cruiser failed to tow a fire-damaged Canadian support ship. escorts are capable of towing battle-damaged ships, their recent record isn’t great. In-battle recovery of a badly damaged carrier is also unlikely. Add in the complexities of managing survivors potentially contaminated by radioactivity from the hurt carrier’s nuclear power plant, and a well-meaning rescue effort can quickly become a fiasco. Even if they did-and it is unclear if modern cruisers and destroyers have ever tried to come alongside a Nimitz class carrier before-survivors of the 5,000-strong carrier crew would overwhelm the escorts, eliminating their combat effectiveness. Most escorts will be miles away, unable to quickly lend a hand.Īs high-value military assets in themselves, America’s carrier escorts are unlikely to come alongside to help evacuate the crew and assist firefighting efforts. Rather than sail close to the carrier, modern surface combatants will likely maintain a wide protective bubble around the aircraft carrier. carriers at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands split a large escort force of one battleship, six cruisers and twelve destroyers.

In the South China Seas, the core escort group for the USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Carrier Strike Group ( CSG) 11, consists of only three destroyers and one cruiser. Today, America employs far fewer ships to escort carriers. Twenty-one of the carrier’s eighty or so aircraft went down the ship.Ī similar operational scenario is unlikely to play out on a hard-hit Nimitz Class carrier. Despite facing repeated attacks and a hail of fire, only 140 of the carrier’s 2,200 sailors were lost. After the ship was formally abandoned in the late afternoon, nearby escorts needed less than two hours to recover “all but two rafts and two boatloads of survivors”. Over the intervening hours, Japan pressed more attacks home. The light cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) took the wounded carrier under tow, attempting to move the ship into safer waters. In minutes, salvage efforts got underway. Within six hours of the initial morning attack, at least three destroyers went alongside, rescuing 800 non-essential personnel and 75 wounded. When the USS Hornet (CV-8) was sunk in the World War II battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the Navy moved quickly to get crew off the stricken ship. When a carrier took a hard hit, escorts rushed alongside to directly support battle damage recovery and remove crew. In World War II, carrier battles were fought in close quarters, with escort ships sailing close by the aircraft carrier. USS Wasp CV 7, burning after being hit in World War II Universal Images Group via Getty Images The World War II Experience

The political consequences would be immediate and massive. sailors are “rescued” by an opposing force, would be tough for the American public to bear. The trauma of leaving a foundering ship’s crew to their own devices-in a larger-scale repeat of the horrible World War II USS Indianapolis (CA-35) disaster-or, worse, watching helplessly as thousands of U.S. If we assume that China’s initial acts of aggression will be aimed at shaping America’s will to fight, this oversight poses a serious risk. Thousands were rescued, living to fight another day.įor the U.S., the prospect of a 90% post-attack survival rate leads to the daunting challenge of getting more than 4,000 potentially hurt, traumatized, or radioactively contaminated people off the stricken carrier, out of the danger zone, and into a safe haven where they can be stabilized. In each case, none lost more than 10% of their crews. In World War II, America lost four big fleet carriers to military action. In a non-nuclear strike, such an awful scenario is unlikely.Įven if China managed to successfully attack and sink an American aircraft carrier, past military action suggests much of the stricken carrier’s crew and air wing would likely survive.

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