We answer your questions about the Pacific War-Episode 334
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- This week Seth and Bill answer your questions in this first part of our Q&A session. The team welcomes new guest retired Army Major Shawn Betgstrom to the crew to moderate the questions and lead the team as we go through the many fantastic questions sent in by our audience. We hope you guys enjoy this episode, and we will definitely do this again.
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I love how Seth and Bill CONSTANTLY apologize for talking for hours about stuff. THAT IS LITERALLY what we tune in for folks! If anything, I get disappointed only when you say that you could talk for hours more on a subject and then do not. Top quality content.
These guys help me get over my Germany first bias(as a Brit). Great detail, guests & presence. I agree, longer more detail & therefore more likely new to my ears : )
i’m old enough to remember when the only good thing about Tuesday was that it was not Monday. then i found this podcast
salud!
After hearing Captain Toti comment about people put in charge who should not have been put there....reminded me of my experience with that. I too almost left the Navy due to an unqualified/incompetent CO on a FFG...Fortunately I was promoted and transferred. My next ship, also a FFG had the most amazing CO. At the time, he was a CDR but retired as a RAdm.
I was on Subs in Pearl from 84-87. 😢I am pretty sure my second CO and my first XO may have been in the group to which he refers.
I have been studying WW2 for more than 30 years & I still find it extremely fascinating.I had studied a little bit about NewGuinea over the years & wish I studied it much more.I think I studied about the island of Truck slightly as well & again didnt know much about it.I started watching your podcast around maybe 2 months ago & have learned a great deal about just the war in the Pacific.I very much look forward hopefully to seeing many more podcasts of your on the Pacific War & the War in the Asian mainland.I also really hope to watch your podcasts on the War in North Africa & Europe.Thank all of you for all your studying & the time you take to do the podcasts.
A wonderful session with a lot of good information. Thank you gentlemen. This series is helping to keep alive what the men of the Navy, Army and Marines accomplished in WW II, how they fought against a tough enemy and terrible conditions to survive and move on.
Bill owned this episode with his to the point analysis.
Seth was pretty close on the naming conventions of carriers (except the conversions) and new battleships. Cruisers were named after mountains. Many destroyers named after types of winds. ("...kaze")
This is HANDS DOWN, WITHOUT QUESTION the best show about the Pacific Theatre of Operations in WW2.
I consider myself quite knowledgeable about WW2, but it’s amazing how much I’ve learned by watching you guys.
Also, I look forward to enjoying your friendly interaction with each other as well as with your guest speakers each week.
Keep up the great job and I look forward to watching more episodes in the weeks and months to come!!
I agree completely on the learning scale. I have been studying WW II (all theaters) for 35-40 years and own a lot of WW II books (listed on my website), documentary videos (also listed on my website), and even an entire encyclopedia set! But this series has taught me so much, and the detail is just amazing, especially with Seth's first hand knowledge from his many interviews with the guys who were actually there! I also have to add that their presentation method and style is so appealing, and easy to listen to. The two really complement each other, and really go out of their way to not talk over each other. I really hoped that they make a complete set of their episodes, one set of DVDs for each series, and then wrap them all together into one box set of all of them. I would compare this to the absolutely amazing WW II documentary made in 1973-1974, called the World at War, narrated by the famous British actor Laurence Olivier, which in my opinion is hands down the best video series on WW II. Of course, this series covers the entire war (all theaters), and it is British made, but unlike almost all other Brit made documentaries, has very, very little Brit bias in it, and it is quite accurate as well. And Seth & Bill's series is predominately NOT video, and covers just the Pacific War, but it is just as good and even more accurate, partially due to the overall research in the past 50 years, and also due to Seth's and Bill's expertise and their own research as well.
I am looking forward to their next set of answered questions!
Richard Pryor did a bit about how the only Americans the Japanese had met were Californians. He said if they had met Alabamans/Texans etc, they would never have gone to war with us.
