By 1938 the United States Navy has experienced twenty years of steady growth, for most of which time it has focussed on the perceived threat from the Japanese as the benchmark of relative strength.
The overall U.S. naval strength by 1938 is as follows :-
4 older vessels used as training ships (Wyoming & Florida classes)
2 Texas class (modernised)
2 Nevada class (modernised)
2 Pennsylvania class (modernised)
4 New Mexico class (modernised) - the victories of the High Seas Fleet 1914+ caused the construction
of a fourth unit (California)
6 South Dakota class (modernised)
2 Tennessee class (modernised) - the second unit here being named New Jersey
6 Lexington class (rebuilt)
4 Maryland class (modernised)
In addition to these historically-built/designed classes there have been several more from the late 1920s onwards, using the new 18" model main gun .
2 'South Carolina' class - completed by 1930
4 'Rhode Island' class - completed by 1935
4 'Louisiana' class - completed by December 1937
Plus 6 ships of the 'North Dakota' class under construction utilising the new model 18" gun
In addition, the United States has kept abreast of developments in naval aviation. In commission are numerically more ships than the Japanese have but with a preponderance of small and middling-size carriers, with the larger vessels only now beginning to enter service :-
| Older Small carriers - | Langley , Wasp , Hornet |
| Modern small carriers - | Princeton., ?, ? |
| Middling-size carriers | Yorktown, Essex, Kearsage, Franklin Enterprise, ? , ? |
Plus the first of the four large fleet carriers of the ? class - the ? - by mid 1938 in commission as the flagship at Pearl.
The disposition of the fleet between the Atlantic (which has the older, weaker battleships) and the Pacific where the main apparent threat is , is as follows :-
ATLANTIC FLEET
2 modernised Texas class - Texas , New York
2 modernised Nevada class - Nevada , Oklahoma
4 modernised New Mexico class - New Mexico, California, Mississippi, Idaho
4 modernised Maryland class - Maryland, Colorado, Washington, West Virginia
2 rebuilt Lexington class - United States, Ranger
+ the small older carriers Langley, Wasp and Hornet
PACIFIC FLEET
A) Pearl Harbour
2 modernised Pennsylvania class - Pennsylvania, Arizona
2 rebuilt Lexington class - Saratoga, Lexington
+ middling-size carriers Yorktown, Essex, Kearsage and Franklin
+ small modern carriers Princeton , ? , ?
& the modern fleet carrier ? (F)
B) Cavite
6 modernised South Dakota class - South Dakota, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Iowa, Massachussetts
2 rebuilt Lexington class - Constellation, Constitution
2 18"-gunned South Carolina class - South Carolina, Maine
4 18"-gunned Rhode Island class - Rhode Island, Virginia, Nebraska, Georgia
4 18"-gunned Louisiana class - Louisiana, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont
+ 3 middling-size carriers - Princeton, ? , ?
(Note - the names of the 6 new-model 18"-gunned battleships under construction are :-
North Dakota, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan)