Simulated Battles, Real Lessons: Analyzing The Impact of The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Problems on Battle in The Pacific War

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2026

Author dc:creator

• Volkert, Jackson T

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Kenneth Swope
• Dr. Heather Stur
• Dr. Andrew Wiest

• World War II
• Pacific
• Fleet Problems
• battle

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1192

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-2286