Remember the Texas! The United States in World War II (an alternate history)

McPherson

Banned
Regarding the fighters.. they didn't scatter. My reading of World War II fighter battles is one minute the sky is full of airplanes and shortly after its "where the hell did everyone go!" in effect the fighters engage, they fight but the circumstances of a furball prevent them from aiding the bombers any longer. Luckily the Germans also concentrated on their fight and target fixation neutralized them from beating up the bombers too much. They Allied fighters did their job, they covered the aircraft they were escorting and the only failure was in part to the very communications issues that Calbear and you mentioned. RAF fighters covering a US task force have problems due to communications.
Aerial warfare over land. In a sea-air battle with aircraft carrier borne aviation, the tendency is for CAP to cycle up and down in the air battle. Also in a sea-air battle CAP fighters will attack the bombers. That is USNAS and presumably FAA doctrine. Enemy fighters will be ignored. And we do not have many examples of the LW or the RA knowing HOW to escort an anti-ship strike package. So the air battle as described is a head scratcher for me.
It should be noted that the Vals in the Indian Ocean attacks on 2 fast moving desperately manuevering heavy cruisers got 80% hits. The German pilots here got nothing like that, but are for the most part the very same pilots from Crete (attacking fast moving destroyers as well as a carrier and a pair of battleships) and at Crete they got mission kills on the carrier and both battleships.
One knows that the IJNAS LIED a lot? And I have commented about Crete and the nature of those LW claims?
It seems possible the German aviation losses might be higher but I got the results I game with (used a modified wargame /board game version of Bismark/Midway...old Avalon Hill games and second checked them with World In Flames which is strategic World War II with excellent naval/air interface combat system).
Hmmm. All I have is RTL examples and a modified Harpoon system to check the results.
As to the drydock, likely the Americans are wrong and it is repairable, but it won't be as the Tirpitz will never be coming and thus in the views of the people in TTL, the mission is a success. Losing the Oklahoma costs Pye his chance at CNO, and Stark lost his job because of the damage suffered and Kimmel got himself killed. Publically this is a great albeit costly victory. Roosevelt is privately less enthused of course. Churchill is happy as he didn't lost any ships of importance and half the German surface fleet is gone.
To be honest? MOO. YMMV.

Kimmel, if he had not been killed, Pound, and Pye, should all be facing serious jail time. Stark? Drop the London Bridge on that apple polishing son of a bitch. California Actual should have done what Captain Bode of the USS Chicago did do. Churchill should be asking his RAF why they are so incompetent and seriously considering having charges pressed against Charles Portal and whoever the idiot is that runs the Coastal Command right now. Two Alaska equivalents and one badly designed heavy cruiser are not worth the loss of two Standards, the slaughter of a CV air group, and the obvious naval defeat that Goebbels can crow about.
As to the firing rate.. Pye has only 3 hours to do as much damage as he can and then run away. I might be off somewhat in rounds fired, but the Battleships would have shot as fast as they could only slowing to prevent overheating the barrels and because crew exhaustion is a thing.
Their accuracy will suffer markedly. Area bombardment of St. Nazaire will have US-Vichy France repercussions.
To be fair, until late war and Kamikaze attacks (and defending with massively powerful AAA), the Standard battleships never experienced any kind of serious attack after Pearl Harbor. At Pearl Harbor only the Nevada was attacked by dive bombers (18 dive bombers got 5 hits) and there she was in confined waters and unable to manuever. but that is a 30% hit rate while the entire US Navy at Pearl Harbor (and a few Army guns) where shooting at them. Speaking of Pearl Harbor, I did use that in part for a guide to likely German losses based on Japanese losses during 2nd Wave (excluding the attacks on the airfields and what American fighters managed).
Stationary or non maneuvering slow target. Here the Standards should be as they were in Philippine Sea, S-turning for their lives.
I did review Freya radar pretty closely. Although by the time the radar gunners picked up Force Y they already new about it from a patrol plane. The Carriers were far enough out that their launches may have been noted but considering what their aircraft were doing, it didnt matter what German gunners in France were preparing for them. The Luftwaffe provided what escorts it could for its complicated mission day and for the most part, until the attack on Force Y (and interference from above) they did their job, just as the Allied escorts did.
I mentioned that the Germans should be sortieing everything with wings.
Overall not perfect but I feel comfortable with the results and losses based on gaming it out. Sure games are only as good as the designer (which is why I use more than one) but they give me sufficient confidence to go with the results. The details may differ but the overall picture seems right.
As I stated, only an after action analysis and my opinion. My observations and opinions are not gospel.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
that is probably it for today... reviewing what the Japanese will do, what the British will do to shore up Asia, and what the US Army is doing

