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Post by RNRobert on Feb 9, 2014 16:31:10 GMT -6
I would posit that the Guadalcanal campaign was the "decisive battle" of the Pacific War, although the Japanese didn't realize it. The IJN, despite losing four flattops Midway, still was a formidable force. The USN was still recouping from Pearl Harbor. We only had four operational carriers in the Pacific at the beginning of the Guadalcanal campaign, and of these, Wasp and Hornet would be sunk, Saratoga would be damaged and take no further part in the campaign, leaving only Enterprise available by the end of the year, and herself in a damaged state. On the other hand, the Japanese frittered away what was left of their carrier aviators, a loss from which they never recovered. Both sides suffered heavy losses in cruisers and destroyers as a result of the night actions in the waters of the Solomons (and the Japanese lost two of their older battleships to boot). However, the US was able to make good their losses, and the Japanese were not, which meant that the tide swung inexorably in favor of the US.
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 9, 2014 9:40:44 GMT -6
The Yamato was also referred to in the IJN as the "Hotel Yamato," as she spent most of her time, swinging at her anchor while serving as a flagship. There were some good operational reasons for leaving her swinging at anchor. Her and her sister were designed to fight the famous "decisive battle" near the Bonin's which never materialized. She was headed to Midway, to fight that battle but the defeat of the First Striking Fleet ended that operation prematurely. After that and the knowledge of how dangerous naval battles with carriers could be, they could not risk the only two battleships that could fight such an engagement with a modicum of success. She was too big to really be used at Guadalcanal unless deployed on the eastern side of the island outside the sound but again, with the US having air superiority over the immediate area and the two carrier battles she was not risked. Couple this with our submarine campaign and the IJN's steadily decreasing destroyer force to escort her along with carriers for air cover, I can understand not using them. Leyte seems to bear out that premise, IMHO. Combinedfleet.com has an interesting essay on why it was not feasible to use the Yamato in the Solomons campaign: www.combinedfleet.com/guadoil1.htm
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 9, 2014 9:33:21 GMT -6
They could also have used some of steel to build a flock of escorts to protect their vulnerable supply lines, but such a thought didn't occur to the Japanese until it was far too late.
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 5, 2014 10:35:37 GMT -6
I have a 10 year old Sony Vaio that still uses XP. Since some of my games won't work with Win 7, I will still keep it operational for game play (and use my HP laptop and Macbook Air for online use).
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 5, 2014 10:28:12 GMT -6
The Yamato was also referred to in the IJN as the "Hotel Yamato," as she spent most of her time, swinging at her anchor while serving as a flagship.
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 3, 2014 17:30:04 GMT -6
During WW1, the Japanese deployed some of their destroyers to the Mediterranean (along with a couple cruisers to act as squadron flagships). They saw no action, although one, the Sakaki (a Kaba class destroyer) was badly damaged by the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-27. In this hypothetical scenario, the Austrians get bold, and the Japanese 15th Destroyer Flotilla intercepts an Austro-Hungarian raiding force... RISING SUN IN THE ADRIAT.txt (1.8 KB)
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 3, 2014 17:21:19 GMT -6
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Post by RNRobert on Dec 20, 2013 6:37:58 GMT -6
Julian,
The German-American scenario was a work-in-progress sort of thing. I was in the process of tweaking it as I wasn't really happy with the original incarnation, but had put it aside. When I get a chance, I'll try to finish it (or, if you like, you can try your hand at it).
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Post by RNRobert on Nov 6, 2013 14:34:32 GMT -6
Don't own a Kindle. Guess I will have to break down and buy one eventually.
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Post by RNRobert on Nov 6, 2013 14:32:42 GMT -6
I was given Silent Victory as a Christmas present while in high school. An excellent read. Unfortunately, I had given away many of my military history books several years ago, and Silent Victory was one of them.
Another excellent Blair work, is one he co-authored with his wife, Joan, "Return from the River Kwai." It tells of British and Australian POWs who were being shipped to Japan after completed the infamous bridge over said river, and were torpedoed by American submarines (who didn't know the ships had POWs), and of the efforts of the subs to rescue the survivors.
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Post by RNRobert on Nov 1, 2013 13:01:54 GMT -6
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