[spud]

The IJN didn't embark aircraft on the flight deck, actually. The aircraft "caught on deck" at Midway were actually below the flight deck in the hanger spaces, there were almost no planes at all on the flight decks (they had just landed CAP planes within minutes on most of the 4 CVs, and it would take rather a long time to spot a strike on deck).

The US CVs, OTOH, those really need planes either spotted forward, spotted aft, or gone on a mission. Someday maybe we'll have a sim that properly models WW2 CV operations...

tater