Q&A · 37:41-39:07

What angled flight decks would change in 1940

Introducing the angled flight deck in 1940 would imply a much broader leap in landing aids and aircraft performance, while sharply reducing costly carrier-landing accidents.

Question

How would carrier attacks change if the angled flight deck appeared in 1940?

Short answer

Operations would become faster and safer, but the change assumes accompanying advances in landing aids, engines, and aircraft.

Notes

An angled deck cannot be isolated from the mirror landing sight and the more powerful aircraft that made the postwar carrier system work. Introducing the system in 1940 therefore implies that several late-war or postwar technologies have arrived together. The immediate operational payoff would be faster launch-and-recovery cycles. Safer landings would also preserve experienced aircrew by reducing the severe accident losses associated with carrier takeoffs and recoveries.