"Area Covered by a Fleet?" Topic

This may seem like a dumb question because it will result in a big gaint "It Depends!"

But I was trying to think about the square footage that would be covered by a fleet.

For example if a hex represented ten nautical miles would fit the grand Fleet steaming in line ahead.

How much space did the Japanse carreriers occupy at midway?

This has just been bugging me

Thanks

I was just reading that actually – let me see if I can find it. The outer screen was about 10 to 15 miles out from the carriers, so right there should give you an idea. IIRC, they were between 500 and 2000 yds apart depending on what point in the action you're talking – normally about 1300 yds.

14-18 miles from the carriers they reached the outer screen. I'll quote the next bit and leave it up to you to interpret it: "..the carrier formation was a shambles… the Akagi could no longer see the Hiryu – she was somewhere in the smoke to the north. The Kaga and Soryu were still around, but the distance had widened from the prescribed 1300 to 4500 or 6000 yards." Another pov on range: "Leslie watched with satisfaction as explosions continued to rock the carried attacked by Bombing 3 [Soryu]. Then he saw huge explosions erupting from two ships some 10-12 miles to the west." These were probably Kaga and Akagi, but 6000 yds is only 3 nautical miles – not 10 to 12. After the US DB attack, he notes, "during the morning's maneuvering the Hiryu had somehow drawn steadily ahead of the other three carriers. Now they were perhaps 10,000 yards astern." This is from Walter Lord's Incredible Victory.

Thanks gives me a rough idea