But Montgomery is going to Singapore and Alexander is going to North Africa has already been determined. Percival gets Burma.
There are so many things to be said about Monty being in Singapore that the mind reels.
 

McPherson

Banned
There are so many things to be said about Monty being in Singapore that the mind reels.
So Montgomery is going to be evacced out and Mister Corncob Pipe will go down with Corrigedor? OTOH, Harold Alexander is not 1/4 the general that Montgomery was. Yes, I have about-faced on Montgomery. Still have heartburn about Caen and Market Garden and his decisions about the Channel Ports, but I think he's about the best the British have, barring Slim and a darn sight better than the replacement expected for El Alamein.
 
Aerial warfare over land. In a sea-air battle with aircraft carrier borne aviation, the tendency is for CAP to cycle up and down in the air battle. Also in a sea-air battle CAP fighters will attack the bombers. That is USNAS and presumably FAA doctrine. Enemy fighters will be ignored. And we do not have many examples of the LW or the RA knowing HOW to escort an anti-ship strike package. So the air battle as described is a head scratcher for me.

One knows that the IJNAS LIED a lot? And I have commented about Crete and the nature of those LW claims?
to be fair, the CAP was operating at extended range, not defending their carriers and cycling was therefore limited. It should be noted that the real results of the Channel Dash were far more embarrassing.

Firing Admirals and court martialling them is pretty hard to do politically, Kimmel had to wait years and history has been far harsher than the Navy was. He managed to lose fleet because of inaction. Here he got one shot up by acting. Stark got a lot of heat for Pearl Harbor too (deservedly) and he got kicked to the curb. He managed ok in the planning for Overlord. Yeah Pound needs to go but TTL he may just die on the job as PQ17 has been butterflyed away and so has Force Z off Malaya

I don't remember off hand what heads rolled after the the Channel Dash but presumably someone's did. I will be reviewing that I as figure out what the British are up to

There is a World War II version of Harpoon? I need that and computer able to run it. All I have are board games when it comes to naval combat (the Avalon Hill/SPI/GDW/Australian Studies Group stuff) and a couple of comp uter games (Operational Art of War) for significant land battles.
 
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McPherson

Banned
Firing Admirals and court martialling them is pretty hard to do politically, Kimmel had to wait years and history has been far harsher than the Navy was. He managed to lose fleet because of inaction. Here he got one shot up by acting. Stark got a lot of heat for Pearl Harbor too (deservedly) and he got kicked to the curb. He managed ok in the planning for Overlord. Yeah Pound needs to go but TTL he may just die on the job as PQ17 has been butterflyed away and so has Force Z off Malaya
Kimmel was fired for Pearl Harbor. This disaster is arguably equivalent.

Stark gets no credit for NEPTUNE, none. He fucked up the Mulberry for example. He bungled that one against USN and RN advice.
 
Kimmel was fired for Pearl Harbor. This disaster is arguably equivalent.

Stark gets no credit for NEPTUNE, none. He fucked up the Mulberry for example. He bungled that one against USN and RN advice.