TheJaps thought Americans were like Sam Bottoms in Apocalypse Now, when they were totally like Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger! 🤠
What a great episode. You guys are just fantastic.
To add to Seth and Bill's comments at about 1:01:00, something else to keep in mind is that, even if the Japanese do sink all three carriers at Midway, it doesn't create a tanker fleet for them out of thin air. There is no way they'll have the fuel to parade their battle line through Hawaii or up and down the West Coast. Furthermore, they don't have the logistical network to support their outlying garrisons effectively in the real events, much less in this hypothetical invasion of Hawaii. The cards are still stacked in the US favor.
Also, Hawaii was a fortress by the time of Midway. I’m thinking maybe the Japanese were thinking that taking Hawaii was going to be another Singapore, and there just was no way that was possible for several reasons.
First, the Americans were a lot better informed and trained after 7 months at war. And they had taken the war a lot more somberly also.
Second, Hawaii was right on California’s doorstep, meaning it was a lot more easier to support, which leads to point three…
And third, Japan just did not have the industrial capability to support an invasion of Japan. Like you said, they didn’t even have a tanker fleet big enough to fuel the ships.
And fourth, and this is HUGE, the Japanese navy and army hated each other to the point to where you can use the term “dysfunctional”. For example, they had separate transports to take over Midway.
Yeah, Hawaii was out of the question.
The attitude comes into play also. Losing Midway would certainly put the brakes on any US offensive moves probably until well into '43. The fleet build up was well under way and the Japanese weren't in any position to do anything about it. The attitude comes in because of the way the Japanese started the war with the bungled timing of the PH attack. The American public was righteously pissed off and sooner or later Japan was going down. Waking a "sleeping giant" is one thing. Doing it by kickiing him in the jewels is quite another. Might Japan's ultimate loss be attributed to slow clerical work in their embassy in DC on Dec. 7th?
And TBD's were behind the 8 ball from the start but making a good drop and the torp not exploding must have been demoralizing.
Seth, Captain Toti & your esteemed guests, I value you as historians and teaching/discussing our common subjects and interests. I (heartfelt) appreciate your hard work. Thank you.
A very enjoyable Q&A. THank you guys for doing this.
I am an old retired master chief. I served in submarines under several commanding officers and, I gotta say I wish Captain TOTI would have been one of them. Love your commentary on WW2, especially submarine history.!
Bill - your comment about bad commanders in the early 80s resonated with me. It was terrible! I had three in a row and almost got out. Finally PCSd to a great assignment and decided to stick with the plan. Of course by the mid 80s the Army was rolling out the officer and non-commissioned officer education systems. Later we realized how to take care of military families better. Those steps vastly improved leadership, retention, and culture.
Thank you guys
I enjoy listening to your podcast as I work.
You guys are so informative and it's great to hear the lesser known facts about the PTO.
ALL FACTS OF PTO, EXcept the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot are obscure to the vast body of our undereducated population. That's why this is so important.
You gentlemen are truly legends of history. I learnt much more about WW2 than I thought so possible. Thank you for the knowledge.
To add to the excellent points on the 42 vs 44/45 pilots training levels and focuses don't forget Japanese damage control techniques and AA defense systems were significantly improved by 44/45 as well. The fact their improvements tend to pale against the scale USN advances doesn't remove that fact for the pilots. Ofc you also have the double edged sword of increasingly poor Japanese crew training on particularly newer vessels - but looking at the Kakus survival compared to the early war is enlightening. Also, targets later war were less likely to be carriers - targets were typically more survivable when hit the later you go by design. Enemy always gets a vote.
Was it the South Dakota, that the other ships in the fleet thought that the SoDak had been hit? But it turned out that she had opened up with all those 5"ers, 20mm, and 40mms! And when the Jap pilots got back to carrier, or base, they could hardly talk!!! Nothing's free boys!!
I concur with the request for a RN/Commonwealth episode!
