Japan 1941 attacks Australia instead of PH

Japan did attack Australia and its empire in 1941. They attacked British and US territory simultaneously. Japan cannot attack the UK and leave the Pacific Fleet operative. No-go.
 
Japan did attack Australia and its empire in 1941. They attacked British and US territory simultaneously. Japan cannot attack the UK and leave the Pacific Fleet operative. No-go.

I've noticed a lot of these alternate IJN operations threads seem to be about finding clever ways for the Japanese to avoid engaging the US Pacific Fleet. The problem being that Japan didn't want to avoid the USN, they wanted to destroy what they saw as the major threat to their plans and demoralize the USA so they would make concessions to Japan and leave them free to expand as far as they wished in SEA and China.
 
What about a strike on Melbourne and their naval facilities? I know reaching Sydney was stretching their logistics as it is, would going the extra distance be an option in the face of the added incentives? Too risky for being spotted/intercepted?
That is an even worse idea. Melbourne is suronded by land on three sides and the bay it is on the edge of is almost compleatly suronded by land itself.
 
Best possible result of all of this for Japan, even if logistics are somehow handwaved? Australia screams louder for Australian forces to stay to protect Australia.

That's . . . about it. Not worth burning the fuel for, and that's if you get maximum damage to Oz and minimal damage to the Japanese (ASB, as others have said first).

So, why bother? Making the Australians worry about we-don't-actually-know-its-logistically-impossible attacks is a far more effective investment than an actual attack would ever be.

Even if Japan's other goals are met (neutralize Singapore etc., destroy the US Pacific fleet. . .), it just seems like an operation that would only be useful as a way of proving that the Japanese too can be really stupid.
 
I don't expect them to invade Australia, thats nuts.

I was more aiming for a psychological kick in the nuts for the Australians having Sydney in ruins and the Japanese able to attack Australia's mainland so heavily. Darwin will be attacked too, maybe Brisbane as well(on the way back by the Kido Butai).

Would that scare the Australians off? At least long enough for Port Moresby and such to be lost? and what then, if the Japanese have all the islands north of Australia in hands, the Australians and New Zealanders will be cut off. No shipping would get through, all RAN ships would be lost. Would they surrender before the USA gets involved?

Doubtful! Would just make us Angry!

Sydney back in the 1940's would have been a much bigger target than Honolulu, just look at the populations differences now. The Japanese could *not* ruin Sydney, maybe they could have knocked down the harbour bridge, but thats probably about it.

As for the RAN, how much of the RAN was even in Sydney at the time?
 
He he he. Australia was on Japanese lists. Here; i saw this on a 1942(or 1944) documentary(called 'why we fight') about what the Japanese plans where:

Step 1:

Japansgoal.jpg


Step 2:

Japansgoal2.jpg


So Australia was definitly on the menu. But probably after China and India.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
What about a strike on Melbourne and their naval facilities? I know reaching Sydney was stretching their logistics as it is, would going the extra distance be an option in the face of the added incentives? Too risky for being spotted/intercepted?

Actually, reaching Pearl stretched their logistics to the limits. Deck loadingbarrels of fuel, filling bilge tanks with fuel oil, all that sort of lunacy was necessary to reach Pearl. The Jpanese didn't have the reach to get to Australia on December 7th.

The Japanese didn't make any long range attacks except for Pearl Harbor.

The Philippines attack were staged out of Formosa (Taiwan) which were less than 500 miles away.

Wake was out of the Marshalls, 450 miles away

Guam was from Saipan, 150 miles away

Mayala was from French Indochina (Viet Nam) less than 300 miles away, and directly across the Thai/Malay land frontier.

The same sorts of distances were involved in the DEI campaign. The Darwin Raid didn't happen until the Japanese had access to both fuel out of Borneo and basing at Singapore. The only long range action the Japanese took besides Pearl was the IO Raid and that came out of Staring Bay (Staring Baii) on Sulawesi, Indonesia
 
Top