The second Pearl Harbor wave shows why nominal air-group size did not equal immediately reusable striking power. A returning aircraft had to land in time and then be inspected, refueled, rearmed, and moved into the launch sequence. Damaged or late machines might have to be set aside even if they technically returned before departure. Commanders also had to preserve aircraft for fleet defense, later operations, or the debated third wave. Sortie generation was therefore a logistical and deck-management problem rather than a simple count of planes.
Notable Point · 59:49-1:01:03
Pearl Harbor's second wave as a sortie-generation problem
The second wave depended on recovering, inspecting, refueling, and rearming aircraft quickly enough while preserving machines for other missions or a possible third strike.