Carriers and the Japanese pilot-training problem

Were more carriers useful if Japan’s bigger problem was pilot training?

More hulls alone were insufficient, but a larger early carrier force could support a larger pilot pool and more time to build a replacement training system.

Experienced pilots were a central constraint, especially once Japanese carriers lacked aircraft and aircrews and served only as decoys. Carrier hulls and pilot training still formed parts of the same problem. A larger carrier force would require more air groups and crews, creating a larger initial pilot pool. If expansion began in the early 1930s, it might also expose the need for a replacement training system before wartime losses became catastrophic. More decks could encourage the navy to manage aircraft units less rigidly around individual carriers, improving flexibility when ships were damaged or replaced. Carrier construction, aircraft production, aircrew training, and operating doctrine had to grow together.