WI USS Saratoga took part in the Battle of Midway.

The workup can be completed in time. There were two stages and leaving out or cutting corners can get Saratoga to the battle. It needs to depart the west coast 8-10 days earlier. Putting squadrons aboard would be done just to get them to Oahu, and provide them more deck training.

When the Saratoga did join the others off Midway it brough along a overload as replacements for losses on the others. So there were extra squadrons on Oahu.

keeping the Yorktown afloat has strategic knock on effects down the line. Rehabbed for the autumn battles means possible better outcomes in the Solomons. maybe even the Japanese realizing they have lost Guadalcanal a month or two sooner.

I believe the replacements went into existing squadron organizations not as complete squadrons
And I agree there are follow on effects for later campaigns but I don't think having Sara there could increase the damage to the Japanese fleet.

Something to think about - If the Japanese admit Guadalcanal is lost sooner would they not feed all their trained pilots into the meatgrinder leaving a better trained base for future operations? The U.S. would have less losses also but they were set up for the attrition of modern war so they could replace the losses and had already been rotating experienced aviators out to train the new crews and provide leadership in the new squadrons. So having them write off Guadalcanal earlier and not take the losses in trained crew may have allowed them to fight on longer effectively.
 
Eh?
So Sara shows up and adds nothing to the fight? Her Fighters and AAA don't do a thing to the attacking aircraft?
The Japanese attack is diluted by half, if nothing else, Yorktown might not take OTLs three bombs and two torpedoes during the battle
I agree. Also participating in the first wave of attack on Japanese carriers with Yorktown it would probably sink or incapacitate Hiryu even before it would send its planes on Yorktown.
 

CalBear

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Actually, in the long run, the best case is that she still take damage, but is repaired a week sooner, hit Pearl just long enough to refuel her escorts, and bolts for the battle area at the same time as Yorktown. The Sara was LOADED with aircraft. 47 Wildcats, 45 SBD, 5 TBD and 10 TBF (this is why she need to be there a week early and not four days, many of these aircraft had been sent as cargo, and would need 24-48 hours to be flight ready. The difference, especially in fighters and dive bombers, is enormous, Sara was carrying close to two carriers worth of VF and VB, after the loss of Lexington, she was the only ship in the fleet that could operate that many aircraft. Even if she flies six F4F and SBD to each of the other three carriers the strike force, and perhaps more critically CAP, for the force is vastly increased.

With the extra strike aircraft it is entirely possible that Kirishima and/or Haruna, or a couple cruisers never see home again (from a historuc perspective it would be better to see several of the CA taken out of the war rather than either of the Kongos). That could have implications in the naval engagements in the Solomons.
 
Actually, in the long run, the best case is that she still take damage, but is repaired a week sooner, hit Pearl just long enough to refuel her escorts, and bolts for the battle area at the same time as Yorktown. The Sara was LOADED with aircraft. 47 Wildcats, 45 SBD, 5 TBD and 10 TBF (this is why she need to be there a week early and not four days, many of these aircraft had been sent as cargo, and would need 24-48 hours to be flight ready. The difference, especially in fighters and dive bombers, is enormous, Sara was carrying close to two carriers worth of VF and VB, after the loss of Lexington, she was the only ship in the fleet that could operate that many aircraft. Even if she flies six F4F and SBD to each of the other three carriers the strike force, and perhaps more critically CAP, for the force is vastly increased.

With the extra strike aircraft it is entirely possible that Kirishima and/or Haruna, or a couple cruisers never see home again (from a historuc perspective it would be better to see several of the CA taken out of the war rather than either of the Kongos). That could have implications in the naval engagements in the Solomons.

And send those TBDs to the other carriers also. No use cluttering the deck with an additional type in small numbers. And what are the chances that some of the additional strike aircraft could find the Occupation force and sink some transports? The loss of life then would be horrendous.
 
... And what are the chances that some of the additional strike aircraft could find the Occupation force and sink some transports? The loss of life then would be horrendous.

That Japanese TF never came into practical range. The turn around order came even before they crossed the submarine picket line. The transport & landing support group are the track far left of center. The island bombardment force is the track that runs almost to Midway the turns back west. The Mobile Force & 2d Fleet are the cluster of tracks top center. All tracks are from 24:00 4 June to 24:00 5 June. The blue track is the course taken by Fletchers TF-16 pursuing the enemy during 5 June. The blue arc closest to Midway is the location of the submarine screen. The outer arc is the air recon coverage from Midway during daylight 5 June. the only shot TF-16 has at the transport group is if Yamamoto does not order a retirement & the invasion force closes in on Midway.

2400 5 June.png
 
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....

Something to think about - If the Japanese admit Guadalcanal is lost sooner would they not feed all their trained pilots into the meatgrinder leaving a better trained base for future operations? The U.S. would have less losses also but they were set up for the attrition of modern war so they could replace the losses and had already been rotating experienced aviators out to train the new crews and provide leadership in the new squadrons. So having them write off Guadalcanal earlier and not take the losses in trained crew may have allowed them to fight on longer effectively.

The attrition went on into 1943. Guadacanal was one corner of a three point campaign over the Solomon's, New Guinea, & Rabaul. The Henderson field leg continues as a base for advanced air fields further west as the air war continues.
 
When the Saratoga arrives at Pearl Harbor in June 1942 after her Bremerton refit, she had has had her open 5"/25 cal guns replaced with 5"/38 cal as well as having her 4 x 2 x 5"/38 cal mounts installed in place of her 8" turrets,as well as the directors for them. In addition she had 4 x 4 x 40mm and 5 x4 x 1.1", and 30 x 1 x20mm added., In this configuration she will be putting out almost as much AA fire as the early Essex class carriers. Add the previously mentioned full load of aircraft she is an Attacker killing machine. with a arrival in time to join Yorktown this will be imo, a formatible attack and defense task force.
 
