Task Force 14 paired Victorious with Saratoga while Hornet had been sunk and Enterprise was badly damaged and undergoing repair. North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Indiana supplied the task force's battleship strength. Admiral DeWitt Ramsey moved the British strike aircraft to Saratoga, which could launch the larger concentrated attack, and American fighters to Victorious, whose direction system could sustain continuous control. The division joined American striking power to Royal Navy experience managing repeated air activity in the Mediterranean. It also exposes a doctrinal difference between seeking one decisive blow and maintaining a continuing cycle of fighter operations.
Notable Point · 5:51-7:34
Victorious and Saratoga divide strike and fighter roles
Admiral DeWitt Ramsey concentrates strike aircraft on Saratoga and fighters on Victorious to combine American striking power with British fighter control.