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During WWII, thousands of bombs might be dropped on a target before it could be considered damaged or destroyed

Again, I couldn't agree more.

Nor could dad. - On the mission where he was forced to crash land behind enemy territory, he and 20 other B17 heavy bombers hit a single target, the coke plant at Nuenkirken on November 04, 1944.

As per later analysis, that plant was not put out of action.

Actually, the mission is still somewhat of a mystery, as the official records do not jive, or are destroyed. - I have been to Ghent, Belgium, and also to England to gather such evidence as I could.

Part of the saga is told by me here - and this is a site well worth visiting for those inclined to study the history of U.S. air power in WWII.

He survived, and he was a pretty well decorated airman;

Distinguished Unit Citation w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster
Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal w/4 OLC
American Defense Medal and a Europe/Africa/Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 4 Campaign stars and a WWII Victory Medal.

Not too bad for a young kid from Pa.

Thanks for the replies, I understand what everyone is saying, (though I disagree with The Senator about nukes and a CBG but that's another discussion) my quibble I suppose is, a WWII battlegroup would have multiple carriers and battleships, as well as heavy cruisers and all the other small boys at least late in the war. The WWII carriers carried more airplanes eventhough those planes were less capable than a current carriers outload, I can see giving the edge to today here, but I've been on a DD and FFG chasing you guys on and flying on to those carriers and the only weapons we had were 2 5" guns and 60 Tomahawks on a DD, and a 3" gun on a FFG. Even considering the Tomahawks whose range is nice, the throw weight of a few 3 and 5 inch gun compared to the 20mm, 40mm, 3in, 5in, 8in, 14in, and 16in tubes that were in the fleet during the Second World War makes me bring up the apples and oranges thing. I mean I know some of the things a modern CBG can pull off, but everything combined over 5 years of fighting in two theaters.

Finally, an aside someone mention land artillery attacking a carrier, the only time a carrier should be in sight of land is transiting the Suez, or mooring. IMO

Have a great weekend.