When the Saratoga arrives at Pearl Harbor in June 1942 after her Bremerton refit, she had has had her open 5"/25 cal guns replaced with 5"/38 cal as well as having her 4 x 2 x 5"/38 cal mounts installed in place of her 8" turrets,as well as the directors for them. In addition she had 4 x 4 x 40mm and 5 x4 x 1.1", and 30 x 1 x20mm added., In this configuration she will be putting out almost as much AA fire as the early Essex class carriers. Add the previously mentioned full load of aircraft she is an Attacker killing machine. with a arrival in time to join Yorktown this will be imo, a formatible attack and defense task force.

This also gets to another aspect of her repairs. I imagine if Nimitz had wanted her sooner she could have returned sooner in early 1942 but it seems the January 1942 torpedo damage was used as an opportunity to give her a full blown refit, something Lexington probably would have gotten had she survived Coral Sea.
 
Some additional info on the Saratoga spring 1942 refit, updated Air and Surface search radar, and Radar controlled directors for the 5" guns. From photos it appears she was mostly done by May of '42.
020343a.jpg
 
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This also gets to another aspect of her repairs. I imagine if Nimitz had wanted her sooner she could have returned sooner in early 1942 but it seems the January 1942 torpedo damage was used as an opportunity to give her a full blown refit, something Lexington probably would have gotten had she survived Coral Sea.
Now that makes for an interesting POD, the Lexington's damage being altered just enough to vent the ship of the fuel vapors that killed her or the hit that caused said buildup not happening.
 
Oooh, Saratoga. This is my area of expertise.

Righto, in order:

1. You want her taking that torpedo hit. Any potential bonus at Coral Sea (doubtful, IMO, looking at deployments) is balanced out by the fact she got a badly needed refit due to the damage. If she doesn't take that hit, she's not getting her full refit until one of two things happens. The first Essex-class come online, or she takes another sort of hit...that may not be as survivable.

2. It is possible to expedite her repairs or working up, though, this leads a bit into Point 3. It's not as useful as one could think.

3. Sara was already at Midway. Spiritually, at least, through her planes and pilots. Her most veteran aircrews had already been pulled and stuffed on Yorktown. This was both to refit Yorktown's air wing, after the losses at Coral Sea, and because Nimitz figured 'better to have one carrier with a full wing, than hope another one works up in time'. That's a horrid oversimplification, mind, but it gets the point across. Yorktown had a motely mix of her own, survivors from Lex, and Sara's best. Which leads into...

4. She has relatively few planes to provide. Sara had, give or take, about 40 planes with pilots ready to go. Most of those were Dauntless, which are certainly helpful, though only if they can find the Japanese carriers. If Sara is with Yorktown and launches a coordinated strike, this is a decent possibility. If she is arriving after Yorkie, then she's going to risk having Hornet-syndrome* and then it's just having more planes that don't do anything. Furthermore, only about...a dozen or so of her planes (I believe it was fourteen, to be exact) are Wildcats. If those aren't sent to escort the bombers, it's not a huge increase in CAP. A noticeable one, to be fair, but not a Fighter Carrier. Which is where...

5. The vast majority of the planes she has are in crates. In the best case, you'd need a day or so to get everything put together- Sara actually has the facilities aboard to disassemble and reassemble planes, no need to be in dock -and can have another sixty (give or take, again) planes aboard. I say aboard because she can't actually operate all of those, not reasonably. Fly them off to another carrier, sure, but not from her own deck in a reasonable manner. This presuming she has enough pilots for all of them.

(The loadout that CalBear mentions is after she arrived at Pearl and was explicitly loaded up with replacements for the other carriers. I'm looking at what she left California with, instead. The most likely scenario, in the event she finishes refit early, is to have a mix of the two. What she carried to Midway IRL was not a proper combat load, so much as replacements. What she carried from California is similar, though if she gets there just barely in time to uncrate and put together her planes, she has to use what she has)

6. In the absolute best case scenario, you've got another 20-25 fighters and about 50-60 assorted bombers to throw at the problem, IMO. Assuming she operates with Yorktown, her refit will provide more AA fire. Furthermore, the strikes on Yorktown by Hiryuu used relatively few planes. Because there were hardly any left for the Japanese to use. If those planes are split, then it's entirely possible neither carrier is hit. Between Sara's refit and the extra planes. I-168 is not going to get lucky here. She got hilariously lucky IRL in finding Yorktown being salvaged and sneaking close enough to fire. That's not liable to happen with two carrier's worth of escorts and two (presumably) functional carriers.

(Also, there's the chance the strike never happens anyway, if Sara's planes don't all target one carrier and hit Hiryuu. Assuming that E and Yorktown hit the same targets as IRL)

In a less favorable scenario, you're still talking about another carrier worth of planes. Unless they screw off and miss the Japanese entirely, that's another full strike wave. Lots of potential there. If she is not with Yorktown, then one of them may still be hit without supporting each other. Sara can take the hits a bit better, but it's hard to say at that point, exactly what happens.

In the worst case scenario, the Japanese get lucky and the Americans don't. Say that you don't have Arashi lead the way to the Japanese carriers. Say that the Japanese find the Americans first. At that point, having one more carrier won't do much good. It's a bit more likely that at least one carrier survives, though, compared to if the Japanese pulled that off against the three Yorktowns instead.


I could probably go into more detail, but it's late and I'm tired from work :V



*Hornet-syndrome is referring to how Hornet's CAG lead the vast majority of her strike force in the opposite direction of the Japanese, and stubbornly refused to turn around. This is why most of her planes missed the battle entirely.
 
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