Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/mhv In June 1942 the most modern aircraft carriers in the US Navy and IJN were the USS Enterprise and the HIJMS Zuikaku. This video gives you an overview on the dimensions, defensive capabilities and aircraft of these Yorktown and Shokaku class carriers. ---------------- Credits & Special Thanks ---------------- Special thanks and credit to various people on the forums that helped me out with great answers to my questions and/or providing further information : On reddit: Thefourthmaninaboat, ResearcherAtLarge, Studdbeefpile and DBHT14. https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/comments/4789wo/question_shokaku_vs_yorktown_displacement_values/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Warships/comments/4789d2/question_shokaku_vs_yorktown_displacement_values/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/comments/47qc1n/midway_sheer_luck_or_better_doctrine_wildenberg/ On the paradox forum - https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php Director and Admiral Piett. These were private conversations, hence no links. ---------------- Notes on Accuracy & “Methodology” ---------------- (1) To put it simply, when it comes to data about WW2 ships everything seems to be a bit off. Many sources differ. I have like 3 different crew values for the USS Enterprise, basically every book, website and Wikipedia article has one or several different values. (2) Furthermore, thanks to various commenters on reddit and the paradox forums I know that this is very common. Just to give an example, take a look at this very well illustrated and sourced forum post: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=12986&start=40#p228632 (3) The same goes for articles (see sources: Wildenberg and the link). (4) So, I tried to use only one source for each value in order to keep the data as clean as possible, also I did some cross-referencing, but take everything with a grain of salt. (5) Mid 1942 is also the general “cut-off date”, thus proximity fuses, Japanese deck parks, etc. are not taken into account. (6) Values and equipment is from Mid 1942 or before. Zuikakus plane loadout is from the attack on Pearl Harbor, because she and the Shokaku were not present at the Battle of Miday. (7) Note that especially the AA loadout changed considerable several times, in the end the Zuikaku had 96 25mm AA barrels and the Enterprise was equipped with 40mm bofors. ---------------- Sources ---------------- Stille, Mark: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1922-45. Prewar Classes Stille, Mark: Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carriers 1921-45 USN Carriers VS IJN Carriers – The Pacific 1942 Wildenberg, Thomas: Midway – Sheer Luck or Better Doctrine? http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/m/midway-sheer-luck-or-better-doctrine.html Note: Some aspects in this article are dated, see here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/comments/47qc1n/midway_sheer_luck_or_better_doctrine_wildenberg/d0ezscv Ask Historians – Why were Americna carriers so much more durable https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/44l9zy/why_were_american_carriers_so_much_more_durable/ Enterprise (in)correct length: http://rethinkinghistory.blogspot.de/2013/02/the-best-aircraft-carrier-of-world-war.html Wikipedia Articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_order_of_battle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28CV-6%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorktown-class_aircraft_carrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dkaku-class_aircraft_carrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Zuikaku Various sites about the USS Enterprise: http://www.cv6.org/ship/big_e.htm http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/enterprise-cv-6-vii.html