All three of the German Navy's major fleets had put to sea. This meant that the American Navy's surprise attack plan had almost no chance of succeeding. Once they launched their attack, they would not be facing only the German Atlantic Fleet, but all three of the German Navy's fleets. Against those three fleets, they held virtually no advantage.
"Fifteen Capital Ships and twenty-four aircraft carriers against Germany's twenty-three Capital Ships and twenty aircraft carriers... I'm afraid that will be very difficult," Lieutenant General Halsey sighed.
In terms of Capital Ships, the American Navy had eight fewer. Although they were all cutting-edge Battleships, the German Navy's Capital Ships had displayed extraordinarily formidable strength during their naval battles with the Island Nation Navy. The American Navy therefore did not dare underestimate them in the slightest.
As for aircraft carriers, the American Navy had four more. However, the nine Independence-class aircraft carriers were merely light aircraft carriers, with limited numbers of Carrier-based aircraft. Those nine Independence-class aircraft carriers were at most equivalent to three German Constellation-class aircraft carriers or three Sovereign-class aircraft carriers. By that calculation, the American Navy remained at a disadvantage in aircraft carriers. Coupled with their disadvantage in Carrier-based aircraft, that disadvantage became even more obvious.
Although the American Navy's F4U fighter planes had entered mass production, they had only managed to replace the Carrier-based fighters aboard the four Essex-class aircraft carriers of the 1st Carrier Fleet with F4U fighter planes. The fighters aboard the other aircraft carriers were still F4F fighter planes. These fighters could not even match the Island Nation Navy's Zero fighters, much less the German Navy's carrier-based BF-109 fighters and carrier-based FW-190 fighters. If they encountered German Navy carrier-based fighters in a naval battle, they might well be doomed to slaughter.
"General, are there any