Many Japanese destroyers are named after weather, many of them having the suffix "kaze" for wind. Shigure is Japanese for "drizzle", Fubuki means "blizzard", Akatsuki means "dawn", etc.
Also, I just want to add that Unryu (Cloud Dragon) is on my list for coolest carrier names ever.
Cap. As a university lecturer, I came from a solid history in my profession, and went to the academy to provide a strong economic base for my family.
Soooo, I do take objection to that rather trite truism...
However, I truly love your contributions to historiography.
Bless you all.
PhD implies a research component, and some of them turned out ok... Clark Reynolds published his dissertation as The Fast Carriers which was an amazing work, followed by Jocko Clark histories. I'm sure there's a PhD lurking in there somewhere re: bilge pumps. Oh, and Sam Morison wrote a few books on the USN that were pretty good.
Much respect for earning a PhD. It's an incredible amount of work and recognition by your peers that you are a capable researcher and historian, and are proficient at defending a thesis. History is a field where amateurs and folks with a BA or MA can make a huge contribution. But, this also happens in engineering, business, music, and countless other fields. People can achieve great innovations without letters behind their names, but academia is the near exclusive domain of those who have earned said degrees. Amazing work if you can get it, hats off!
Welcome aboard, Shawn. Fantastic episode, gentlemen. Thank you. V/r - IB
I’m relatively new to the non theatrical side of WW2 having myself always been captivated by the cinema depictions of the war. This podcast in particular, has inspired my interest into the specific details of not only the results of Pacific battles but also the particular reasons why the war may have turned out the way it did.
01:48 Drach also has a video on the subject - largely building on Trent's book.
I may not agree politically with you guys all the time , but I enjoy your show. Its easy listening talk for military history fans, and the relaxed format coupled with minute detail makes it easy to repeat listening to episodes without being bored.
Bill answering my question has made my year. Thanks so much for the many, many hours of education and entertainment.
Seth...You said something about Guadalcanal being the US's school for how to fight the Japanese. I never thought of it that way before. Your statement is so true. Sea, air and land. And it was a harsh school. Thanks to all of you for this podcast and what you do. 😊
I enjoyed this format for an episode as much as your regular format.
I think it's a great way to end a season. Maybe throw one in mid-season.
Excellent show. One suggestion, possibly have your moderator in the middle box.
Good morning from SC, great stuff guys!
Thanks so much. No joke. It's the wondering and candid things that make these episodes so great. All of them
Gentlemen thank you for your great work. Please consider covering the sad fate of the remaining Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carriers as the war approached its end.
I don't know if this totally answers your question but they just did the episode about Surigao straight and the four empty carrier bait Force that Halsey screwed the pooch and chased. They destroyed the empty carriers and that was considered the last Japanese carrier battle of the war. Hope that answers your question. just search for the last two episodes and you'll find it.😊
@@Jakal-pw8yq Thank you. I mean the bitter, very end, when one carrier was covered in sand and trees in dock to camouflage it!
Great show! Getting addicted to the series. Have subscribed.
One of the things our navy had to control their tendency to chase the Japanese navy at every opportunity, mostly for the "Ego benefits" of attacking the US navy's principal enemy, the IJN. The WAR MISSION is the primary objective in every operation. Consequently, Spruance's decision to protect the landing forces in the Marianas was by far the correct decision at the time. The Marianas were critical for our planned bombing of Japan so we must consider what might have happened if we had chased the Japanese fleet and through some querk of fate THEY would have won. Our whole warplan could have been upended. Yes, we need the Halsey's, Mitchener's and Patton's, but we also need the Spruance's, Gieger's and Bradley's.
Thank you gentlemen. Once again, I learned a lot. As an aside, Shawn seems to be a very nice fit/addition to the team. Welcome, Shawn! Looking forward to your US Army (and other) input during the coming island hopping campaign. I'd guess quite a few people have no idea the extent to which US Army troops participated in the PTO during WWII. I was guilty of same for too many years.
