The Devestator is going to be quickly going on it's way out as soon as heavy combat begins, only a little over a hundred were built in the first place. Midway involved something like about a third of all Devestators built.
If there aren't enough SBD's to go around they can probably scrounge up some Vindicators instead.
True, but the problem is that Pearl Harbor attrited the available planes in Hawaii badly (surprise attack, less experienced USN/USMC pilots, etc.) and this is very shortly after Pearl, so they probably have not been able to shift stateside reserves to Hawaii
yet. Therefore, unless the air group reorganization took place pre-war, it has not taken place for this battle since Sara and E are being sent out to Wake with a short turnaround period.
Now, once the flaws in the Devastator become apparent either here or at Coral Sea/Midway, then the Avenger will get fast-tracked as the replacement for the TBD while more SBDs fill in the holes.
Also regarding communications I bet Thompson did a lot of the background work already. He is from the future, so most of the special nomeclature and protocols formulated after decades of hard practical lessons will be drilled into the pilots and comm officers to prevent lethal misunderstandings, improve coordination and avoid gaps in information between the ships and the air groups. Also he must have tweaked the chain of command to ensure the best possible use of the CAG and introducing other positions such as the Deputy CAG and a permanent staff (a command structure of the 80's).
True. The USN in this AU will be further along the road to integrated air defense than existed IOTL thanks to his efforts. That said, they are probably still ironing out the bugs in the systems he is implementing, and Sara and E are further along than say Wasp or Hornet. One additional thing that he probably pushed for is support for the USN's 'lessons learned' process that was able to adjust doctrine to improve damcon by figuring out what went wrong and spreading it through the fleet. Case in point, knowing what killed Lady Lex at Coral Sea (filled avgas plumbing) saved Franklin in 1945 (only one of her gasoline systems was unsecured when she was hit, and that was because it was in use, that prevented her burning all the way up).
I'm not contesting that, merely pointing out that there are other aircraft available for use as dive bombers if there aren't enough SBD's. The same cannot be said for the TBD's, which I believe are the only 100 odd carrier capable torpedo bombers the US has at this point and until the Avenger shows up around June.
True, but my argument is
at this point in the timeline (one to two weeks after Pearl) what Sara and E had prewar is pretty much all they will have until resources are shipped to the Pacific for them.
Does the USN have more planes available at NAS San Diego, NAS Norfolk, NAS Pensacola and so on? Sure they do. Will more SBDs, Avengers, F4F and so on be produced to make good losses and give the carriers a large supply of spare aircraft? You bet they will!
HOWEVER, since the distance from California to Hawaii is
double the one-way range of the carrier aircraft, that means the only way to get those planes to Pearl is to ship them. Specifically put them on a ship and sail to Hawaii. This takes more time than has passed for Thompson and company. That, in turn means that the available spare aircraft in theater are those which survived the Pearl Harbor attack and can be repaired in 48-96 hours before Sara, E, and the Wake Relief Force sets sail to fight in Second Wake. That is probably not all that many.
Now give the Navy three months or so, and prewar forces will be shifted to the Pacific while the spigot of American Wartime Industry is turned full blast. Give the Navy three years and you could
damn near sink Oahu with the weight of new-build logistics produced 1942-1944 to support the Pacific. They just are not at that point yet, although it will come sooner than later.
