World War II in the Pacific Ocean involved clashes between aircraft carrier fleets. The Japanese surprise attack on the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor naval and air bases on Sunday, 7 December 1941, was a clear illustration of the power projection capability afforded by a large force of modern carriers. Concentrating six carriers in a single unit turned naval history about, as no other nation had fielded anything comparable. In the "Doolittle Raid", on 18 April 1942, the US Navy carrier sailed to within of Japan and launched 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from her deck in a demonstrative retaliatory strike on the mainland, including the capital, Tokyo. However, the vulnerability of carriers compared to traditional capital ships was illustrated by the sinking of by German battleships during the Norwegian campaign in 1940.
World War II in the Pacific Ocean involved clashes between aircraft carrier fleets. The Japanese surprise attack on the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor naval and air bases on Sunday 7 December 1941, was a clear illustration of the power projection capability afforded by a large force of modern carriers. Concentrating six carriers in a single unit turned naval history about as no other nation had fielded anything comparable. In the "Doolittle Raid", on 18 April 1942, the US Navy carrier sailed to within of Japan and launched 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from her deck in a demonstrative retaliatory strike on the mainland, including the capital, Tokyo. However, the vuln,erability of carriers compared to traditional capital ships was illust,rated by the sinking of by German battleships during the Norwegian campaign in 1940.