IJN attacks Pearl Harbor oil storage facilities

Well, where would that position have left teh USN or the entire Pacific Fleet....???

 

Would have delayed immediate operations such as the doolittle raid but since the fleet had to be reorganized anyway, I do not think that the outcome would have been much different. Midway would still have happened much in the same way. My 2 cents worth.

 

Well acording to the histroy of world war 2-
"without fuel if the Japanese had of attacked such plants, even the surviving ships of teh surprise attack wouldv'e been COMPLETELY immobilised"

 

Well, perhaps. Because it was all the fuel available at that particular place in that particular bomber. But it would have been better if the Japanesse would have just only finished with the ships. Although I agree with Admiral Nagumo that the positions what doubtful, because of the abscence of the American carriers.

 

According to what I have read, if the IJN had destroyed the US Navy's fuel stocks at Pearl, it would have seriously hampered the US ability to respond by several weeks.

They would have had to organise emergency supply tankers from the mainland, whihc would have taken time and these supply tankers would have had to remain in Pearl until they were empty, due to the lack of on shore storage tanks (if these had all been destroyed).

But I see this as only a temporary setback. Overall it would have had little effect on the outcome of US naval operations and the war in general.

The IJN would have been better off sending in the last wave of planes to finish off the US battleships. Their losses in aircraft and men would have been higher but the result as far as the US Navy was conerned could have been catastrophic.

Incidently, I have heard that because they were still in peacetime training mode, most of the US AA guns etc were armed with blanks, and that rather than waste time reloading, the blanks were fired at the Jap planes in the first wave. Then when they were expended the guns were loaded with live ammo, hence the higher losses for the IJN in aircraft in the second wave.

Can anyone confirm this or is this another urban warfare myth??

 

If the oil was bombed but nothing else different happened afterwards, then the war would be little different. If, however, the Japanese followed up a killer move like that with continous naval assaults on the USN, then the United States might have lost all bases West of San Francisco. The IJN would not only have free reign in the pacific, but could also turn their attention to India, and perhaps attempt a link up with Rommel in the desert, dealing a hard blow to England and at the same time freeing up the Germans to concntrate on other persuits, like Barbarossa or a more aggressive U-boat campaign against Great Britain.

Granted, the above scenario is VERY far-fetched, but not impossible.

 

I agree with das Reich here. Not the fact of attacking the petrol storages, but to continue the attacks on several spots, like Midway or Pearl Harbour again. It might have ended in the capture of Hawaii and the USA's strategic position would have been pretty awful. Perhaps that would have meant to give Japan a priority over Germany, perhaps affecting the course of the war...

 

Just a thought: How many US troops were there on Hawaii? Is it unthinkable that the Japanese could have brought an invasion force with them? How big would it have to be?

 

If the INJ destroyed the oil facilities, the US Navy couldn't sail anymore. So the INJ would be free to attack whole South Asia.

In the meantime the Americans had to supply their navy with oil transported from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

So the navy would be out of action a few months.
Maybe Japan couldn't won the war after all, but maybe they could conquer Hawai or Midway???,

 

The capture of Midway and Hawaii by the Japanesse was VERY plausible. It could have happened. What couldn't have happened is a successful invasion to Australia or continental USA...

 

And then-I would have to touch up on my Japanese, or not be here at all!!!

 

Andreas

Fewer on Hawaii than in the Phillipines that's for sure...