Kimmel, in this ATL as well as IOTL makes a handy scapegoat (at least behind closed doors, I'm betting on The Medal for Kimmel publicly, a la Admiral Kidd IOT whose WW II lasted about 10 minutes before the Arizona was blown out from under him). Same for the CO of the California and Oklahoma.

Admiral Kidd's MoH citation.



Kidd was a fine officer, but I've never quite figured out why he and the Arizona's CO Captain Van Valkenburgh were awarded The Medal.
yeah medals and future destroyer names

dying at just the right moment can get you fame... for that matter desperately needing a hero at the right moment (Douglas Macarthur of course) also can really pay off in terms of medals

Kimmel will certainly get the MoH for his "heroic attack on the enemy fleet"

Sometimes you just have to play your cards as they are dealt and grin and bear it... so Stark gets an assignment to Britain which sounds important but isn't really at this point (and he will not be SHAEF commander) while Pye will get to fix his ships and then later watch them sail away without him

All things considered, could be worsefor the US Navy
 
So Montgomery is going to be evacced out and Mister Corncob Pipe will go down with Corrigedor? OTOH, Harold Alexander is not 1/4 the general that Montgomery was. Yes, I have about-faced on Montgomery. Still have heartburn about Caen and Market Garden and his decisions about the Channel Ports, but I think he's about the best the British have, barring Slim and a darn sight better than the replacement expected for El Alamein.
Alexander is a hell of a lot better than Ritchtie or Cunningham however and can work with the Americans ... which will matter eventually

Montgomery is already known for 'being difficult' but he has the right rank and experience to command a reinforced corps level command in Malaya
 

McPherson

Banned
West-Virginia-and-Nevada-Atlantic-bow-replacement-3.png


Grins and giggles. Just for laughs.
 
Kidd was a fine officer, but I've never quite figured out why he and the Arizona's CO Captain Van Valkenburgh were awarded The Medal.

I really have no idea. But given that all three USN admirals (Kidd, Callaghan. Scott) who died in the war got the Medal, you kinda wonder if there wasn't some unspoken policy - by King? FDR? - that anyone with a star who died in battle would get one as a matter of course.

Not least because none exactly *distinguished* themselves in those battles - Kidd killed at the outset of the PH attack, Callaghan having been subject to considerable criticism (some fair, some not) for his conduct of the battle, and Scott killed by friendly fire from Callaghan's ship!

Looking at the generals who got the Medal, it seems easier to find a couple who probably, arguably, seem to have merited it - Alexander Vandegrift, and Ted Roosevelt Jr. Kenneth Walker is a tougher case, killed while leading (against orders) a high risk (maybe foolhardy) air raid on Rabaul; MacArthur apparently had decided that if he came back alive, he'd get a formal reprimand, and the Medal of Honor if he didn't. Seems not unlike Admiral John Duckworth, who got the thanks of Parliament for destroying a French fleet at San Domingo, but who would have gotten court-martialed if he hadn't since he'd disobeyed Collingswood's orders by abandoning the blockade of Cadiz.
 
There are so many things to be said about Monty being in Singapore that the mind reels.
Some of those things may be said by distraught and outraged members of a golf course. If 'Monty' wants to build defensive works across a golf course, Monty is going to build them, no matter what civilians complain.
Edit:
At least I think, historically, there was a golf club in the Singapore area which in the original timeline infamously insisted that their property could not be used for military purposes. My Google-fu is weak tonight, and I cannot find a reference to it, though.
 
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Well, I mean, s***, he's gotta be an improvement on Percival, right? 😲
To be fair to Percival, some of the things in the British Far East that went wrong weren't his fault (the lack of proper equipment, for example); however, IMO, he was not a good leader. By all accounts, he was a good staff officer (he'd have to be in order to get command of Singapore and Malaya, IMO) but he suffered from the flaw (which is common in a lot of wars) of being a good officer in a supporting role and a poor officer in a leading role (kind of like Madonna and movie roles--she's good in supporting movie roles, but cast her as the lead (like in, say, Shanghai Surprise or Swept Away) and she's in over her head)...
 
