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Originally Posted by T. A. Gardner
One other possibility that hasn't been mentioned is that the US gets one or more carriers on loan from the Royal Navy. This was actually discussed during the early part of the Pacific War. The USN eventually decided not to take a British carrier because they felt that the smaller air wing, differences in equipment, and lower performance of the ship in general were not worth putting one in US service. In a more desperate situation I could see the US taking this option up.
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I guess you haven't heard of the "USS Robin". This was the codename for HMS Victorious during the time she served with the US Pacific Fleet in the Spring of 1943. In the late fall of 1942, the USN was down to one operational carrier, the Saratoga, in the Pacific. A request was made of the RN to loan the USN a flattop until the Enterprise could be repaired and the Essex, commissioned on the last day of 1942, could complete it's workup. The RN duly detached Victorious and sent it to the US for a refit to allow it to work alongside the Saratoga. This refit took so long that it wasn't until May, 1943, that the "USS Robin" (Victorious) was ready. By this time, the Enterprise had been repaired and the Essex was deemed battle worthy, but the "USS Robin" did participate along with Saratoga in the New Georgia invasion operations(Operation "Cartwheel"), giving air cover to the invasion forces. During the operation, Saratoga operated as a "strike" carrier, and the smaller Victorious carried mostly US fighter aircraft (F4F's) for defense of the task force. The USN was not impressed with the Victorious, even though she was an armored carrier, and in September, 1943, she returned to service with the RN in the Atlantic.
HMS Victorious, British fleet aircraft carrier, WW2