transferred to the Pacific, followed by the Wasp in July 1942.

In February and March 1942, the Enterprise, Yorktown, and Lexington, participated in a series of raids on Japanese-occupied islands in the Pacific. Although these raids inflicted little damage, they provided invaluable experience in carrier combat operations, experience soon to be used in the two pivotal naval battles of Coral Sea and Midway.

Because of the distance between island chains in the Central Pacific, shortage of aircraft carriers delayed the start of the US Central Pacific offensive until late 1943.
April 1942 - The Doolittle Raid
Today only the carrier raid by the Hornet and Enterprise on 18 April, is remembered. In this raid, 16 Army Air Force two-engine B-25 medium bombers led by General Jimmy Doolittle flew from the Hornet over Tokyo, Japan into China.

Although the bombs dropped in the Tokyo area did little damage, this raid was a morale booster and propaganda victory for the United States. Today it is also considered a strategic victory as it encouraged Japan to keep more of its scarce military resources in the home islands, rather than being deployed.

Unfortunately, the raid led to Japanese massacres of thousands of Chinese civilians in areas that had aided Doolittle crew members after they landed. 
B-25s on USS Hornet, Apr '42
B-25s on USS Hornet, Apr '42
The Japanese Home Islands were not attacked from the air again until June 1944. ​
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > Japan Overreaches > 1942 Carrier Raids webpage: ​