For example, both the new, high-performing Grumman TBF Avenger and the obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator were slaughtered as they tried to deliver their torpedoes at Midway without fighter protection.
The effectiveness of the special attacks ("kamikaze") late in the war using mostly outdated aircraft can also be attributed to pilot determination and self-sacrifice.
Nonetheless, other things being equal, faster, more maneuverable aircraft with longer ranges and better armament contributed to successful combat outcomes.
During the short “Shanghai Incident” in 1932, Japanese carrier-launched fighters and bombers and water-launched floatplanes attacked areas in and around the city.
[j][8] The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) was just emerging from a loose confederation of aircraft and airmen controlled by individual Chinese warlords.
The Curtiss Model 68 Hawk III biplane, built both in the US and China, was used by the ROCAF as a bomber as well as the primary fighter during the early part of the war.
It took the brunt of the Japanese attack during the defense of Shanghai and battle of Nanking, helping to make flying aces of several Chinese pilots.
For the next three years, IJN and ROCAF pilots fought above Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and elsewhere as Japan sought unsuccessfully to subdue China.
[11] The design of Japanese carrier aircraft was consistent with their overall strategy of emphasizing the offense in order to win a short war before America's overwhelmingly superior production capacity could be brought to bear.
In addition, their aircraft were flown by the world's most extensively trained and experienced airmen,[14] in part due to their engagement since 1937 in the war in China.
Exploiting these tactics coupled with greater aircraft survivability due to armor and self-sealing tanks, American pilots neutralized the Zero's advantages.
Over the course of 1942, Japan's substantial losses of her experienced pilots contributed to the American's gaining an upper hand in fighter combat.
Kate torpedoes contributed to sinking USN fleet carriers Lexington (battle of the Coral Sea), Yorktown (Midway), and Hornet (Santa Cruz Islands), all during 1942.
As a result, the RN entered the war with mostly relatively slow, limited range biplane fighters and bombers that were that were inferior to USN and IJN carrier aircraft of the same age.
[19] At the time of Britain's evacuation from Norway, her Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters, Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, and Blackburn Skua fighter-bombers were also inferior compared to the land-based German aircraft.
[20] Nonetheless, the Sea Gladiators did succeed in shooting down a couple of Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters during the Norwegian campaign in early 1940.
However, the Roc was no match for German Messerschmitt Bf 109 or Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters and could not even perform as well as Britain's own Blackburn Skua.
Considered one of the worst fighters of the war, the Roc was, by late 1940, taken out of front line service and consigned to training, target towing, and rescue duties.
During the war, they provided air cover for the raids on Taranto and Petsamo, protected convoys to Russia, and supported invasions of French North Africa and Italy.
[22] The UK upgraded their naval fighter squadrons in 1941 by adapting the highly successful, land-based Hawker Hurricane to carrier use.
Like the Roc, however, they fared poorly against the higher performance land-based Messerschmitt Bf 109, and were withdrawn from front line service during 1941.
Both were replaced in the front line by the Barracuda, but the Swordfish was retained to serve in anti-submarine and bombardment spotting assignments throughout the war.
The Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter-bomber introduced in 1943 was also faster than the Wildcat, had greater range, a rate of climb comparable to the IJN Zero, and was capable of carrying a 4,000 lb total load of bombs, torpedoes, and rockets.
Nonetheless, the Helldiver became widely used and participated in battles over the Marianas, Philippines, Formosa, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa and sank more tonnage of Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during the war.
It was conceived as early as 1938, but prolonged development delayed its combat use until mid-1944, by which time its performance had been eclipsed by both Axis and Allied fighters.
As the war progressed, the RN increasingly used US-made, purpose-built Hellcats, Corsairs, and Avengers for carrier operations in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
An improved version of the carrier-launched Zero, the Mitsubishi A6M6, included self-sealing fuel tanks, armor plate protection for the pilot, and a more powerful engine, but the additions made it heavier and less nimble.
[38] With the Allies having firmly established air superiority in the area, only a fraction of these planes made it back to their carriers two weeks later.
Nonetheless, it was bombs from a Judy, then operating from a land-base in the Philippines, that sank the light carrier USN Princeton during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.
Non-kamikaze aircraft models continued in use, often providing escort protection for kamikazes en route to enemy fleets.