Ok so this is my favourite thing about tuesdays 😂 these guys are great
Thank you Bill and Seth.
As per usual fantastic. Welcome aboard Shawn. Capt. Bill thanks again for your Memorial Day presentation. I have recommended it to everyone that will listen. Some were deep reflection and some were tears. One of the best speechs I've ever heard.
Thank you
This may have been the best episode yet!! Can't help but wonder though, would a Q & A session following each season with questions limited to the material covered in that season be a better way to take care of this. Doesn't much matter now--KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!! Mondays suck, but Tuesday makes it all better.
The world wonders.....
@@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar I see what you did there---clever! lol
Top Fighter pilot? Marseille; he fought exclusively against the western allies, and shot down several of their aces. He was a madlad- he also very much did not like Nazism and I suspect that was part of his self-destructive behavior when not in the air.
I believe that many of the German pilots would have what would be described as a self destructive behavior in the air. I think it has something to do with Herman Goering’s obsession with hunting and its ethos that he drilled into his luftwaffe men.
In Craigs Symond’s book Nimitz at War, he describes the performance-altering issue Robert L. Ghormley had was a seriously infected tooth. The entire time he was in command before Halsey took over Ghormley was in tremendous pain and wasn’t able to get medical treatment.
Very nicely done an impressive display of your deep knowledge. I learned quite a bit from your responses.
Just subscribed. Great job guys 👍
Having Major Betgstrom moderate the questions and even help elaborate on the details was an excellent choice, super cool to see you guys interact with those who watch like this!
I’m glad you’re joining the podcast.
But please in the interim work on your audio?
You being in that big room gives us a lot of variation and rebound. Do you have a smaller room and a better microphone by chance?
A wonderful episode, lots of great answers to many really good questions. Looking forward to more such info, Thanks for the [resentation.
You and Mark Felton are my favorite channels, thank you.
Please don’t compare Seth and Bill to Mark Felton. The man just flat makes stuff up.
Prime example his Black Lancasters video where he claims that the Brits had a force of Lancasters ready and willing to drop the first A bomb on Hiroshima and that only nationalistic pride prevented what was (he claims) the better force being chosen. It’s utter nonsense for which there isn’t a shred of evidence but he’s put the video out there. No real historian would make stuff up and no real historian if shown they had something like this wrong would refuse to issue a correction and take the original down.
Woody on ww2?
Mark Felton is a bit of a clickbaiter, his stuff is not super trustworthy either.
I hate to say this but Mark Felton is no historian and his RUclips channel can’t be trusted. Prime example is his Black Lancaster’s video where he claims that only nationalistic pride prevented the ready to go superior option of a squadron of black Lancaster’s from dropping the first H bomb on Hiroshima. It’s utter nonsense without a shred of evidence to support it but he won’t retract it or defend it.
No love for Drachinifel?
Re: Capt. Toti's point given at 1:23, self sealing fuel tanks not only kept the aircraft from burning, it also allowed many a pilot to make it back to his carrier because he had enough gas to fly home & survive to fight another day. Seth is right, what made the Zero so formidable early in the war was it's maneuverability due to low design weight. If it had another 300 lbs of armor protection and thick rubber lining in its tanks added to the empty weight, it would have been a dog. The Hellcat engine had TWICE the horsepower of early Zeros.
Another thing that the U.S. Navy excelled at was search and rescue, Subs and Dumbos (PBY's) fished hundreds of their aviators out of the water, and again they lived to fly and fight more battles. When a Japanese pilot (IJN or IJA) went in the drink, he was essentially just written off.
Fantastic episode gentlemen! Major Betgstrom selected some great questions!
The Zero was limited by its engine, which generated less than 1000hp. This dictated the light airframe for the plane to meet the performance requirements.
