Most Capable Carrier Design in 1941

Side note:
It still amazes me that our ships capabilities changed so much so fast during the war. It wasn't even a linear progression, more exponential. AA guns, damage control, CIC, radar, etc. They quickly identified what was needed and did it.

Today, any one of those changes would take 6 review boards to discuss and argue which is better, get rejected and redesigned, then back to the original design board as requirements changed!

I had to go with the Yorktown class. While the IJN certainly had the experience, the actual design of the US class was superior, capable of handling slightly more planes. And the IJN 25mm AA guns were pretty bad.

If I am not mistaken, the first American Carrier to have an "armored (flight) deck" was Midway. America stayed away from them because it the smaller sizes it make the hangar bay and thus plane capacity much smaller. (Ask the Brits!) American Carriers had their Hangar deck armored instead. This not only freed up space, it also put the center of gravity lower, helping the ships in bad weather.

My last post is incorrect. Your information is accurate.