Post by RNRobert on Jan 23, 2015 21:50:51 GMT -6
Prior to WW2, the Japanese based their strategy on the "decisive battle." This strategy no doubt was influenced in great part by their two previous wars, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Both of those conflicts were won by the Japanese after winning a decisive naval battle against their opponents (Yalu River in the former war, Tsushima in the latter). Of course, this strategy was based on battleship fleets slugging it out, and ironically the Pearl Harbor attack meant that the decisive battle would never be fought as the Japanese planned.
If any battle of the Pacific War could be considered the "decisive battle," my vote would be for the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese had been hurt badly at Midway, but the Imperial Japanese Navy was still a force to be reckoned with (as they would demonstrate in the waters of Ironbottom Sound), and the US Navy was still operating with limited resources (and with the Allies Germany-first strategy, the upcoming North African landings had priority). The Guadalcanal campaign was the last chance for Japan, not to win the war (which was well-nigh impossible), but to seriously hurt the American effort before the flood of new planes and ships coming out of American factories started arriving. Had the Japanese won the battle for Guadalcanal, they might have had several months in which to strengthen their defenses before the Americans were able to return to the offensive, making the war that much longer and costly. In the end, both sides were bled white, but the Americans were able to make good their losses, while the Japanese could not. More importantly, Japan frittered away the last of their experienced carrier aircrews in this campaign. While the IJN would venture forth a year and a half later with new carriers and new planes at the battle of the Philippine Sea, its pilots were nowhere near the quality of those who began the war (which is why the battle became known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot). After Guadalcanal, the Japanese were permanently on the defensive. The battleships would continue to swing at their anchors, awaiting the "decisive battle" that never came, and finally being committed when it was far too late to affect the outcome. Parshall and Tully have an interesting essay on their Nihon Kaigun website that discuss the reasons why Japan didn't commit more BBs to the Solomon Islands campaign -in short- oil, or lack thereof. The essay can be found at this link.
In the hypothetical scenarios contained in the compressed folder (which I created by simply editing the existing Second Guadalcanal scenario), the Japanese decide to commit their battleships to the campaign, and Admiral Lee's battleships have a tougher fight on their hands. Scenario 1 features the Yamato added to Admiral Kondo's squadron, and Scenario 2 features the Ise and Hyuga (I got the idea from Parshall and Tully's site; on the page for these two ships, they suggested they be sent to Guadalcanal rather than being turned into hybrid battleship-carriers). Scenario 3 has the Yamato's sister Musashi as well (please be advised that I created this scenario just now on the spur of the moment by tweaking the Alt 1 scenario; I wasn't able to test it as I'm writing this on my MacBook, so let me know if it there's any problems with it).
BTW, even though the Japanese outnumber the Americans in this fight, it is still an uphill fight. The American battleships can blind fire thanks to their F2 radar, which gives them a great edge. In the two times I played the Alt 2 scenario as the IJN, both Ise and Hyuga were rendered combat ineffective before they even made contact with an American ship. For a more challenging fight, play as the USN with radars off.
SECOND GUADALCANAL HYPOTHETICALS.zip (4.64 KB)
If any battle of the Pacific War could be considered the "decisive battle," my vote would be for the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese had been hurt badly at Midway, but the Imperial Japanese Navy was still a force to be reckoned with (as they would demonstrate in the waters of Ironbottom Sound), and the US Navy was still operating with limited resources (and with the Allies Germany-first strategy, the upcoming North African landings had priority). The Guadalcanal campaign was the last chance for Japan, not to win the war (which was well-nigh impossible), but to seriously hurt the American effort before the flood of new planes and ships coming out of American factories started arriving. Had the Japanese won the battle for Guadalcanal, they might have had several months in which to strengthen their defenses before the Americans were able to return to the offensive, making the war that much longer and costly. In the end, both sides were bled white, but the Americans were able to make good their losses, while the Japanese could not. More importantly, Japan frittered away the last of their experienced carrier aircrews in this campaign. While the IJN would venture forth a year and a half later with new carriers and new planes at the battle of the Philippine Sea, its pilots were nowhere near the quality of those who began the war (which is why the battle became known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot). After Guadalcanal, the Japanese were permanently on the defensive. The battleships would continue to swing at their anchors, awaiting the "decisive battle" that never came, and finally being committed when it was far too late to affect the outcome. Parshall and Tully have an interesting essay on their Nihon Kaigun website that discuss the reasons why Japan didn't commit more BBs to the Solomon Islands campaign -in short- oil, or lack thereof. The essay can be found at this link.
In the hypothetical scenarios contained in the compressed folder (which I created by simply editing the existing Second Guadalcanal scenario), the Japanese decide to commit their battleships to the campaign, and Admiral Lee's battleships have a tougher fight on their hands. Scenario 1 features the Yamato added to Admiral Kondo's squadron, and Scenario 2 features the Ise and Hyuga (I got the idea from Parshall and Tully's site; on the page for these two ships, they suggested they be sent to Guadalcanal rather than being turned into hybrid battleship-carriers). Scenario 3 has the Yamato's sister Musashi as well (please be advised that I created this scenario just now on the spur of the moment by tweaking the Alt 1 scenario; I wasn't able to test it as I'm writing this on my MacBook, so let me know if it there's any problems with it).
BTW, even though the Japanese outnumber the Americans in this fight, it is still an uphill fight. The American battleships can blind fire thanks to their F2 radar, which gives them a great edge. In the two times I played the Alt 2 scenario as the IJN, both Ise and Hyuga were rendered combat ineffective before they even made contact with an American ship. For a more challenging fight, play as the USN with radars off.
SECOND GUADALCANAL HYPOTHETICALS.zip (4.64 KB)