A "what if" I've long wondered about..... At Midway, what if the Hornet air groups don't go astray in the morning strike, but instead arrive (disorganized) at the Japanese carriers at about the same time frame as the other groups (10 am). Is it likely Hiryu would have been afire by 10:30, and thus Yorktown would not have been damaged / sunk at Midway?
Excellent Q&A, thought-provoking and insightful. Hope you do some more of these.
Welcome to the party Shawn. Great show guys.
Shawn:
GO 'NOLES !!!
Your comment about Seth not having the much overvalued PhD following his name is so very timely. I had a cellular biology teacher in college who, unlike the rest of the teaching staff, did not have anything higher than a Master's Degree. He was a world-renown biologist and the best Prof I ever had in any class at any school. He had the respect of all of the PhD's that he worked with. It is always what you know and not the accolades you may have. Thanks for pointing that out.
Just getting started watching this episode and already love it! Thanks.
"Sometimes we are long-winded and talk too much."
The only dumb opinion ever shared on this podcast. You guys are great!
Thank you for answering my Nimitz question.
I really enjoyed this session, gentlemen. Perhaps, in the future, it might be possible to do one halfway through each season?
Please check out Drachinifel and his video on US ship construction from WWII. The numbers are staggering. I would love to know if the helmsman from Enterprise that steered her like a Toyoko drift car to avoid incoming bombs was given a medal for that. Yes he was following the Capt course orders but to make a ship that size move like that took a remarkable degree of skill.
For the US Navy Aviation being less effective in 1944-1945 there's also the volume of anti-aircraft fire that both sides were facing, whether it was effective or not. Early in the war the anti-aircraft weapons wasn't nearly the umbrella to fly through, and pilots on both sides could be more aggressive and make much closer approaches before releasing their weapons. That sort of aggression seen before and during Midway proved to be suicidal for the Japanese pilots in the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese learned that lesson and did the best they could to improve their anti-aircraft umbrella.
Your statement on the dilution of the aviator pool also dovetails with that, where fewer of the pilots would challenge the anti-aircraft umbrella and thus increase their odds for a hit (until the anti-aircraft fire was eroded).
Many discussions about WWII in the Pacific start with "my dad was" or "my dad did." In my case I was told by my father's commanding officer that my dad was the only man the commander knew who not only punched his commanding officer but received a medal instead of being put in the brig. My father was a machinist mate gunner on a TBM. His commander was the pilot. One day they were providing support to the marines on some island. A five hundred pound bomb was hung up in the bomb bay. They couldn't land the plane on the carrier. Instead they decided to land on a Japanese airfield. They pulled the plane to a stop right in middle of the runway, with the marines on one side and the Japanese on th other side of the field. The pilot moved to the bombbay and tried to release the bomb. My father realized that there was a lot of shooting going on, but the bomb was armed and the pilot was about be killed by the armed bomb. My dad told the pilot to go to the marine side of the field. The pilot was focused on getting the bomb off the plane. The radio operator was wounded and needed to be evacuated. The pilot told my dad to carry the radio operator to marine line. The pilot told my young brothers and me that at that point my father knocked him cold and drug him and the radio operator to the marine side of the field. The pilot woke to the plane going up more thant a hundred away. The pilot recommended my father for an air medal. My dad's response to the story was he would never strike a superior officer but he did pursuade the pilot with some force.
My point is my father's action wasn't unusual at all. For all the badass stories you tell there were 100s or thousands of others who were equally badass . They just didn't have the honor of meeting an esteemed historian.
Thank you! Could Nautilus be added to the list of subs that could have made a difference with good torpedoes, particulaly at Midway?
Yes
Long time listener, first time commenter. I love the podcast and it really brings home the human experiences of the war and meshes it well with the bigger strategic picture. Y'all are excellent.
