Different Pearl Harbor

Yes I know this is stupid, but it's for a school report, I need 10 different outcomes:

What would have happened if Pearl Harbor was greatly fortified with anti air guns, and all the ships were somewhere else?
 
10 outcomes? That's ridiculous. One of the 2 best would be is

1) The Aircraft Carriers were there on the attack day.

2) They totally fail thanks to a mistake by the navigators. They are seen, planes are scrambled, and the attack is no longer a surprise.
 
3) Nagumo launches a third wave, the US facilities at Pearl are wrecked even more than OTL, however the Japanese Carrier Air Wings suffer much higher casualties due to the Americans being ready. As a result the War in the Pacific drags on for a few more months than OTL.

4)The Japanese Midget Submarines are more successful, however poor timing results in their attack preceding the main attack by roughly an hour causing Nagumo to call off the attack after only 1 wave and minor damage. This however works to the immediate advantage of the Japanese as the American losses are light enough for the commanders to continue on with War Plan Orange.

5)Same as #4 except the midget subs have better timing leading to greater investment in midget subs during WWII and perhaps beyond.

6)The Radar stations at Pearl are completed earlier than OTL allowing the US to spot the incoming planes and be correspondingly more prepared.
 
7) Alert communique sent on time. Kimmel sorties the fleet at midnight. The Japanese panic when Pearl Harbor is empty and flee after severely damaging the land based air and sinking the BB Pennsylvania in Drydock #1 rendering it unusable for over a year.

8) A PBY spots the Jap Carriers the day before. Enterprise joins the battleships north of Pearl Harbor overnight. The Japanese strike finds Pearl Harbor empty. A PBY sights the Jap fleet at 8am. The American battleships are 2 hours away. As the Japanese begin recovering their strike, the American battleships engages the Japanese carriers sinking 4 while the others escape. This causes the Americans to invest more in battleships and less in Carriers since Carriers have proved to be not as effective as planned. During the American landings on Guadalcanal in Aug 42, 8 battleships and 6 cruisers along with most of the 1st Marine division are sunk when the Japanese Carriers do their job well.
 
9) The Japanese attack the oil tanks and repair facilities on the first strike. Even if the carriers and battleships aren't sunk, they would have to sail to California for refueling.
 
10) Stray bombs hit the Sub Force torpedo store, USN is forced to rely on civilian contractors to build the more reliable Mark X, Nimitz must rely more on mining, & the war ends in December '44.
 
Japanese war declaration delivered

11. In Washington, the Japanese Declaration of War is delivered shortly BEFORE the attack, making it an attack in time of war.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
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Yes I know this is stupid, but it's for a school report, I need 10 different outcomes:

What would have happened if Pearl Harbor was greatly fortified with anti air guns, and all the ships were somewhere else?


1. Japanese don't show up (they DID have an Intel source in Hawaii)
2. Japanese show up, float plane confirms the bird has flown and the Kido Butai aborts and sails home
3. Japanese are idiots, First wave shows up anyway breaks off when there is no game.
4. First wave doesn't tell second wave due to some bizarre radio silence requirement. Second wave finds no targets
5. As # 3 except 1st wave decides to have a go at the airbases (despite mostly being armed with torpedoes and AP bombs). Gets chopped to bits. Warns off 2nd wave.
6. As with # 5 except no warning is sent to 2nd wave which also gets chopped to bits.
7. After # 6 happens, the Japanese decide to close and have a go with their guns. They run into the Pacific Fleet in all it's glory at sea and outnumbers 2-1 in heavy ships get torn to bits.
8. As with #7 except that the survivors are hit by land based air out of Hawaii, causing even more damage.
9. As with #8 except the Enterprise manages to launch a successful carrier airstrike, finishing off the remaining carriers.
10. As with # 9 except the Lexington group, having been informed that the game is afoot, catches the stragglers as the retreat and sinks the few surviving ships, clogged with survivors of the earlier sinkings.

You may have noticed that these go from unlikely to impossible. Tell the teacher who gave you this assignment to go into the parking lot and sniff some more exhaust fumes. they missed a few active brain cells. the first go round.:rolleyes:
 

Markus

Banned
You may have noticed that these go from unlikely to impossible. Tell the teacher who gave you this assignment to go into the parking lot and sniff some more exhaust fumes. they missed a few active brain cells. the first go round.:rolleyes:

The bear is back. No ideas for the "alternate" use of CV yet?
 
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