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The United States Navy grew rapidly during World War II from 1941–45, and played the central role in the war against Japan, and (after the British Royal Navy) a major role in the European war against Germany and Italy. The U.S. Navy grew into a formidable force in the years prior to World War II, with battleship production being restarted in 1937, commencing with the . It was able to add to its fleets during the early years of the war while the US was still neutral, increasing production of vessels both large and small, deploying a navy of nearly 350 major combatant ships by December 1941 and having an equal number under construction.〔Westcott, Allan Ferguson et al. (1947). ''American Sea Power Since 1775''. Chicago: J.B. Lippincott Company, ISBN 1399958712, p. 343. United States Naval Academy textbook.〕 The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sought naval superiority in the Pacific by sinking the main American battle fleet at Pearl Harbor, which was built around its battleships. The December 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor did knock out the battle fleet, but it did not touch the aircraft carriers, which became the mainstay of the rebuilt fleet. Naval doctrine had to be changed overnight. The United States Navy (like the IJN) had followed Alfred Thayer Mahan emphasis on concentrated groups of battleships as the main offensive naval weapons.〔Trent Hone, "The Evolution of Fleet Tactical Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1922-1941," ''Journal of Military History'' (2003) 67#4 pp. 1107-1148 (in JSTOR )〕 The loss of the battleships at Pearl Harbor forced Admiral Ernest J. King, the head of the Navy, to place primary emphasis on the small number of aircraft carriers.〔Henry M. Dater, "Tactical Use of Air Power in World War II: The Navy Experience," ''Military Affairs,'' Vol. 14, (1950), pp. 192-200 (in JSTOR )〕 The U.S. Navy grew tremendously as the United States was faced with a two-front war on the seas. It achieved notable acclaim in the Pacific Theater, where it was instrumental to the Allies' successful "island hopping" campaign.〔Stephen Howarth, ''To Shining Sea: a History of the United States Navy, 1775–1998'' (1999)〕 The U.S. Navy fought six great battles with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN): the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the Battle of Okinawa.〔Samuel Eliot Morison, ''Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War'' (1963)〕 By war's end in 1945, the United States Navy had added nearly 1,200 major combatant ships, including 27 aircraft carriers and 8 battleships, and had over 70% of the world's total numbers and total tonnage of naval vessels of 1,000 tons or greater.〔Weighing the U.S. Navy Defense & Security Analysis, Volume 17, Issue 3 December 2001, pp. 259 - 265.〕〔King, Ernest J., USN. ("Major Combatant Ships Added to United States Fleet, 7 December 1941 - 1 October 1945" ), ibiblio.org. US Navy at War 1941-1945: Official Report to the Secretary of the Navy. Retrieved 8 April 2006.〕 At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 6,768 ships on V-J Day in August 1945, including 28 aircraft carriers, 23 battleships, 71 escort carriers, 72 cruisers, over 288 submarines, 377 destroyers, and thousands of amphibious, supply and auxiliary ships. ==1941–42== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States Navy in World War II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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