Just wanted to add on to the answer about IJN battleship construction as opposed to cruiser or carrier construction. A lot of the reason comes down to the impact of the Washington and London naval treaties. From 1922-1936, the Japanese built up to the allowed limits in cruisers and carriers, and the last battleship completed was Mutsu in the '20s. After they left the treaty in 1936 they built two cruisers, the Tone class, and two carriers, the excellent Shokaku class. They also built two battleships, Yamato and Musashi, and started a third. Could they have built more cruisers or carriers instead of the Yamatos? Maybe they'd get four cruisers due to the shorter lead time, definitely not more than two carriers prior to December 7th. The other problem is that all this has to be decided in 1936-7, when aircraft performance is still nowhere near what we see in 1941-42, the IJN's gun line is entirely WWI vintage, and the army is fighting for budget for their China war.
P.S. I second Bill's recommendation for the Archimedes movie for all the reasons mentioned, and also because it's the most human portrayal of Isoroku Yamamoto I've ever seen.
Japan and Germany essentially abrogated the treaty so while I agree with your qualification not sure how much impact it really had. The people who adhere to the treaties are usually not the people who start the wars.
@@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar I definitely think it dampered overall construction. Japan and Italy were able to cheat pretty blatantly on the individual ship tonnage limits of course, but if they just start building additional ships when they're at the fleet tonnage cap the other signatories aren't going to miss that. It's hard to hide new cruisers coming down the slipways. Then the treaty collapses and the arms race starts again, which is something Japan really doesn't want because they can't outbuild the US or the UK.
Great show. Great topic. Keep rocking. Best show in the friking world.
Thanks, guys -- everything I'd hoped for, and then some.
I always look forward to your podcasts.
Wow a Nole on the show! I spent the first 25 years of my life in Tallahassee florida, proud Lincoln highschool graduate
16:00. By 1944-45, wasn’t the about half the IJN fleet lying on the ocean floor?. Seems like there were simply fewer targets. Maybe that’s why the sink rate went down…just a thought.
Great episode, along with a set of great questions as well. I just loved the response that mentioned MacArthur and medals!!!!
Great Q&A! It was fun and welcome to Shawn. Format was real good 👍🏻
Informative and interesting as always, appreciate your work.
Another excellent episode. I like this format.
Excellent episode. You ought to do these Q&A sessions quarterly. Think about including some of your frequent guests. Even better, you ought to invite some Japanese historians to participate. Thanks to the moderator.
Re a Japanese victory at Midway, IMO the worst the IJN could have done afterwards is take New Caledonia (or Fiji) thereby buggering US-Australian lines of communication. A knock-on effect is disrupted delivery of fuel and (dodgy) torpedoes for USN subs operating from Oz as well as supplies for the Army. New Zealand becomes more important to the Americans in response. (Do the Kiwis withdraw their forces from North Africa to defend the homeland like the Aussies did?) If the IJN was tempted to do something really bold that would have pressed it to its limits if not beyond, attack the Panama Canal with the intent to destroy the locks, the rail system that pulls the ships through, and Gatun dam's power station. That said, the Panama Canal is about 13k km from New Caledonia, twice the distance of Yokosuka naval base to Honolulu. I think the Canal's dam isn't a viable target because it's a very thick 121 metres at the base on the downstream spillway side (about 4x thicker than the Eder Dam's base) and 30 metres thick at the crest on the reservoir side (5x wider than Eder's crest). None of the IJN's carrier-launched bombers had a payload close to that of the bombs used on Operation Chastise raid.
These are good questions, but your answers really make them great!
Halsey was 100% correct about Peleliu !
Yes he was. Unfortunately, his warning fell on deaf (Nimitz) ears.
Our family had a couple days ashore in Manila in 1963 off the APL Pres. Wilson and(I was 12)and I remember how much battle damage was still evident.
I love your channel. I'm hooked. You may have covered this, but I'm still trying to watch all of the episodes. That said, I would like to see an episode where you discuss how the US used new technology and the resulting development of US CONOPS.
