Shokaku's radar provided warning of American strikes at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and helped the ship avoid being caught with aircraft in the wrong state. A carrier-mounted set alone could not provide the depth of warning available from radar-equipped picket destroyers and cruisers. Outer escorts could detect the raid first, while the carrier's radar then queued fighters toward the threat. Japan could devise radar equipment, but struggled to mass-produce and deploy it across the task force.
Notable Point · 1:02:43-1:04:05
Carrier radar needs an escort network
Radar helped Shokaku at Santa Cruz, but effective carrier defense required radar-equipped picket destroyers and cruisers as well as a set aboard the carrier.