When Did the US Become the most powerful Navy?

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This episode is taking a look at ship preservation and why some museums were saved and others were not.

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[thetorturepenguin]

I would make the case that it was 44' instead.
The early losses in 1942 left the USN in a critical state in 43, so bad that the Royal Navy loaned HMS Victorious to make up for the loss of Hornet. Obviously only a couple of Essex class came online in 43, but 44 was definitely the turning point.

[dang]

Ryan, I think 07 Dec 1941 was the exact date we became the most powerful naval power. It was the fire lit under our butts that put pen to paper to build build build. The actual realization of this wasn’t until ‘43 per your thoughts though. It was this doctrine that has kept us in the running since too. Without that horrific day we might have stayed behind England and not cared as they were Atlantic and we might have focused more on the Pacific.

[wungee]

When the Essex, Fletcher, Baltimore and Cleveland spam started.

[Typhyr]

I think the most important ship in the US navy or any navy, is the humble supply ship, without it, that projection of power will very fast grind to a halt.

[werewolfsaves]

All ships are important. The navy works as a whole. The loss of any one ship makes the rest vulnerable.

[yolkiandeji]

Can you do a video on the Dutch Design 1047 Battlecruisers?

[weldermartins]

At the beginning of World War II, the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world, with the largest number of warships built and with naval bases across the globe. It had over 15 battleships and battlecruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 164 destroyers and 66 submarines. With a massive merchant navy, about a third of the world total, it also dominated shipping. The Royal Navy fought in every theatre from the Atlantic, Mediterranean, freezing Northern routes to Russia and the Pacific ocean.

In the course of the war the United States Navy grew tremendously as the United States was faced with a two-front war on the seas. By the end of World War II the U.S. Navy was larger than any other navy in the world

[leftyo]

became #1 mid to late 43. by 45, 2nd place wasnt even close.

[robertmoyse]

I think the best book on this subject is “Victory at Sea” by Paul Kennedy. It has a few technical errors, but if you get it you won’t regret it.

[bigsarge]

I think the totality of our Navy's broad range of capabilities makes us (currently) the most powerful fleet.

[Knight]

Yeah that is only after 1943 into 1944 when the British shipbuilding industry was overstretched and the British Empire's economy and industry had taken too much damage

[Quasarnova]

I would make an argument for the US Navy becoming the most powerful navy as early as 1941, with the commissioning of USS Hornet. The Royal Navy was definitely still larger at this point, but their naval aviation was quite a ways behind the United States, and WWII proved how important it was to have air superiority. For reference, the only British carrier with a comparable air group size to a US carrier at the time was HMS Ark Royal (and she sunk in late 1941 anyway), not to mention they the Royal Navy's carrier aircraft were still a generation behind the USN or IJN at this point.

[AsbestosMuffins]

kind of a toss up, the US had a significantly larger amount of battleships in its battle line and we went all in on carriers at the expense of smaller ships while the british had a much more balanced fleet composition. The London Naval Treaty really put the last nail in the coffin but Britain was still able to keep its navy together through ww2, though its dismantlement started basically the minute ww2 was over

[donkeyboy]

When the Essex’s started hitting the water that was all she wrote

[halerobert]

I 100% agree with your date of the the rise of the USN. And subs are the most important In modern times with a close second being carriers and their support ships. I Also think that the USN is behind China. 11-12 carries are not enough. We need at least 14 if we can crew them

[Odin]

I put subs in their own category, so when it comes to surface ships for the US Navy, its either frigates or cruisers. The US has figured out that it needs frigates, but hasn't gotten serious about a true cruiser. They keep pushing the cruiser workload onto the increasingly loaded destroyers.

[robertkb]

Washington Naval Treaty (1922). It meant that all preceding large navies (really the UK) would have their useful legacy tonnage chopped (practically this means Dreadnaught-class ships as everything pre-Dreadnaught was almost useless by then), but the US had the greatest shipbuilding capability and the greatest sustainment capacity, so while everyone was more or less on par after implementation it meant the US could relatively easily surpass all others at will - which is just what happened with the US serially pumping out carriers for WW2, along with all the other tonnage. The demise of the battleship era helped this as it meant that long lead time items (guns, armor) became irrelevant (comparatively, of course - carriers still have armor, but compared to even a Dreadnaught are practically naked).

[robertf]

In terms of overall numbers, Mainland China now possesses the largest Navy in the world though it trails the USN badly and is on a parity with the UK in terms of carriers. China currently has two carriers smaller than and with fewer aircraft than the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth class. In my opinion Russia is currently sitting in the number 4 position though the case can be made that ANY power capable of putting even a small carrier to sea is in better shape.

In terms of submarines the USN still has the clear edge over anyone else. China MIGHT possess more subs but those are at best 2 generations behind the USN and its allies.

[JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

It is the ability to project combined arms if necessary