Excellent work! When this series wraps up, I’d love to see these guys do the same thing with the WWII Eastern front.
I would love to see it edited into a "proper set" and presented as one hell of a resource on the Pacific War.
I thought the Corsair had left-handed rivets
Which had to be installed with a left handed rivet gun.
Very well done. Interesting insights and enlightening explanations
In short, I learn a lot from your insights. Thank you.
Love all the podcasts, I believe that most of these questions have been answered in previous podcasts. It was nice to have them on this podcast though. Keep up the good work, people are enjoying what you are doing.
Gormley was a diplomat, not a Frontline fighter.
Welcome aboard Maj. Betgstrom, and Go Noles!
Almost 2 hours? Woof! Liked! Already subscribed!
Bill, I will totally agree with you about the museum on Merritt Island. I lived in Brevard County for about 5 years and went there several times. It was really inspiring. I also highly recommend Valiant Air Command in Titusville, Florida. It is a wonderful venue that has a superior number of excellent warbirds and some great static displays. I probably went there 5 or 6 times and really enjoyed myself. When I was there on one trip I happened to be speaking to some other visitors who had a question. Unbeknownst to me, one of the gentlemen who run the place was standing behind me and asked to speak to me. he told me he liked the way I handled myself and would I like to become a volunteer docent of sorts. Unfortunately, I was slated to come back to New York and had to turn them down. He told me I would always be welcome, which felt pretty good. I intend to move permanently down to Palm Bay where my daughter lives in the near future and I plan on taking them up on their offer. I know it will be a great thing to do.
Bill responding: I will be speaking at the museum late August. Come on by!
@@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar I will plan my next trip according Bill. I would, love to be able to meet you.
Well done, Seth and Bill, for providing well-thought-out answers to sometimes quite searching questions.
With regard to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, it could be argued that the damage inflicted on the US's war-fighting capability was negligible: the ships that were put out of action were (nearly) all slow battleships, vessels which would have contributed little in the early stages of the war and were mostly used for shore bombardment later on, Surigao Strait excepted.
Thanks for answering the questions, gents.
@12:52 One would also add the torpedos that were dropped by US torpedo bombers into the hypothetical too.
Yep. The entire Mark 13, Mark 14, and Mark 15 family of torpedoes had similar issues.
@@kemarisite Criminal.
Mr. Paridon, can we get the Major a microphone as good as yours?? Fantastic video and most intriguing !!
If you talk about the USS Robin, please bring Drachfinical in for the discussion
Dave Holland: Sure, I was at all of the radar sites yesterday. Now that is an expert.
Thanks guys. Entertaining and informative as always. Little bit disappointed that you didn't get to any Balao class bilge pump questions.
Would you consider doing an episode on improvised weapons troops on the ground in the Pacific used such as the "Stinger" (a .30 Caliber aircraft mg adapted (shipalt) for ground use) and perhaps others that may have existed as well.
We've touched on those types of things here and there. That would difficult to develop an entire episode about those kinds of things.
1:17 But the Japanese army absorbed lessons on defense and depth to cave fighting to offset the huge firepower advantages of the US.
This was great really enjoyed it.
I'd actually argue that the most important submarine attack(s) of 1942 were the two that kept Saratoga out of the fight. Had she not been hit twice, she's at Coral Sea and/or Midway, and likely at Santa Cruz. A third carrier at Coral Sea and a fourth at Midway would have really had a serious impact upon those two fights. Her presence at Santa Cruz would have more than evened the odds.
Re Shawn's comment about PH being a fortress, Alan Zimm's "The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions" pointed out that for all the many planes destroyed by the attack, those planes were replaced within a couple of months, some with new models and with newer revs. Zimm opines that the degree of focus on destroying planes was inappropriately used effort.
