3 ms·

But didn't they (in a round about sort of way) since there were two carriers instead of one? Wouldn't making something think you had something that wasn't real

• vonmoltke 11y ago
  Victorious was not nearly as capable as Saratoga. The former only carried ~36 aircraft while the latter carried ~90. Making the Japanese think the other heavy carrier was American would cause them to overestimate the strength of the air group and make it less likely that they would send their own carrier battle group down to challenge American operations.
  • rjsw 11y ago
    The Saratoga was big but you are not really comparing like with like. At that point in the war the Royal Navy carriers didn't park aircraft on deck as they had been mainly operating in the North Atlantic with bad weather conditions and in the Mediterranean where they could be attacked by land-based aircraft. The Victorious carried more aircraft later in the war.
    • vonmoltke 11y ago
      I don't remember offhand when her air group size increased. I think it was after this point in the war, though. She got Avengers and Martlets in December of 1942, but I don't think the size of the air group was increased at that point.
    • ZanyProgrammer 11y ago
      They were never comparable in air wing size.