The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Seaplanes are small aircraft
equipped with pontoons that allow them to land or take off from
calm
water. Most cruisers and battleships of the Pacific
War
were equipped
with catapults to launch a small number of seaplanes for the
purposes
of reconnaissance and
for
spotting their own gunfire.
The Japanese also built up a force of seaplane fighters, which they hoped
would
prove useful for establishing air control over the far regions of
the
Pacific where airfields
were
nonexistent. However, the dominance of the aircraft carrier and
the Allied skill at
building new
airfields greatly limited the usefulness of Japanese seaplane
fighters,
whose pontoons prevented them from matching the performance of
conventional fighters.
By the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Americans were using
their cruiser seaplanes for antisubmarine
patrol around their task
forces. During the Guadalcanal
campaign, the Americans learned by hard experience that seaplanes
still on board ship were a dangerous fire hazard, and they began
routinely launching their seaplanes to get them off the ships
whenever night combat
was anticipated. With increased reliance on radar for gunfire spotting, most
cruiser seaplanes were eventually permanently landed.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008, 2014, 2016 by Kent G. Budge. Index
