The Great Pacific War aftermath

Didn't the existing Hog Islanders create a serious glut in the market anyway? Got to admit that it is a fiendish problem for the US. I wonder if they could lease ships from other nations? Ditto for the Japanese.
The Japanese in the book were clever and hired merchant vessels to deliver supplies the US for some reason didn't intercept and instead used money to do the same at higher prices to drive up costs for the Japs.
Onb the other hand, the Mary Deare is probably seeing use!
 
Doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. There are several types of amphibious operations (raids, demonstrations, evacuations, etc) but the key is the amphibious assault against a defended beach (as opposed to an unopposed/administrative landing). As the British found out at Gallipoli, this is not the same thing as an assault on land except instead of charging over open ground you go ashore in some sort of boat. The USMC started working on this right after WWI, although a lot of actually hands on was suspended in the mid/late 20s when the small USMC was very involved in the "banana wars". After FDR pulled the Corps out of that, developing doctrine was the major task of the USMC with annual exercises, as well as "paper" sessions and the search for the proper technology. Higgins developed his Eureka boat, which became the first landing craft (before the bow ramp boats) in the early/mid 30s for use in Louisiana swamps and the oil industry. Similarly Roebling developed the Alligator for rescue work in Florida in the late 30s. Both civilian items were noted by the USMC and then purchased. If the USA and Japan had fought the earlier war the Higgins craft might have been accelerated in development, not sure about the Alligator.

While OTL the Japanese did work on amphibious warfare in the interwar period, rather than abandoning it as a concept, their efforts had several failings, not the least that, big surprise, the IJA and IJN had separate programs even separate ship types. There are reports and photos in the USMC archives at Quantico from the late 30s about Japanese landing craft/barges with bow ramps. While the Japanese did mount a lot of amphibious operations both in China before PH, and then afterwards, most of these landings were against undefended or minimally defended objectives. The landings in the PI were initially against defenses, but these defenses were very weak and overcome rather quickly. Japan never assaulted an objective with serious beach defenses.
 
...
While OTL the Japanese did work on amphibious warfare in the interwar period, rather than abandoning it as a concept, their efforts had several failings, not the least that, big surprise, the IJA and IJN had separate programs even separate ship types. There are reports and photos in the USMC archives at Quantico from the late 30s about Japanese landing craft/barges with bow ramps. While the Japanese did mount a lot of amphibious operations both in China before PH, and then afterwards, most of these landings were against undefended or minimally defended objectives. The landings in the PI were initially against defenses, but these defenses were very weak and overcome rather quickly. Japan never assaulted an objective with serious beach defenses.

Assaulting a defended beach is a last resort. Traditional doctrine, reaching back to Sumerian times is you land at the weak point and bypass or envelope the stronger locations. That's why @ Betio the primary landing was on the lagoon side, with slightly less dense defenses visible in the reconissance. Tinian is a better example, a pair of tiny isolated beaches used vs the broad better sheltered beach elsewhere.

Landing site selection is a set of compromises. When ever practical smart money goes to the least defended site. Of course you have to hedge your bets with the ability to assault heavily defended sites when unavoidable.
 
I think the basic idea, using a bodge of COTS parts to make a tank sounds like a good idea, but this result is Type 95 Ha Go territory.

Not a Ha Go. A CTMS-1TBI tank?

Definitely a Type 95 Ha Go. Both are decidedly not going to impress; but it is better than nothing.
Few prewar light tanks did impress.
At the bottom, was the 4 ton Vickers Light Mk.V
12mm armor, with 15mm and 7.92mm MGs, but speedier than the rest at 32mph from it 88hp gas engine. 3 man crew.

Then the Panzer IIB, almost 8 tons, 16mm armor, 20mmL55 autocannon and 7.92mm MG, 25 mph, 130hp gas engine, 3 man crew. It's best feature was the first German tanks where most had radio transmitters as well as receivers, unlike the PanzerI

L6/40 almost 7 tons, 15mm armor, 20mm autocannon, 8mm MG, 26mph from a 70hp Diesel, I believe. 2 man crew

The Ha-Go was 7.4 tons, 16mm armor, 37mm cannon and two 7.7mm MGs. 28 mph, with an 120hp aircooled Diesel, best of the lot on that front.

French H35. 11 tons, up to 40mm armor, a weak 37mm and 7.5mm MG, 22 mph from a 120hp engine. Two man crew, no radio. I have said some designs were eggshells armed with hammers, but this was a tortoise armed with a pointed stick. Not much more than a faster Matilda I.

Last the Marmon, that was 10 to 11 tons depending on the exact version, 13mm armor, a 37mmL44 semiautomatic cannon or twin .50s,plus four more .30 MGs. 25 to 30mph, with a gas 174hp or 123hp diesel. 2 or 3 man crew.

Now early light tanks that did impress was the US M2A4, from high speed, reliability, 25mm armor and good 37mm gun, plus the best radio gear of anyone, and the Soviet BT-5,very fast, mostly reliable and a powerful 45mm cannon. Few had radios.
 
I'm trying to remember if any of that was in use in 1931.

The Japanese did develop the original Daihatsu landing craft in the 1920s. With a bow ramp & stern anchor for refloating. This was the smaller version. A Lt Krulak USMC did observe some Daihatsu boats at Shanghai circa 1938. A few years later Krulak was on the Navy liasion group that worked with Higgins refining that design.

The Japanese also built a amphib transport in the early 1930s. A cutting edge design it had a well deck for boats to load out of an ballast tanks for flooding the well or dock deck. Only one of these was actually used, tho another was ordered & delayed circa 1942.
 
Last edited:
Top