Reply #108: US Fleet DEC 1941

[happyslug]

Pacific Fleet:
USS Pennsylvania
USS Maryland

By January 1941
USS Tennessee
USS Colorado

Joined in January by (Transferred from Atlantic Fleet):
USS New Mexico
USS Mississippi
USS Idaho

Joined in Feb 1942:
USS Nevada

Thus by February 1942 the US Pacific Fleet was back up to the 9 Battleships it had on December 7, 1941.

In the Atlantic After Pearl you had the following (lost of the three Battleships sent to the Pacific):
USS Wyoming
USS Arkansas
USS New York
USS Texas

These were joined by the following ships (The First New Battleships built by the US since the early 1920s do to the Washington Treaty of 1921 Limitations, joining the Fleet 2-3 months after their were Commissioned):

USS Washington (Sent to England March 1942)
USS South Dakota (Commissioned March 1942)
USS Massachusetts Commissioned May 1942)
USS Alabama (Commissioned August 1942)

Starting in June 1942 the following ships were sent to the Pacific:
USS Indiana (Commissioned 30Apr42)
USS North Carolina

Starting in 1943 the USS Iowa Class would join the Fleet but only join the Pacific Fleet in early 1944 (The Iowa was kept in the Atlantic is case the German Battleship Tirpitz would break out and than to transport FDR to the Casablanca Conference, the Iowa's three sister ships would be sent to Directly to the Pacific after commissioning).

My point here is the Pacific was NOT in that bad a situation in Early 1942. The US was actually more worried about the War in the Atlantic than in the Pacific thus the US kept its most modern Battleships in the ATLANTIC even after Pearl Harbor (and kept sending most of the new Battleships to the Atlantic till the Battle of the Atlantic was won in the Summer of 1943).

While 1/2 of the Battleships in the Pacific Fleet was sunk on 7DEC1941, those losses had been replaced by February 1941. The four ships sunk on 7DEC1941, was out of 16 Battleships the US had on 7DEC1941 (and four new battleships would join the fleet within 9 months of 7Dec1941, total Battleships by August 1942 would back to 16). By 1944 the Number of battleships would increase by six, four new Iowa Class and two re-floated battleships sunk on 7DEC1941). Thus by June 1944 before the Battle of Leyte Gulf the US had 22 Battleships. THAT IS HOW LITTLE OF THE US FLEET WAS DESTROYED ON 7DEC1941. Lets not belittle the damage done by the Japanese but lets also do not make it worse that what it was. (For comparison purposes the US had 73 Carriers by 1945, but most of these were "Light Carriers" or "Escort Carriers" the later were nothing but converted freighters to carry a handful of planes for escort duties and the light Carriers had terrible armor protection compared to the Battleships and the Fleet Carriers).