The historiography of the Pacific Theater of World War II is thorough in regard to its coverage of the war itself. The technology, doctrine, and personnel practices of both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy are well understood by historians in the field. In addition to this, a less thorough but still healthy understanding exists as to how the belligerents in question adopted the methods and tactics they used on the battlefields of the Pacific. What currently exists in this field of study places more analytical emphasis on the cultural and strategic level impacts of the interwar years. What scholars have overlooked is the phase in which these new ideas and technologies were tested in simulated battles. While the methodology behind the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems has been written about before, there remains little direct analysis as to how wargaming and fleet exercises impacted the outcome of actual engagements such as Coral Sea, Midway, and Leyte Gulf. Through a comparative analysis of the Fleet Problem Records and after-action reports from noteworthy engagements, this thesis argues that the Fleet Problems were crucial for giving the U.S. Navy actionable data with which to develop doctrine that directly enabled victory at the operational level.
","abstract_html":"<p>The historiography of the Pacific Theater of World War II is thorough in regard to its coverage of the war itself. The technology, doctrine, and personnel practices of both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy are well understood by historians in the field. In addition to this, a less thorough but still healthy understanding exists as to how the belligerents in question adopted the methods and tactics they used on the battlefields of the Pacific. What currently exists in this field of study places more analytical emphasis on the cultural and strategic level impacts of the interwar years. What scholars have overlooked is the phase in which these new ideas and technologies were tested in simulated battles. While the methodology behind the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems has been written about before, there remains little direct analysis as to how wargaming and fleet exercises impacted the outcome of actual engagements such as Coral Sea, Midway, and Leyte Gulf. Through a comparative analysis of the Fleet Problem Records and after-action reports from noteworthy engagements, this thesis argues that the Fleet Problems were crucial for giving the U.S. Navy actionable data with which to develop doctrine that directly enabled victory at the operational level.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Volkert, Jackson T"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Kenneth Swope","Dr. Heather Stur","Dr. Andrew Wiest"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2026-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:55Z","subjects":["World War II","Pacific","Fleet Problems","battle"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1192","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Kenneth Swope","Dr. Heather Stur","Dr. Andrew Wiest"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Volkert, Jackson T"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-05-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["World War II","Pacific","Fleet Problems","battle"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1192"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The historiography of the Pacific Theater of World War II is thorough in regard to its coverage of the war itself. The technology, doctrine, and personnel practices of both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy are well understood by historians in the field. In addition to this, a less thorough but still healthy understanding exists as to how the belligerents in question adopted the methods and tactics they used on the battlefields of the Pacific. What currently exists in this field of study places more analytical emphasis on the cultural and strategic level impacts of the interwar years. What scholars have overlooked is the phase in which these new ideas and technologies were tested in simulated battles. While the methodology behind the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems has been written about before, there remains little direct analysis as to how wargaming and fleet exercises impacted the outcome of actual engagements such as Coral Sea, Midway, and Leyte Gulf. Through a comparative analysis of the Fleet Problem Records and after-action reports from noteworthy engagements, this thesis argues that the Fleet Problems were crucial for giving the U.S. Navy actionable data with which to develop doctrine that directly enabled victory at the operational level.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Simulated Battles, Real Lessons: Analyzing The Impact of The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems on Battle in The Pacific War"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Kenneth Swope","Dr. Heather Stur","Dr. Andrew Wiest"],"dc:creator":["Volkert, Jackson T"],"dc:date.available":["2026-05-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The historiography of the Pacific Theater of World War II is thorough in regard to its coverage of the war itself. The technology, doctrine, and personnel practices of both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy are well understood by historians in the field. In addition to this, a less thorough but still healthy understanding exists as to how the belligerents in question adopted the methods and tactics they used on the battlefields of the Pacific. What currently exists in this field of study places more analytical emphasis on the cultural and strategic level impacts of the interwar years. What scholars have overlooked is the phase in which these new ideas and technologies were tested in simulated battles. While the methodology behind the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems has been written about before, there remains little direct analysis as to how wargaming and fleet exercises impacted the outcome of actual engagements such as Coral Sea, Midway, and Leyte Gulf. Through a comparative analysis of the Fleet Problem Records and after-action reports from noteworthy engagements, this thesis argues that the Fleet Problems were crucial for giving the U.S. Navy actionable data with which to develop doctrine that directly enabled victory at the operational level.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1192"],"dc:subject":["World War II","Pacific","Fleet Problems","battle"],"dc:title":["Simulated Battles, Real Lessons: Analyzing The Impact of The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems on Battle in The Pacific War"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:55Z"}