Wow! Chester REALLY got jumped, makes OTL look mild. From a Two Star to CNO/Commander U.S. Fleet.

Ghormley will probably have to be medically out of the the PI. He saw disaster at every turn anyway, now his is hip deep in one, sharing an Island with Doug. Hopefully he can get his teeth dealt with.
in this case .. two star to Atlantic Fleet to CNO over about 5 months
 
Air attacks on Force Z
The American force consists of 5 battleships, 1 light cruiser and 4 destroyers and has 36 RN Fulmer fighters overhead when the first German air attack, consisting of dive bombers and fighters arrives. The German FW190 fighters although outnumbered 32 to 36, quickly scatter the British fighters, downing 10 and damaging most of the rest which flee to England (and 6 more crash on the way and 8 more are write offs). No German fighters are lost, and the dive bombers are free to attack unmolested. The American ships are seriously deficient in light antiaircraft guns, and the rate of fire on their 5 inch and 3 inch guns is insufficient to fully engage the German dive bombers. The German accuracy is excellent, with 8 bomb hits smashing into the West Virginia and 5 more hitting the Maryland, which are the two largest American ships present. Although no damage is down to propulsion and the ships maintain control, casualties are serious and their upper works are severely mauled. Among the dead is Admiral Kimmel, as three bombs hit the bridge of the West Virginia killing him and the ships captain and many other officers. An African American mess attendant, Doris Miller, will win the Navy Cross for his efforts to save his captain and then manning a heavy machine gun after its crew were killed. Admiral Bagley aboard the Nevada orders the fleet to make full speed toward Plymouth so that it can more rapidly reach British fighter recover and support is asked for. The RAF responds with 36 Spitfires which arrive just as the second Luftwaffe attack force of torpedo bombers and fighters arrives. This force is successfully engaged (6 RAF fighters, 3 Luftwaffe fighters and 8 torpedo bombers shot down) and the American antiaircraft is far more successful against the torpedo bombers, splashing another 4 and damaging most of the rest. German accuracy is excellent considering the opposition however, and 4 torpedoes hit the California which rapidly takes on a dangerous list and begins to abandon ship, while one each hit the West Virginia and Maryland. This slows the fleet to 15 knots and the California is left behind while Royal Navy small craft head toward her as she eventually founders 40 miles south southwest of Plymouth.

The final German attack by Ju88 dive bombers, and again the timely arrival of RAF fighters is critical. However German bombing is still outstanding, with every one of the battleships being hit. The Nevada, New Mexico and Maryland each take 3 hits, the West Virginia takes two more hits, and in error, the Germans hit the California with 12 bombs, hastening her sinking. The battered Force Z makes port in late morning and suffers no further attacks. American dead are nearly 2,000, including the commanding Admiral, and 5 battleships are seriously to severely damaged, while one has been lost. The Germans lose a total of 50 aircraft (and the RAF and RN a similar number between them) and the US Navy has suffered a severe defeat. But in doing so they have acted as bait and a diversion for Force Y which is now in position at 0900 hours to open fire on St Nazaire and its important Normandie dock.

The RAF is not idle while this is going on. In addition to fighter support for the badly mangled Force Z, the first attack on the German Fleet is launched at the same time. The 92 RAF aircraft reach the German fleet at 0915 hours, and while the standing patrol of Fw190 fighters wrecks the Bleinheim fighters (shooting down 12 of them, and badly damaging nearly all the rest) they are distracted so that the torpedo bombers are unopposed by fighters and able to make effective attacks. Both of the German battle cruisers take a hit each, although their torpedo belt prevents serious damage, but the cruiser Prinz Eugen is singled out and is smothered by 8 torpedoes and rolls over and sinks with most of her crew by 0937. The belated arrive of Spitfires provides cover for the torpedo bombers to escape (having lost 6 of their number to antiaircraft fire) and the surviving Blenheims and holds off the second wave of German Me109s that had arrived to reinforce the FW190s. The Germans lose 5 fighters, the RAF another 3, and for a brief time Admiral Ciriax is able to mourn his lost cruiser and her crew.

