Missed it by 'that' much

Much of the Japanese planning for Pearl Harbour centered around the use of torpedoes in shallow water and able to skim over the anti-torpedo netting. The British attack on Taranto showed that it could be done and this was a final lynch-pin in the Japanese attack plan. But...what if the attack on Taranto never happened or was a complete failure. How would that affect the Japanese plans. Later Pearl? No attack on the US or a China-first policy?
 
don't forget that this means that half of the regia marina does not wind up sinking in taranto harbour that night. Which will probably have a major effect on british strategy (more specifically, the royal navy will try to eliminate them at some point).
 
It's not like the Japanese were complete idiots & couldn't figure it out for themselves.:rolleyes:

I agree. The Taranto attack only gave the Japanese a boost of confidence that the idea was sound. Yamamoto and the brilliant Genda were determined to push the plan forward and they would have figured out the torpedo problem with or without Taranto.

Dave

www.pigboats.com
 
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