Eisenhower in the Pacific: Part 1 The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon
- Thread starter galveston bay
- Start date
marathag
Banned
Well, the older S-Boats had the WWI era Mk.X that mostly worked, except for running too deep.
These could be used in Fleet boats, as well
StephenColbert27
Banned
The one advantage the Asiatic Fleet has with using outdated ships....the old torps actually work! Not supposed to work that way, lol.
I hope that your wife recovers soon, Galveston Bay.
My best wishes for you all.
And following this, of course.
My best wishes for you all.
And following this, of course.
Galveston, the mentality of the Philippine government back then to justify the shoestring limited budget is they want to spend more money when they become independent. Hence the shoe string budget in otl. The commonwealth plan was really to have 100 bombers by 1945 which didn't even reach a tenth of it by 1941. The Philippines did acquire p-51 by 1947 otl though, although not sure if all that 103 p-51 was on 1947.
Although with the shoestring budget, the commonwealth air corps was able to produce pilots, few or at least one, that can shoot down zeros with peashooter aircraft care off US training and US air corps experience with a bit of luck.
For the budget to increase, it is either someway convince the philippine comonwealth government to spend more in ATL or US mainland to supplement their budget or both.
Although with the shoestring budget, the commonwealth air corps was able to produce pilots, few or at least one, that can shoot down zeros with peashooter aircraft care off US training and US air corps experience with a bit of luck.
For the budget to increase, it is either someway convince the philippine comonwealth government to spend more in ATL or US mainland to supplement their budget or both.
Best Wishes to your wife, and hopefully she recovers soon.
I am very much looking forwards to following this timeline, I think it is an undercovered topic with much scope for interesting changes.
For what it is worth I looked a fair bit at the topic in my recent timeline. My thinking was that the US needed a lot more fighter planes, radar, at least another US infantry division and some more tank battalions as well as a significant engineer presence given the number of rivers and rough terrain. The other issue that crops up was a need to mobilise earlier and for more training for the reserves that made up the bulk of the Philippine Army.
In the end I figured that without major changes it might not have been possible to stop the landings, but they could have been contained for quite a while if the US airforce remained intact. Feel free to borrow any recyclable ideas from my timeline.
I am very much looking forwards to following this timeline, I think it is an undercovered topic with much scope for interesting changes.
For what it is worth I looked a fair bit at the topic in my recent timeline. My thinking was that the US needed a lot more fighter planes, radar, at least another US infantry division and some more tank battalions as well as a significant engineer presence given the number of rivers and rough terrain. The other issue that crops up was a need to mobilise earlier and for more training for the reserves that made up the bulk of the Philippine Army.
In the end I figured that without major changes it might not have been possible to stop the landings, but they could have been contained for quite a while if the US airforce remained intact. Feel free to borrow any recyclable ideas from my timeline.
Because of delays in funding, the construction of new torpedo storage magazines was not completeded,OTL, at Miravales,Bataan and on Corrigidor prior to the outbreak of the war and when Cavite was devastated by bombing, approximately 300 torpedoes as well as spare parts for maintenance were destroyed. A large number of those were MK tens. IIRC, mining was controlled by the Army.
AH favorite sport: See how Macarthur can get killed in your story
He is unpopular here!
Eisenhower probably has to stick with the retreat to Bataan strategy, but hopefully in this timeline, he has supplies there ahead of time. With more supplies, the troops are able to resist longer.
Would be great if Eisenhower has any influence to link his defense of the Philippines to the defense of Wake and Guam. That is, the USA strengthens the ground air of Wake and Guam to resist the Japanese.
Lastly, the USAAF may still be caught on the ground under Eisenhower as with McArthur.
Would be great if Eisenhower has any influence to link his defense of the Philippines to the defense of Wake and Guam. That is, the USA strengthens the ground air of Wake and Guam to resist the Japanese.
Lastly, the USAAF may still be caught on the ground under Eisenhower as with McArthur.
@galveston bay take your time first comes the family. Hope your wife gets better. Do lots of research to write on this story. Plus if you can don't sink Force Z, this force can help out with the Americans
a few things
The US Army is in charge of coastal defenses, including coastal minefields but there is a gray area here, in that the Harbor Defense Command did not have the resources to put more then a few guns for the entire Lingayen Coast. I am not sure (although research is ongoing) how many mines the Army or Navy had available, but I have no indication that anyone ever even broached the idea which leads me to wonder if it was due to lack of resources or lack of imagination. As Lingayen Gulf was expected to be the principal invasion site going back to the turn of the century when the US Army first started developing defense plans either is a biting indictment.
Remember, Krueger, recent commander of the 3rd Army, is the commander of US Army Forces Far East, and Eisenhower is his Chief of Staff, thus Krueger's subordinate. Although a highly connected one (in terms of the Filipinos with clout) and with the respect of General Marshall.
To be fair in my last timeline involving the Pacific War were Macarthur appeared (Gorings Reich) I had him relieved for cause for criticizing FDR in public. In this one I consider him one of the problems the US Army had, but not the only problem it had. During the campaign there were a couple of occasions when he very well could have been killed by a stray Japanese bomb, not to mention the possibilities of disaster during his evacuation, so killing Douglas is not hard to do in any timeline.
As to radar, the US Army did have an operational set at Iba Field. It and its operators were destroyed on the first day. Japanese intelligence work leading up to the invasion was superb as far as to what the Americans had available. Their major mistake was in not realizing the size of the defense force at Bataan or that the retreat there was planned for decades.
As to the Philippine Air Force as well as the flow of the campaign I will be posting on that pretty soon (this weekend)
Thank you for all the kind wishes, they are appreciated. Chronic recurring illness is tough on everyone involved.
The US Army is in charge of coastal defenses, including coastal minefields but there is a gray area here, in that the Harbor Defense Command did not have the resources to put more then a few guns for the entire Lingayen Coast. I am not sure (although research is ongoing) how many mines the Army or Navy had available, but I have no indication that anyone ever even broached the idea which leads me to wonder if it was due to lack of resources or lack of imagination. As Lingayen Gulf was expected to be the principal invasion site going back to the turn of the century when the US Army first started developing defense plans either is a biting indictment.
Remember, Krueger, recent commander of the 3rd Army, is the commander of US Army Forces Far East, and Eisenhower is his Chief of Staff, thus Krueger's subordinate. Although a highly connected one (in terms of the Filipinos with clout) and with the respect of General Marshall.
To be fair in my last timeline involving the Pacific War were Macarthur appeared (Gorings Reich) I had him relieved for cause for criticizing FDR in public. In this one I consider him one of the problems the US Army had, but not the only problem it had. During the campaign there were a couple of occasions when he very well could have been killed by a stray Japanese bomb, not to mention the possibilities of disaster during his evacuation, so killing Douglas is not hard to do in any timeline.
As to radar, the US Army did have an operational set at Iba Field. It and its operators were destroyed on the first day. Japanese intelligence work leading up to the invasion was superb as far as to what the Americans had available. Their major mistake was in not realizing the size of the defense force at Bataan or that the retreat there was planned for decades.
As to the Philippine Air Force as well as the flow of the campaign I will be posting on that pretty soon (this weekend)
Thank you for all the kind wishes, they are appreciated. Chronic recurring illness is tough on everyone involved.
As you well know, simply not be "paralyzed" and holding the air on the ground, not properly starting work on the Bataan defense lines and stocking Bataan properly once war started would make a significant difference. Given that the retreat to Bataan was part of the plan for a long time, a lot of defenses could have been constructed before the war without a huge expense (positions with dugouts, layers of logs and wood, protected medical facilities and logistic areas, etc). The Pi will still fall...but.