SergeantHeretic said:
The United States DID have abundant resources and logistics and Yamamoto knew that too.
He tried to warn the Diet and the militarists and the Industrialists, but that just was not what they wanted to hear.
You know that "I can run wild for 6mo"? I think he was trying to say, "If you can't achieve victory in that time, you damn well better not start, because otherwise, Japan is doomed". IJA wouldn't listen, & didn't have the education nor grasp of strategy nor the grasp of the difference of the war nor of their proposed enemy to understand what a shitstorm they'd be unleashing...
Hyperion said:
The overall US strategy will likely still be the same, the key is when it can be implemeneted if Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet are on the bottom of the Pacific off Midway.
CalBear said:
Since the U.S. did the Central Pacific strategy with Yorktown, Hornet, and Wasp all sitting on the ocean floor, and since the USN would still have outnumbered the IJN 2-1 in decks and 3-1 in aircraft even if none of the IJN decks were lost at Midway (also more than slightly unlikely) by the time of Philippine Sea, it seems likely that the strategy would be identical. Since the Japanese would still be operating the same A6M, B5N and D3A as IOTL against the same, far more capable U.S. designs by Philippine Sea, it would seem logical to to expect the outcome to be similar
Gentlemen, with all respect to you both, you've forgotten the subs, which will bring Japan's economy to a virtual standstill by Jan '45 no matter what else happens. If Japan does better (hold longer at Guadalcanal or Rabaul, even take Midway
), it's worse for her in the long run, since it extends & amplifies the strain on her SLOCs.
Ivan1GFP said:
What if in the design of the 12-shi fighter (A6M), Shibata had won the argument against Genda (Better performance versus Better maneuverability)?
Small difference. Japan's crew training was deficient, & lack of armor meant higher losses, which couldn't be replaced...
Ivan1GFP said:
What if there had been a third strike against Pearl Harbor that took out the Navy Yard and fuel storage. Pacific fleet would not be able to operate out of Pearl Harbor at all....
You need to persuade NGS the barrier strategy is going to take longer than anybody in IJN imagines...
You then need to get better IJN ASW doctrine, because Nimitz is just going to build up at Midway & use his subs to cut Japan's SLOCs even faster.
(Since he's now got much less capacity for a stand-up fight.)
Hyperion said:
If Enterprise and Hornet are sunk at Midway, how would loosing his two carriers effect Spruances later career, if he survives.
Seems to me it wouldn't matter: Fletcher was SOPA.
Flying Sorcerer said:
Could Nagumo's carriers have been more survivable if Yamamoto provided close support?
Better if Yamamoto had stayed ashore.
Nagumo could have used the VSs from the cruisers escorting Yamato for to find Fletcher before he launched (maybe).
Flying Sorcerer said:
he should have ditched the plan to attack Midway and focused on finding and destroying the enemy carriers which he should have realized were nearby.
That needs both better recce than Nagumo had, or better dispositions, or a better plan.
Nagumo had two mutually exclusive objectives: take Midway & destroy Fletcher. Midway should have been made clearly subordinate, since it wasn't going anywhere...
Blue Max said:
If the USA loses more carriers it makes more carriers
The better option was build more submarines. The better still option was shoot the senior officers at BuOrd & NTS & make better, & many more, torpedoes...
Making more Mark Xs would have been a decent option...but IDK if the net would have been better, since it had a smaller warhead. Could there have been a *Mark X Mod 2 with a larger warhead?
ScrewySqrl said:
July 20th, Wasp and Saratoga are present as teh 1st Marine Raider battalion goes ashore to retake midway.
... the Central Pacific campaign starts as OTL, at Tarawa, only a few months behind OTL schedule
That makes the attack at Tarawa, & ops in the Gilberts, TTL much, much easier: without the Makin Raid, Japan would less likely have realized the weakness of her defenses there...
Aside:
CalBear said:
455 Buick, Stage 1 with 10.5-1. It needed 95 octane
I don't suppose propane or CNG was an option?