Another great episode! Maybe I can help you a tiny bit with naming protocol on at least some Japanese warships. Destroyers often had names that that referenced nautical phenomena, with endings "kaze" (means wind), "nami" (wave), "shio" (current), "kumo" (cloud), etc. Battleships and battlecruisers were generally named after historically significant sites in Japan. E.g., Hiei is a famous mountain near Kyoto, Ise is the name of the most important Shinto shrine, Kirishima is the name of an active volcano, Kongo is another mountain, ditto Haruna. For the super battleships Yamato was a region in western Japan recognized as the area were Japanese culture and history began, Musashi is refers to an area around what is today Tokyo, Shinano (originally laid down as a super battleship) is the name of another old province, and of the longest river in Japan. Carriers had names that often referenced birds (hawk, crane, phoenix, etc.) or even dragons. Hiryu means "Flying Dragon". Soryu means "Blue Dragon". The ryu in Ryujo also means dragon. The ending "-yo" on carriers, like Junyo, Unyo, Hiyo, etc., means hawk. "Kaku" means "crane" as in Zuikaku and Shokaku. The older carrier Kaga was the name of an old province of Japan, so a bit outside this naming scheme. Akagi means the Red Castle, so again outside. No idea about cruiser names. In summary, destroyers tended to be named after nautical phenomena, battleships after important historical sites or regions of Japan, carriers after things with wings, birds and dragons.
The answers to questions on Henderson Field radar effectiveness needs added early warnings from Coast Watchers meant the radar and combat patrols could turn an inadequate resource into an effective resource. Henderson Field was seldom taken by surprise. Forewarned is fore prepared. Happy to be corrected if wrong.
I have to say one thing- r.e. The British Pacific Fleet. It’s not true that they were freeloaders off the logistics of the American Big Blue Fleet. One of admiral King’s stipulations before agreeing to let the BPF sail in the same waters was that they be able to support themselves. Hence the creation of what the British called the Fleet Train, made up of British merchant and naval auxiliary vessels which carried and supplied everything the BPF needed to keep itself sailing alongside the Big Blue Fleet and maintain their operational tempo (essentially, months at a time without respite).
Of course, for practical purposes Nimitz did allow the BPF to share resources, refuel, and piggyback supplies when it increased efficiency.
But basically, they created out of thin air their own sizable Big Blue Fleet by pulling together a little from the Home Fleet, a little from the Mediterranean, etc. it’s testament to the still awesome power of the Royal Navy during WWII. Only they could have come close to matching the US’s naval dominance at this point. But even then their ego was somewhat bruised by the dominant position the US navy had assumed. In fact there’s footage online of Nimitz giving a speech to a Main Deck-load of British sailors, explaining how mopping up the Japanese was “not some kind of private war.”Incredible….
Seth, loved that you called out the racism that blinded us to considering the Japanese tactical and technical skill. It's important to label it that. Conversely, as you suggested, the Japanese Army's dismissal of Americans' ability to fight skilffilully exposes their own biases. Love how you pull no punches, but are fair and objective. Appreciate how objective you are with old Doug MacArthur, who I equally respect and detest for his brilliance and folly. The man is an enigma, and he led a checkered career.
I know you mention discussing late-war RN involvement in the Pacific, but I would love to see a video discussing the early war RN vs. IJN engagements (particularly Nagumo's Indian Ocean Raid). Some commentators act like early war RN carrier doctrine and performance was vastly superior to the USN, but ignore the fact that the RN was pretty helpless against the 1941/42 Kido Butai and could easily have taken far worse losses if not for Nagumo's caution and some element of luck. RN carrier equipment and doctrine of 1941/42 might have been fine for fighting in the Atlantic or Mediterranean, where they were the only show in town, but I firmly believe that no RN fleet CVs/air groups (equipped with only British designed/produced aircraft, so no Martlets) of 1942 could have pulled off a Coral Sea against the IJN, much less a Midway.
I loved this episode. Thanks!!’
If the Philippines was chosen over Formosa because of unfavorable terrain, shall the Chinese have a tough nut to crack to invade Taiwan?