Carrier raids as a test of American aviation doctrine

Interwar exercises repeatedly sent Lexington and Saratoga on independent raids, making mobility central to American carrier doctrine before aircraft had proved they could sink battleships. Planners separated confidence in the carrier platform from doubts about contemporary aircraft and ordnance. Carriers could already strike distant targets and force an opponent to respond across the Pacific. The 1942 raids put ideas rehearsed in interwar exercises to a combat test.