Re: what if........The 5 aircraft carriers were based in Pearl Harbor and Japan sunk them
On carrier operating proceedure: Normal proceedure was to have the air wing fly off the carrier prior to entering port. In this case, the aircraft would have been on Ford Island or at MCAS Ewa depending on space available. Also, having all five carriers as the scenario calls for in port would be a problem as well. These would be docked in some odd berths.
None would be particularly vulnerable to torpedo attack and several would have had to anchor out in various parts of the harbor simply due to lack of room where the carriers normally tied up.
Odds are also good that the various naval squadrons would have been sent into the Pacific to island bases for defensive operations in the event of a lack of carriers. Also, damaging or sinking carriers in port is no guarrentee that they stay sunk. Depending on damage and priorities, one or more could probably have been raised in short order and put back into service.
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