What would have happened had the Japanese been able to catch the American CVs in Pearl Harbor in the first wave of the attack in 7 December, 1941?

I have a very different read on this than you guys. I see the whole course of the war may have been changed. Starting with the premise of the sinking of the CVs, this would have freed the Secod, and possibly the third strikes of the IJN First Air Division. These were planned on paper but never executed due to the tumidity of Admiral Nugamo fearing a carrier reprisal on his own CVs.

These additional waves of airpower would have found an alerted defense, for sure, but a dearth of primary targets. I imagine the striking at the secondary targets, the repair facilities and the Oil Tank Farm. This would, in turn, mean a delay of any American plans for any initiative, as the US Fleet would be forced back to the American West Coast. Even the US Submarines Tenders and the US ss campaign would have been delayed.

Okay, all this means no Coral Sea, no Guadacanal, and probably no Midway. Oh, the Japanese air base probably would have been still constructed at Guadcanal, thus basing land-based aircraft there. This, in turn would have weakened the sea-route from US West Coast to ANZAC.

So, the Japanese are going to have a longer time to run around consolidating their newly acquired territories. But they probably would have done the same stupid policies towards the locals, thus alienating them from the likes of the Philipinoes and the Vietnamese.

Lets see... what would I do with the IJN? How about invadeing and occuping the Indian Ocean? With the lack of an American threat for at least a year (remember the Americans are forced back to the West Coast) the IJN could feel more comfortable about operating in the Indian Ocean. This then breaks the connection between Oz and the North African theater and the possibility of the IJN of grabbing the port facities that the Italians had established on the East African coast, denying them to the Anglo-Americans, who managed to restore them. This much overlooked port facility was used in a much overlook support of the East Mediterranian Fleet by the British. Okay, I admit it is a bit of a strech to think of the Japanese in East Africa, but we are just speculating.

I can imagine took that the submarine traffic between the Germans and Japan may have more successful. In real life only a few trips were accommplished, I think only one round trip was made, but with are alternate scenario who knows what may have happened.

We know the real life benefit of the submarine traffic did have great potential benefit for the Japanese. The Germans did send technology to Japan -- the ME 262 was copied by the Japanese but they did not have the technological base to fully exploit this. But in this scenaro, they now have some working jets!

Imagine the devestation which could have been wrecked on the B-29s by a couple of squadrons of high altitude jets fighters.

So, while the loss of the CVs at Pearl Harbor may seem like a small thing, but the American good fortune kept a series of bad events from occurring.