Eisenhower in the Pacific: Part 1 The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon
- Thread starter galveston bay
- Start date
it's not like the Aleutian conquest itself takes much men (plenty of resources in oil and transports, but the defenses aren't major), but the lure of drawing the American Fleet into a battle where they could regain the upper hand must be irresistable either way. and taking American territory in North America, technically, might be enough to draw them in.
Seems like it'll do nothing more than give the Omaha class something to do.
OTL the Aleutians were used as a bait for the US "they must defend every inch of their sacred homeland, we would" to draw forces away from Midway. If the Japanese are playing the same game here, guess Rabaul is the new Midway. Even the Japanese knew the Aleutians were, by themselves, pretty worthless. Sure crappy weather hides you, but makes flight ops just as hard for you as anyone else...
Driftless
Donor
I get some of the events of our current three great WW2 timelines confused (GB's, Zheng He's, and Fester's).
Have the Japanese figured out yet the level of effectiveness for US radar guided gunnery at this point? As I understand it, Japanese gunnery optics and night/bad weather fighting techniques were superior early in the war; so might that be part of their calculations?
Have the Japanese figured out yet the level of effectiveness for US radar guided gunnery at this point? As I understand it, Japanese gunnery optics and night/bad weather fighting techniques were superior early in the war; so might that be part of their calculations?
Not true, OPERATION AL was not bait for the US, it was a legitimate operation in its own right to secure the northern flank of Japan's perimeter against what they viewed as a possible route the US could take to get to Japan. They also grossly overestimated US strength in the Aleutians.
Now, I agree that the Aleutians were not a good route to get to Japan for a variety of physical reasons but on a map it looks like a viable route and sometimes strategists love to make strategy via map with little else.
Fearless Leader
Donor
IIRC The Japanese were particularly guilty of this and gave the threat of an American advance through the Aleutians far more credence than it deserved. This tied down a large number of aircraft in particular in OTL during several critical battles. Given their reverses in TTL, I could see the Japanese overreacting to American forces in the Aleutians
May-July is pretty much the only weather window, and it gave their new airgroups a chance to practice (the rebuilt groups from the Shokaku and Zuikaku)
This is also a factor
However it required the Americans to behave as planned. A frequent mistake that shows up in wars throughout history
that will show up in the carrier war thread later .... which is only going to be alluded to until I finish up Shoestring Warriors
They were actually pretty worried about a US move from this part of the world. It seems silly now, but it wasn't until both sides experienced the terrible conditions first hand that it was ruled out as a serious route of advance by the US
It should probably be remembered that very few people had any experience with conditions in that part of the world before World War II, Japanese or American, so a certain underestimation of the difficulties was probably reasonable
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Driftless
Donor
Well, they should have watched "Deadliest Catch" now shouldn't they..... Even if it was 70 years in the future....
Driftless
Donor
I wonder - in that time frame, would the US Coast Guard have been one of the few official entities that would have known and kept records of common open sea and coastal conditions? How much/how little would the various navies or air forces of the world have kept track of that general area then? Maybe the Soviets? Fisherman to be sure, but they wouldn't have recorded data - would they?
Right and as I said, it looks great on a map. Attu is actually less than 2000 miles from Tokyo (slightly closer than it is to Juneau) so just by looking at a map, it looks like an obvious line of approach. Besides, if you have ever played the Japanese player in Axis and Allies, you know that taking Alaska is a great way to annoy the American player.
Pretty much as far as I can tell, although I assume the Canadians also keep pretty good records too
We knew a hell of a lot about it. The USCG and its predecessors had been there since the purchase, and there were cutters there with more sent when war broke out. Was the information requested? Was it fully understood? I dont know. TBH, the Bering Sea and the Aleutians pretty much has to be experienced to be believed. I doubt most USN officers had ever been up there, unlike many of their USCG compatriots.
mattep74
Kicked
OTL or ITTL? If OTL then they might have though so until November 1944 when 30 seconds over Tokyo came out. I guess they were told Before the war ended.