In November 1921 the first purpose-built aircraft carrier was launched by the Japanese, followed a year later by the British HMS Hermes. Alongside the building of new ships, all major navies began to convert battlecruisers into aircraft carriers. The advent of this technologically advanced type of naval warfare required the development of new strategies and tactics, and innovative solutions to the many practical issues involved in basing aircraft on a moving ship. By the late 1930s carriers were fast, specialized ships with thin armor, destined for short but interesting lives. The strategies for deploying carriers were still being refined as World War II broke out. The war was the first time most navies deployed their carriers in battle-carrier actions were more like a game of poker than the slugging matches that developed between battleships. With the enemy never in sight, commanders had to base their decisions solely on the reports from scouts, then hold their nerve until a retaliatory strike had reached its target, if the target was even there. With a focus on the conflict in the Pacific between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy, this book examines how aircraft carriers fought during World War II by looking at the individual elements of carrier operations and dissecting carrier battles to see how these "building blocks" worked together in practice. Successful carrier operations required good radio communications; sound navigation skills; and the command of formation flying and coordinated attacks. And long before a carrier could carry out operations, its crew had to be able to manage, launch and repair large numbers of aircraft in limited space, while pilots had to adapt to the high-octane, high-risk life of a naval aviator. The battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 was the first time that aircraft carriers engaged each other, while at Midway the debate of concentration vs. dispersion was tested, as the Japanese divided their forces while the Americans concentrated theirs. How Carriers Fought examines these and other carrier battles to explore which strategies worked best in theory and in practice. It concludes with a discussion of how carrier operation changed during the course of the war, as advances in technology and their success in battle provoked swift evolution in combat models and strategies. Book jacket.