A friend of mine was in a department that transitioned from revolvers to Beretta 92s. They were issued 50 rounds of service ammo and were allowed to fire 100 rounds of practice ammo and they hit the street…that was it
F14 was designed as a pure fighter. It was huge and took up lots of space in the hangar deck. Engines were problematic also. They tried to turn it into a bomber (Bombcat) but the F18 was already there. It could do both roles, with more per carrier, cheaper per unit and easier to maintain.
The quality of the Japanese naval aviators was never achieved again when these 4 carriers sank. They were never able to train men to this level of skill for the rest of the war.
I applaud the skippers of those destroyers to close with and destroy the enemy with precise naval gunfire. On the other hand, the guys on the beach were only armored with cotton shirts and they were closer than 1000 yards!