CLAAs vs CLs/CAs

[borner]

IJN carriers may have had fire barriers, but nothing you can design into a ship at that time can come close to the situation at Midway. A full deck of armed and fueled planes, and another round or ordinance stacked around the hangar deck. The USS Franklin comparison is close in terms of one hit resulting in the explosion of the planes on deck, but as pointed out, Franklin was not getting ready to launch everything she had. Had the US caught the carriers with the decks empty, I have to wonder if not only Akagi, but Kaga could have had the damage under control and made port?

[wdolson]

The Kaga took many hits. Even if no planes had been on deck the damage probably would have been extensive. All the senior officers were killed when the island was hit several times. That also hindered damage control efforts.

Akagi had the rudder jammed. Unless the crew could have unjammed the rudder, it's not likely the Akagi could have been saved, even if the damage hadn't been otherwise fatal. The rudder is the Achilles Heel of a modern warship.

Bill