XPost: aalt.war.world-war-two

William WALLACE
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Jan 30
Who would win in a battle, USS Gerald Ford Super Carrier or the entire
WW2 navy of the entire planet?
The WW2 navy. And it’s not just because the GF wouldn’t have enough ammunition to sink every ship in WW2, I’m not sure most of the ordnance
would be able to sink many of the battleships with 12”+ belt armor. Non-carrier World War II capital ships generally took a hell of a
beating before they actually sank unless they got hit by a well placed
torpedo.
On the other hand, if the GF ever got within range of a battleship from
any country, the main guns would make a mess of the GF.
The USS Gerald Ford is a technological marvel. It absolutely deserves
our utmost respect. But I don’t believe anything in the history of the
world, not the pyramids, not the moon landing, not anything, is as
utterly awe-inspiring as the US Navy in World War 2. If you ever visit a
World War II museum ship like the USS Iowa or USS New Jersey, you will
be amazed at the size of the thing. You can spend literally all day
wandering around the ship and marvel at the incredible capabilities and
realize this was its own floating town able to sustain itself for weeks
at a time. Then, step back and realize that this ship was just one of a
fleet of capital ships, surrounded by hundreds of destroyers and
hundreds more auxiliary ships, and the entire fleet was able to sustain
itself at sea for extended periods at a time. Quoting from Wikipedia,
“At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 7,601 ships on V-J Day in
August 1945, including 28 aircraft carriers, 23 battleships, 71 escort carriers, 72 cruisers, over 232 submarines, 377 destroyers, and
thousands of amphibious, supply and auxiliary ships.”

And remember, this Navy was highly mobile and able to move like a force
of nature across the Pacific Ocean to eventually invade Japan if
necessary. As I said, awe-inspiring. You should look up pictures of the
WW2 US Navy fleet at anchor and recognize this is only a tiny sample of
the entire fleet. Truly the 8th Wonder of the World.
And getting back to the original question, if you add the Royal Navy,
which was huge at the beginning of the war and the Japanese Navy, which
was also huge and very capable, I think the USS Gerald Ford would have a
hell of a time surviving.




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Niz Loc
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Niz Loc
· Jan 31
I love the energy of this post. And I agree.. that yes, too many ships
to kill. But I have to focus here on one part. Where it mentioned “not
for lack of ammo”.

It literally is simply a lack of ammo (and gas, spare parts, etc).

In regards to a Battleship. Yes, they are super impressive.

A single modern day warplane with the ability to drop guided munitions
would solve the problem in a matter of minutes. Flying high above
anything the Battleship could shoot at it.

Again, in this hypothetical (assuming limitless munitions, aviation
fuel, etc), the WW2 fleet would have no ability to keep up with the
Ford. It would have no ability to see Ford 500 miles or so away, while
AWACS keeps Ford always in a position of advantage. Strike planes
hitting at night, out of range of WW2 fighters or Anti-Aircraft guns.

Again, assuming limitless weapons, it'd a wrap.

And I'll add that the same scenarios listed above would play out the
same at every shipyard, drydock, sub pen, etc etc.

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Scott Mason
· Mar 7
Unrealistic. The US fielded 151 carriers total in WWII, of which the big
ones carried about 90 aircraft and the little ones fielded 20–30. Now
let's look at a typical fighter, the F6F Hellcat. These have a ceiling
37,000 feet, and each can carry a 2,000 lb bomb or torpedo with a combat
range of 944 miles. Once the fleet catches the enemy aircraft on radar
(which it will) it'll be able to plot where the enemy ship is at. The
Ford won't be able to run enough sorties fast enough to stop the fighter
wings from discovering it… and once they do those alone should be
sufficient. The Ford carries approximately 40–50 fighter aircraft. The
WWII fleet can field approximately 3500 fighter aircraft from it's
vessels. It's not even a matter of unlimited munitions, each fighter can
only carry so much at a time before it has to reload and refuel, making
it a race against the clock. Once the WWII fleet finds the Ford it's
just a matter of attrition. Granted those aircraft on the Ford also have
to defend against roving destroyers, cruisers, and BB's, while keeping
an eye out for all the Subs, and simultaneously trying to mission kill
all of the WWII carriers. And as said before much of the munitions being carried are not going to be terribly effective into heavily armored WWII Capital ships. Oh, let's not forget the combat range of F-18's is
approximately 500 miles fully loaded (as of 2018), and 800ish with
auxiliary fuel tanks…. The losses of WWII fighter aircraft would be staggering, but ultimately those would seal the fate of the Ford.

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Jonathan Stone
you’re assuming that force is amassed AND finds the Ford. The Ford’s sensors are MUCH better than WWII sensors and would undoubtedly see the
enemy first, and could then move to avoid or choose the time to strike.
Of those 151 carriers, most were escort, not fleet, carriers that lacked
the heavy munitions to attack capital ships, instead being equipped for anti-submarine and CAP roles. They were also much slower than the Essex
class. The Ford could launch an attack from beyond the range of the
WWII-era craft, at night, delivering crippling blows to any Fleet
carriers that they encountered. Laser-guided munitions destroying the
flight deck of those carriers remove them from combat even if they
continue to float. The Ford can then outrun them or move into a storm at
its leisure to avoid receiving a return strike. Or simply allow the
Hellcats to bomb from 37,000 ft, making an actual hit extremely unlikely against a maneuvering carrier at 30+ knots.
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Danny Peck
· Feb 2
keeping out of range works great until you’re being converged on from multiple directions. take the hypothetical WW2 navy. split her into 4
equal fleets. now, one fleet is attacking from the north, one from the
south, one from the east and one from the west. how do you keep out of
range? you’ve only so…
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