Awakening the Sleeping Giant, Pt. 2—Rags to Riches in 1943 | Channel Markers

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In Part 1 of this episode, "Awakening the Sleeping Giant," we looked at the US Navy’s situation in the first 12 months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. You to go to war with what you have, and the US Navy in 1942 was damned good. Every battle star was hard-earned. Built for a war in the great ocean expanse of the Pacific, the prewar Navy stopped Japanese advances on Australia and in the Central Pacific, then in August 1942 took the offensive in the South Pacific, on the island of Guadalcanal. Months later, with 1943 only several weeks old, the half-starving Japanese survivors ceded the island to the US Marines and Army forces, ending one of the hardest fought campaigns in the military history of both countries. What followed in 1943 was a year of transition for the Navy, as its global commitments and force structure increased, so much so that tactics, operations, and strategy changed. It planned nothing less than the annihilation of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and by the end of 1943, difficult bare-bones operations were out, and the application of massive naval power was in. In Washington, anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and the services fought each other for resources. Shortages in materials and manpower caused a significant competition for resources, a battle the Navy was accustomed to winning. Would Admiral King get his massive 1947 Fleet?

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).

Norman Friedman, U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History, rev. ed. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2021).

Samuel E. Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942 - April 1944 (Boston, MA: Little Brown & Co., 1951; reprinted Naval Institute Press, 2011). See the introduction by Col. Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret.).

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. 2, 1943