[ealgeone]

There is a good website called combinedfleet (iirc) that details the production of our Essex fleet carriers combined to the Japanese carrier production.

Even if we'd lost all three carriers at Midway we would have equaled the Japanese in late 43 and surpassed them in 44. This does not count the escort carriers.

And consider we began to slow carrier production in 45 as we knew we were going to win the war.

[sparklite2]

At the end of the war, the US had 27 aircraft carriers.