The United States Navy in the Cold War Era: What ifs.

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(Primary source material is the 13th Edition of the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet by Norman Polmar and the Naval Historical Center)

Heavy Aircraft Carrier (CVA) On 29 July 1948, construction of five "supercarriers", for which funds had been provided in the Naval Appropriations Act of 1949. The keel of the first of the five planned postwar carriers was laid down on 18 April 1949 at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. The program was canceled on 23 April 1949, United States was not completed, and the other four planned carriers were never built.

The primary drive behind the design was the development of a carrier using the new jet aircraft. The new jets were faster, larger and much heavier that the WW2-era aircraft used on the Essex and Midway-class carriers. It was anticipated that the aircraft would have a much longer range thus allowing the carrier to operate further away from any targets. These requirements would require that the ship’s strength deck would have to be the flight deck rather than the hanger deck as in traditional US carrier design. The heavier flight deck meant that the ship would have a greater tendency to roll in rough seas, since a much larger part of the ship’s weight would be high above the waterline.

Due to the anticipated size of the new aircraft, the CVA would be flush-decked, meaning that the design would have no island superstructure. This resulted in two major concerns;

1) How would the exhaust gas from the power plants be diverted from the flight deck? The USN’s first carrier, USS Langley, had been built flush-decked and this problem caused a great many problems that were never satisfactory resolved.

2) Were are the necessary radar equipment to be mounted ? One possible solution was for a command ship to remain close by, carrying the task force commander and the necessary radar equipment. The USS Northampton (CLC-1) would be built to fulfill this mission. Another solution was for an airborne early warning radar to be carried among the air group.

It was finally assumed that the CVA would not operate by itself, but in conjunction with traditional fleet carriers as a complementary bomber-carrier. There was a great deal of debate on the CVA’s mission. One viewpoint was that the ship would carry a group of large bombers that would be secured to the flight deck with no hanger space as the bombers would be too large to be moved via the ship’s elevators. This allowed for munition to be reduced as multiple strikes would be unlikely. A hanger area for a small fighter contingent and a small magazine for nuclear weapons storage were provided.

The final design included a more balanced air group but would be able to support the heavier nuclear-armed bombers. It would be equipped with four deck edge elevators (three waist and one stern) as well as four catapults (two forward and two waist). The CVA would be able to launch and simultaneously recover aircraft. Estimated cost was $189 million dollars (equivalent to $1.66 billion in 2020).

Unfortunately, the CVA concept as a nuclear-armed bomber carrier was viewed as a challenge to the USAF’s monopoly on strategic nuclear weapons delivery.

Looking to cut the military budget and accepting without question the Air Force argument on nuclear deterrence by means of large, long-range bombers, Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson announced the cancellation of construction of United States, on 23 April 1949, five days after the ship's keel was laid. Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan immediately resigned, and Congress held an inquiry into the manner and wisdom of Johnson's decision. In the subsequent "Revolt of the Admirals" the Navy was unable to advance its case that large carriers would be essential to national defense.
Soon afterward, Johnson and Francis P. Matthews, the man he advanced to be the new Secretary of the Navy, set about punishing those officers that let their opposition be known. Admiral Louis Denfeld was forced to resign as Chief of Naval Operations, and a number of other admirals and lesser ranks were punished. The invasion of South Korea six months later resulted in an immediate need for a strong naval presence, and Matthews' position as Secretary of the Navy and Johnson's position as Secretary of Defense crumbled, both ultimately resigning.

Displacement: 66,000 tons standard, 83,000 tons full load. Length: 1,030ft (314m) at waterline; 1,088ft (331.7m) overall Beam: 125 feet (38.1m) Flight Deck: 190 ft (57.9m) Propulsion: (8) 1,200psi Foster-Wheeler boilers; (4) Westinghouse steam turbines totaling 280,000shp; driving four screws. Speed: 33 knots Range: 12,000nm at 20kts Crew: 3,019 officers and enlisted, 2,480 air wing officers and enlisted, total of 5,499 officers and enlisted Armament: (8) 5in/54 caliber guns in single mounts; (16) 3in/70mm AA guns in eight twin mounts; (20) 20mm/70 autocannons (single, dual or quad mounts were debated).