Further to the south and west, near the entrance of the Irish Sea, the USS Mississippi and her destroyer escort are met by a flotilla of British destroyers out of Liverpool and Sloops from Bristol, which engage and sink the U131 and U574 which were nearly in attack position on the US battleship. By 1100 hours the American ship is steaming north toward Belfast so that she can begin repairs.



Meanwhile Allied carrier aircraft and RAF Coastal Command have forced the two groups of German Uboats in the area to remain submerged and even as the weather clears at noon and the Allies are steaming away the Uboats are out of position and unable to interfere. The Allies have achieved one of their major objectives and Admiral Pye is pleased.
Way too many hits and too much damage. The Germans would not, imo, have had anti shipping Heavy AP bombs available on such short notice. you have the Germans , without any real training, getting a superior level of hits then the IJN or USN did until mid 1943,. The USN with carriers present would have been training vs Torpedo planes and Dive Bombers. Also with the outbreak of war the mounting of quad 1.1" AA would have been a priority.
 
With no Pearl Harbor, there's less of a driver to act immediately on upgrading. They know the upgrades need to be done, but..... lots of other needs too. Does that make sense for this TL?
In my opinion no, the 1.1's were being installed as often as sheps went in for routine work. WIth the outbreak of war, imo the BB's and Cruisers headed to Europe would have at least 4 x 4 x1.1". mounted
 

Driftless

Donor
in this case .. two star to Atlantic Fleet to CNO over about 5 months

From OTL:

Ike goes from Lt Col at the beginning of 1941 to Brigadier Gen'l by the end of the year, and Lieutenant Gen'l by mid-'42, 4-star by early '43.

John Pershing went from Captain to Brigadier in one hop (small army) and from Brigadier to 4-star in a little over a year.
 
Way too many hits and too much damage. The Germans would not, imo, have had anti shipping Heavy AP bombs available on such short notice. you have the Germans , without any real training, getting a superior level of hits then the IJN or USN did until mid 1943,. The USN with carriers present would have been training vs Torpedo planes and Dive Bombers. Also with the outbreak of war the mounting of quad 1.1" AA would have been a priority.
performance based on this information
"The force selected was Fliegerkorps X from Norway, many of whose units had specialized in operations against shipping.2 With its signals, transport, flak, bombs, and fuel it began to move through Italy about Christmas time. By 8th January 96 bombers were established on Sicilian airfields, joined two days later by 25 twin-engine fighters. By mid January the figure had risen to 186 aircraft of all types."

By November 1941 the crews of Fliegerkorps X are the most experienced anti shipping unit n the world, with 3 major campaigns behind them.


That is my handy online reference, but there are a number of works were Fleigerkorps X is referred to as an elite antishipping unit by the time Pedestal occurs and other works concerning the Seige of Malta

The above is from January 1941, and predates the extensive practice it got in 1941 in the Med vs the British at Greece, Crete and Malta (and the convoy runs). A JU88 A-4 carries a bombload of 4,000 pounds (so 4 bombs generally speaking) thus 26 Ju88 dropping over 100 bombs getting about 12 hits on moving ships and another 24 getting 12 hits out of 96 bombs seems fair to me. As for the AP bomb problem, that is indeed a problem. However, even HE can do extensive damage to the upper works of the battleships without necessarily penetrating their armored decks (SC 500 Luftwaffe bomb) and there are armored piercing bombs available (the PC500 bomb)

That said, the Germans used HE on their attacks due to it being handy at the forward bases they were operating from. The other German units in theater were less successful and of their torpedo bombing attacks, they managed exactly one hit.
 
