6. Interchangeable air groups were an important part of American doctrine
The US Navy operated several types of air groups from its carriers. They were labeled as Scouting, Bombing, Torpedo, and Fighting. It was American doctrine that the air groups were interchangeable between the aircraft carriers of its fleet. Both inexperienced and veteran air groups could be moved between the ships, supplementing each other as necessary to meet operational demands. Japanese doctrine was the opposite. The Imperial Japanese Navy required its ships and aircrews to be trained and operated as a unit, with each squadron assigned to a specific ship. This limited the deployment of Japanese carriers when they had to replace aircraft and pilots lost in battle.
The American method had both advantages and shortcomings. Aircraft and pilots lost were more readily replaced, but it also led to accidents caused by inexperienced pilots and crews. American losses suffered by Yorktown at Coral Sea were replaced by Saratoga and Pearl Harbor’s airfields. In contrast, Japanese losses suffered by the aircraft carrier Zuikaku prevented the ship from joining in the Midway operation. The Japanese simply did not have enough pilots, nor airplanes, to quickly restore the ship’s complement. Thus, the conflicting doctrines allowed the Americans to add one carrier deck to their operations, while the Japanese were forced to subtract one.