The premise is full of crap.MSimon wrote:
I recall that on 7 Dec 1941 we were short more than a few war toys. We spent the next 3 years and some paying for a lack of war toys.viewtopic.php?t=1148&start=30JohnSmith wrote:Yes, having more ships probably would have sped WWII up. Maybe prevented it altogether. Who can say?
The real question is why did the Japs bomb Pearl Harbor, it was the most freakin stupid thing the Japanese have ever done. After the Fall of France (June 1940) FDR ordered up over 200 ships, 100 of them carriers. And the Japs knew this over a year later and they still attacked Pearl.
If the Japs Bombed onshore Naval fuel tanks, the US Navy wouldn't have had fuel for any maneuvers in the Pacific for 1-2 years. SO the 3 carriers that came back to Pearl after Dec 7th would have had no fuel to sorte out with.
Or if the 3 US carriers find the Jap task Force and sink it on Saturday Dec 6th.
Or if the first radar reports cause the CO at Pearl to go to DEFCON One, and we have 100's of planes in the air when the Japs show up.
Or what do the Japs do if we have 6 carriers at Pearl instead of 3? We dont want to be short a few toys.... 6 carriers at Pearl is still a target, an even more tempting target.
I mean come on, that Pearl Harbor ploy is pretty well worn out. What if we had a few more toys? Thats something said by somebody who has little or no tactical or strategic experience or knowledge.
When it come to the Toys of War, very often its not the toys, its the men that get it done. No Capital Ship authorized after Dec 7th was completed in time to see war time service.
On Dec 6th, the Japanese had 10 Carriers and 10 Battleships, we had 8 & 3.
Admiral Fletcher fared rather well at Coral Sea, with basically the remnants of a Depression era fleet.
IF not for Halsey and Fletcher the Japanese might have been able to take advantage of being the Pre-eminent Pacific Naval Power. But the US brain trust in the Pacific was incredibly good and incredibly lucky, and that is what trumped the Japs 10 Carriers and 10 Battleships, to our 3 carriers.
History has shown that it wasn't the US that got caught flatfooted & short handed on Dec., 7th. The US lost 2000 people on Dec 7th, while Japan lost WW2.