Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Carrier Battles: Command Decision in Harm's Way Douglas Vaughn Smith Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES CARRIER BATTLES: COMMAND DECISION IN HARM'S WAY By DOUGLAS VAUGHN SMITH A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History, In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2005 The members of the Committee approve the Dissertation of Douglas Vaughn Smith defended on 27 June 2005. _____________________________________ James Pickett Jones Professor Directing Dissertation _____________________________________ William J. Tatum Outside Committee Member _____________________________________ Jonathan Grant Committee Member _____________________________________ Donald D. Horward Committee Member _____________________________________ James Sickinger Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii This work is dedicated to Professor Timothy H. Jackson, sailor, scholar, mentor, friend and to Professor James Pickett Jones, from whom I have learned so much. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Professor Timothy H. Jackson, Director, College of Distance Education, U.S. Naval War College, for his faith in me and his continuing support, without which this dissertation would not have been possible. I also wish to thank Professor James Pickett Jones of the Florida State University History Department who has encouraged and mentored me for almost a decade. Professor of Strategy and Policy and my Deputy at the Naval War College Stanley D.M. Carpenter also deserves my most grateful acknowledgement for taking on the responsibilities of my job as well as his own for over a year in order to allow me to complete this project. A fellow product of the Florida State University Department of History, Stan’s constant encouragement provided a source of inspiration for reaching my academic goal. So too do I wish to thank Professor L.W. Wildemann, Deputy Director of the College of Distance Education at the War College, for his encouragement and sacrificing his own progress toward his Doctorate to allow me the opportunity to complete requirements for mine. I would be remiss if I did not include Professor Charles C. Chadbourn III, Director of Washington, D.C., Programs and the Non-resident Masters’ Degree Program, for his friendship and advice along the way. I owe deep respect and gratitude to Professor Hal Blanton, Associate Chairman of the Naval War College Department of Joint Military Operations at the Naval Postgraduate School Detachment in Monterey, California, who, besides providing every sort of help to me along the way, taught me French enabling me to fulfill that language requirement for Doctoral Candidacy. I also wish to thank those who provided the intellectual basis for this project. Mr. Gary A. LaValley, Archivist of the Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy, was of great help in providing source material on the education of Officers at the Academy in the inter-War period. Mrs. Alice K. Juda, Reference Librarian at the Naval War College, found material I’m convinced no one else could find by doggedly pursuing any lead she could uncover. Moreover, Mrs. Juda provided daily encouragement for me to complete this project without which my enthusiasm could have easily vanished. I owe her a great debt of thanks. Likewise, Mr. Dennis J. Zambrotta, Library Technician at the War College, spent countless hours locating and retrieving microfilm from the College’s microfilm library. His attention to my every request was essential to this project. Dr. Evelyn Cherpak, Naval War College Archivist, was a font of knowledge on every document in her archival holdings. Dr. Cherpak not only helped me conceptualize this project, but uncovered a vast array of original source material for it. Ms. Gigi Davis, Head of the Naval War College Graphic Arts Department, gave life to this project through her suggestions and personal attention to the graphics included here. Mr. Jason Peters, assigned by Ms. Davis exclusively to support this project, is a credit to iv his profession. Without both of them this project would lack the critical spatial orientation required in any consideration of military or naval history. I also wish to thank Professors Donald D. Horward, Jonathan Grant and James Sickinger whose mentoring and encouragement as members of my Dissertation Committee have been so instrumental in focusing this project and guiding it toward completion. I will be forever in their debt. Perhaps most of all I owe my lasting gratitude to Professor Emeritus Frank Snyder of the War College Joint Military Operations Department. I’m convinced that he knows more about the Battle of Midway than any man alive, and his careful consideration of Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and his contribution to the Navy’s success in the Pacific Theater has earned him the nickname of “Frank Jack Snyder.” Editor Emeritus Frank Uhlig of the Naval War College Review has also provided insights invaluable to this project. Likewise, author John B. Lundstrom has added his considerable insight whenever requested for the first six chapters of this dissertation. Mr. Daniel Martinez, Historian and Archivist of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial has also provided information and insights critical to this study. Professors Charles S. Thomas II of Georgia Southern University and John H. Maurer, Chairman of the Strategy and Policy Department at the Naval War College, both friends and respected colleagues, have provided both encouragement and valuable insights on all aspects of World War II. Professor Brad Lee of the War College, a respected expert on Japan and World War II, has also infused valuable insights in this project. To each of these powerful intellects I will be forever grateful. Perhaps most of all I owe my heartfelt thanks to Ms. Debbie Perry, Graduate Assistant for the Florida State University Department of History. Like every graduate student in History before me, I could not have gotten this far without her. To my wonderful bride, Paulette, I owe more than I can ever repay. She has put up with me for a decade and run every sort of errand necessary to my studies. Her help on this manuscript has been crucial to its completion. Her advice and counsel have enlivened this project and she shares in any success I may have achieved in it. Others who have provided help along the way but who are not named here are gratefully acknowledged. I owe you all so very much. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................ Page x List of Figures ................................................................................................ Page xi Abstract ...................................................................................................... Page xiv 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ Page 1 What Created Success?............................................................................... Page 3 Strategic Culture ......................................................................................... Page 4 Relevance of the Study ............................................................................... Page 5 2. Preparing for War: Naval Education Between the World Wars..................... Page 6 Introduction ................................................................................................ Page 6 Studying "The Right Stuff"......................................................................... Page 9 Study, Gaming and Wartime Reality.......................................................... Page 10 The Naval Air Debate ................................................................................. Page 12 The Carrier Debate...................................................................................... Page 24 The Debate Over Doctrine.......................................................................... Page 27 War Plans ................................................................................................ Page 34 Implications for the War against Japan....................................................... Page 36 Preparing for War ....................................................................................... Page 36 The United States Naval Academy and Strategic Culture.......................... Page 37 “Everybody Works But John Paul Jones” .................................................. Page 39 Sound Military Decision............................................................................. Page 41 Strategic Culture in the Wartime Navy....................................................... Page 46 Conclusion ................................................................................................ Page 48 3. The Battle of the Coral Sea......................................................................... Page 50 Japanese Opening Moves and Plans ........................................................... Page 51 Japan’s Forces in the Pacific Area.............................................................. Page 56 The Situation in the Pacific in the Summer of 1942..................................