To be fair to Percival, some of the things in the British Far East that went wrong weren't his fault (the lack of proper equipment, for example); however, IMO, he was not a good leader. By all accounts, he was a good staff officer (he'd have to be in order to get command of Singapore and Malaya, IMO) but he suffered from the flaw (which is common in a lot of wars) of being a good officer in a supporting role and a poor officer in a leading role (kind of like Madonna and movie roles--she's good in supporting movie roles, but cast her as the lead (like in, say, Shanghai Surprise or Swept Away) and she's in over her head)...

I wouldn't argue with any of that.
 
In my opinion no, the 1.1's were being installed as often as sheps went in for routine work. WIth the outbreak of war, imo the BB's and Cruisers headed to Europe would have at least 4 x 4 x1.1". mounted
3 were in refit getting those, and more were planned, but the fleet steamed to Europe pretty quickly, leaving Pearl Harbor in early August and arriving in September and going into action in November. There ships in refit (1 on the West Coast, 2 on the East Coast) are getting that upgraded armament as are the carriers and cruisers as they rotate through refit on both coasts. None of those ships were attacked in this battle (or in the case of the battleships, present). They arrived in December with their shiny new guns and the Idaho goes home to get new guns as well. The damaged ships will ge shiny new 40 and 20 mm guns over the course of 1942.
 
Battle of the Atlantic October-December 1941
Nimitz, commanding Atlantic Fleet, is a persuasive and charismatic man, and has an easier time with Roosevelt and the Army than his predecessor King had. By October he has managed to trade the Army Air Force access to long range bombers immediately for the Air Force getting out of the ASW mission,, and that has netted him 30 B17s (plus 9 more transferred back from the British), plus Army Air Force strips the 6th, 43rd and 30th Bomb Groups of their LB30/B24s (nearly 100 in all) for the Navy to use, and by late November sufficient air crew have been trained in their use for some of them to begin patrols in the Caribbean and near Iceland. Another 200 B18 Bolos leave the Army and although initially using borrowed Army crews, can begin local patrols off the Atlantic Coast right way. Another 300 of the Martin Baltimore which had been slated for Lend Lease are transferred to the Navy for ASW work, along with the entire production run planned for the PV2 Harpoon. Most of these aircraft will not be available before 1942, and indeed another 1,000 B24s will join the Navy as well, but most will not show up before late 1942 and early 1943. But by the end of December, over 400 aircraft are available to patrol American coastal and regional waters and provide some support into the Atlantic. The Army even gives the Navy the B18s currently in Hawaii for local patrols. Most of the Army personnel will go to other groups working up, are reequipped with medium bombers as they become available. Hap Arnold is relieved to be able to concentrate on what he thinks is important, the eventual strategic bombing offensive against Germany.

The US Navy has other forces available as well. The US Coast Guard provides 21 cutters (basically equal to a British corvette or sloop depending on size), and 61 submarine chasers (useful for inshore patrol and rescue work), with 6 more cutters commissioning or working up and 30 armed yachts fitting out and working up (which adds another 36 sloop types). Additional yachts are being acquired, and the Coast Guard has plans to lay down additional (and more modern) cutters as well. This provides 82 escort ships for Iceland, the Eastern Sea Frontier plus the already 41 obsolete but useful Wilkes/Clemson class and 56 minesweepers already assigned to those areas (although 4 of the destroyers are usually patrolling the Pacific side of Panama) plus the 4 light cruisers patrolling the Pacific side and 4 additional old destroyers that escort them. By December Nimitz has managed to end attacks on US coastal shipping in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean is only seeing sporadic attacks. After November and the end of Operation Chariot, an additional 9 destroyers joins the Atlantic Fleet from US Forces Europe, and he has all but relegated the old battleships New York and Arkansas to training ships in Chesapeake Bay to free up large numbers of useful experienced personnel. Both of his carriers have been sent to US Navy Europe, along with their escorts, and he has to say good bye to the Yorktown and its escorts in December when it is sent to the West Coast. However that still gives him around 45 destroyers for Atlantic duty of which 30 are usually available (the rest refitting). German Uboats sink only 90 ships (around 500,000 tons total) during the Fall, in part due to poor weather but also because of the distraction of Operation Chariot and improved American defenses.

