My father, who passed recently, was involved in the transport as a driver and guard of the Chinese POWs who elected to go to Taiwan. He was proud of his immediate post truce military service and spoke often of transporting the soon to be ex-POWs to Inchon for passage to Taiwan. He explained that...
Frustrated with the lack of good targeting data and MacArthur's refusal to permit reconnaissance overflights, 19th Bomb Group Co, LTC Eugene Eubank, informally let it leak out he'd look the other way if any of his crews happened to "stray" off course during their routine recon/search missions...
I'm finding December 8, 1941 MacArthur's Pearl Harbor by William Bartsch very illuminating reading, his Doomed from the Start is next on my list.
The rapid fall of the Philippines, the nearly immediate destruction of the FEAF and the deaths and surrender of over 100,000 US servicemembers and...
On Dec 5 Combined Fleet HQ ordered Nagumo to take the following actions regarding an unexpected encounters and Nagumo blinkered instructions to his fleet:
- render enemy or third nation warships or merchant vessels incapable of signaling , attack and sink if necessary
- Panamanian, Norwegian...
Part of Brereton's junket was to also visit Australia.
Marshall and the Army Planning Staff (and probably Stark and the USN war planners too) also played a role in the early Pacific debacle. Supposedly Marshall had doubts of both Short's and MacArthur's adherence to their assigned WP Orange...
Yes I do, and so should you. Kimmel would follow orders to implement the Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan Orange of 1938 whose main premise was the protection of United States territory, sea communications and interests with the guiding principle being the maintenance of an...
I believe you're making a hugely incorrect assumption that the USN is going to turn tail and attempt to run away. Doctrinally, politically and from a national pride mindset, the fleet abandoning Hawaii in the face of a massive Japanese assault is never going to happen. Even if staying and...
As this "interesting" thread continues to meander, the original question should be revisited, "Could Yamamoto have pulled off an even more devastating PH attack?"
I believe the answer is a resounding YES!, but for which side? Given the historic success despite many challenges and missteps, the...
If TF8, including CV-6 Enterprise was scheduled to return to PH at approximately 0730 on 7 Dec 41, events earlier that morning indicating hostile enemy action could not have been dismissed, altering the outcome of the battle when Japanese aircraft encounter an alerted Pacific Fleet and a rapidly...
Well, CV-6 Enterprise with radar, was the flagship of CARDIV2/TF8 operating at wartime conditions under the command of VAdm Halsey, so Enterprise and her Task Force weren't likely to be caught flat footed. In fact, with Halsey's vigilance, it's likely that Halsey's boys could have saved the day...
As referenced previously. The Coastal Defense Study Group has a wealth of info. https://cdsg.org/
https://cdsg.org/list-of-american-military-reservations-and-concrete-gun-batteries-hawaii/
https://cdsg.org/coast-artillery-armament/
Fort Barrette had 2 16"/50 Mark 2 guns with a 2rpm rof...
Actually, the opposite is true. Disappearing mounts allowed for an increased rate of fire. Also with the gun and crew below ground level except immediately before firing, they were largely invulnerable to low angle fire from warships offshore attempting to engage them. It was like sheltering in...
Too easy. These few planes from 2 carriers, could linger around how long in the face of growing AA fire? Land based artillery and AA aren't going anywhere and have plenty of readily available ammo.