Which nationality had the best navy?
I would say America because of the naval-air superiority
I say America too, for the same reason. They had lots of carriers and used them well.
US, allthought the Japs also had great carriers and some were better advanced than that of the US, but the US carriers proved they were the best.
Henk
Well at different times in the war, different countries had different naval strengths. In the begining of the war (1941/42) the Japanese had an excellent force of battleships and carriers, and the US had lost most of her fleet except for her carriers. Same thing with Germany and Britain (the whole Bismark thing).
That makes the U.S. Navy the best, they had alot of their fleet destroyed and yet they still pulled the war around. The also quickly launched a counterstrike against Japan, which was quite a feat to pull off.
Whilst the USN had carriers capable of carrying a greater number of aircraft, their design left them vulnerable to bombs & kamikazes.
RN carriers had 4" armoured flight decks, which proved resistant to both, whereas the USN carriers had wooden decks. This saving in weight allowed the greater number of aircraft.
In general, RN ships of all types were better armoured, with a consequent decrease in the tonnage of offensive equipment carried.
IIRC, the RN also stipulated greater division of internal space than the USN, making damage control easier.
Maybe so, but the USN were better at damage control than the RN. By the end of the war USN destroyers were surviving hits that would have sunk cruisers from any other nation.
I would say USN, I heard the USN is saying it might adopt the DD(X)
more info here on DD(X)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD(X)
The Jap navy were a great and very advanced navy, but was not used right and thus it lost. The US navy were used to its full potention and thus was such a great navy.
Germany did not have the numbers to do much damage or to take on the Royal Navy.
Henk
Maybe so, but the USN were better at damage control than the RN. By the end of the war USN destroyers were surviving hits that would have sunk cruisers from any other nation.[/quote]
After the Coral Sea battles I think the US Navy went into damage control overdrive and succeeded as you say.
I think overall the US Navy came out as the best Navy in the world, after all they had the steepest learning curve.
Thats not saying that other Navies were bad, until 1944 the Japanese were much better at Night fighting, but a lack of a decent Radar negated this. The Japanese were also fuel, skilled manpower and building ability strapped.
Instead of attacking Pearl harbour the Japanese may have gained more by waiting for the US Fleet to sail to the defence of the Phillipenes.
Now there is a what if!
I am very surprised that the Japanese Navy is not getting second place here as I think in a straight clash between the RN and IJN there would have been no contest in 1941/42.
I am very surprised that the Japanese Navy is not getting second place here as I think in a straight clash between the RN and IJN there would have been no contest in 1941/42.
Not so sure about that - remember the RN had 3 oceans to cover, the USN 2 and the IJN 1. In a straight fight (1 ocean only) the RN will be initially handicapped by the lack of modern carrier aircraft before steamrollering the Japanese once the UK gets it’s arse in gear. Remember UK industrial output is something like 4 times that of Japan at this point in time, and shipbuilding, aircraft production, etc. are all much higher than Japan. Provided the RN can avoid getting all sunk in the first few weeks (and Somerville did rather well in 1943 or so) the RN should win easily.
From 1939 to 1943 Britain, from 1943 to 1945 USA.
In Europe; Germany with the submarines and in the pacific; the us
The Japanese were initially undefeatable in “night fighting.” But eventually, the USN was able to equal, then surpass them, at fighting at night…
Having cast my vote, it’s level pegging between the RN and the USN.
For me, the decision is based on the following consideration:
To defeat the UK, Germany needed to stage an invasion of the British mainland. This required control of the sea. To gain control of the sea in the face of oppostion by the Home Fleet, the Luftwaffe required control of the air, which leads to the Battle of Britain - some of you may have heard of this. In the meantime, the RN was also securing Britain’s sea lines of communication across the globe. That’s plantery scale Force Projection, and back in the 1940s too.
The linchpin is the strength of the RN in home waters - the Germans could not hope to oppose it without Air Supremacy (Air Superiority would have been insufficient in the face of the poor German anti-shipping ability). This left the Germanss having to face the Battle of Britain and experience their first strategic defeat.
I think the Kriegsmarine (German navy) they (i think) were the first ones to build the u-boats which were one of the deadliest weapons at the beginning of the war. And especially with the Bismark and i forgot the other big battleship that went out with the bismark. They made many many mistakes and didnt use those battleships right.
There were only two ships who broke into the atlantic and it was the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen. The othe big ships in the German Navy were the Tirpitz/Bismarck and the Scharnhorst & Gneisenau. The carriers were the Graf Zeppelin.
The German Navy were just out gunned and ill prepaired. The US did have the best Navy, but I also love the German navy and I give them their credit.
The Jap Navy were also great, but used it incorrectly and made many stupid misstakes.
Henk
As an Army man not all that keen on things that float there just a means to get the army to its place of work. However it has to be the Royal Navy they were the only Navy to have to fight across the world for 5 years. While they may not have had the best ships in the world, in fact a lot where ex US cast offs its not ships that make a navy its the men and you average RN sailor was defiantly the best and has been since Nelsons Day.
One thing on the ships the US aircraft carrier was with out doubt the biggest and carried the most aircraft, but they had wood decks while the RN carriers had armoured decks. The USN paid dearly for this oversight.
If you need to look at shear blood sweet and tears of a navy look at the list of ships that took part in the relief of Malta that was real bravery.
http://freespace.virgin.net/gordon.smith4/NAVAL1939WW2RNLosses.htm
Please look at this site it list all British War ships lost during WW2
Just one thing for our US allies if you ask an American when did you join the war he will answer December 1941 if you ask a us Navy vet the same question you will get an answer considerably earlier than that god bless them for that.
Ummm… not as badly as you might think. The US carriers had MUCH larger air groups, so were hit much less often than the RN carriers would have been had they been operating independently (as it was, they were rarely attacked). Furthermore, while they could continue operating after an attack, all of the RN carriers attacked by Kamikazes were scrapped postwar due to the cumulative damage - something that did not happen to the USN carriers. It is also worth noting that the RN have not built an armoured carrier since.
In this order…America, Britain, Japan.