However on December 1, 1941, Admiral Nimitz is promoted out of his job as commander of Atlantic Fleet and made Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief US Fleet after Admiral Stark is sent to replace Admiral Kimmel in Britain and Admiral Pye is given command of Battle Force Atlantic, which has only 6 battleships (all under repair or refitting) and responsibility for overseeing their modernization. The first thing Nimitz does is request Admiral Thomas Hart as Commander, US Submarine Forces and have him sent to Washington to take charge of this critical arm. The previous commander retires and is placed on the Navy Board.

The Pacific Fleet Fall 1941
Admiral King is gravely alarmed at the weak state of the US Navy in the Pacific but is careful in his criticism and requests. He does manage to get the carrier Yorktown along with Admiral Newton and 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers sent to the Pacific, as well as 18 newly completed, commissioned and worked up destroyers as they become available October-December 1941 (although several arrive in January 1942) and every available fleet oiler. His biggest coup however is the disestablishment of the Asiatic Fleet, and creation of US Naval Forces Far East which is a much smaller in size and authority, and which also falls under his operational command. He immediately orders 23 Fleet submarines to Pearl Harbor as he feels Cavite is hopeless to defend in the event of war, and also orders the CA Houston and 4 light cruisers back to Pearl Harbor, along with their 4 destroyers. Along with them 2 tankers and 2 gunboats (both of those are sent to Samoa), and the remaining 21 S Boat submarines are placed under the command of RAdm Thomas Rivers (who supercedes Captains John Wilkes who is slated to take over Submarine squadron 20). This leaves only the heavy cruiser Chester in the far Pacific, and it is operating with the British out of Singapore. He also ruthlessly strips the Philippines of trained personnel (reducing the gunboat crews to less than half strength or less) as well as the 4th Marine Regiment which he sends to Samoa. Admiral Hart is initially angered by this move but his new job overseeing the entire US Navy Submarine Force is a more than a token and he rapidly dives into the role, making his first visit to Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941.

Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley is made commander US Naval Forces Far East, and also given the principal job of coordinating between the US Pacific Fleet and British and Dutch naval forces in the Far East. Commander of the 16th Naval District, RAdm Thomas Rockwell remains in tactical command of the forces directly assigned to defend the Philippines (gunboats, minesweepers and PT Boats), while a new ComSubPac is plucked from his job as naval attache in London and RAdm Charles Lockwood arrives in Pearl Harbor with his boss Admiral Hart on December 5.

The other problem King has is aircraft. He has only around 40 aircraft available for the Philippines, and only (including newly transferred Army bombers) around 100 for Pearl Harbor to conduct patrols with. No more are likely to be forthcoming at present as the Atlantic Fleet has first call until more units are trained up and equipped. However with 4 carriers he is much more confidant about defending the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and approaches to Panama and feels reasonably certain he can defend the sea lanes to Australia if war breaks out. He is also promised all of the new fleet carriers and new battleships as they are worked up, and indeed within 14 months he will have 6 carriers and 6 fast battleships, enough to fight the Japanese with and even conduct an offensive. King continues to ruthlessly train his ships and crews who spend weeks at a time at sea (mostly in the waters between Hawaii and California) and conducts a fleet problem in late November near Panama. He is still reviewing the initial report of Operation Chariot when the Japanese launch their massive carrier air strike on Wake Island on December 8, 1941.
Glad the ships of the Asiatic Fleet get out. Even more that Hart ( who had a serious issue with the Newport Torpedo folks) gets the Sub command. IMO Albert Rooks, CO of the CA Houston, was one of the best cruiser commanders and gunnery specialists in the Navy. Perhaps, had he lived, he would have been right there with Willis Lee as a surface combat commander.
 
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