Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbuna
The attack would have been a much bigger success had the flat tops been there but that still wouldn't have changed the outcome of the war, maybe lengthen it a bit.
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A year or two at most I would wager, likewise any attack on the oil and repair facilities in a third wave (although any advantages of having destroyed the oil and repair facilities in a third wave would have been offset by the heavy loss of aircraft and experienced pilots now that the AAA crews were wide awake and very angry). Although to be honest, even if the flat-tops had been in Pearl, it's questionable how much priority would have been placed on them over the battleships by the Japanese Naval Command, since at that time it was believed that any major battle between the USN and IJN would be between battleships and the carrier and aircraft would play a secondary supportive role. The US was coming to terms with the growth of carrier operations when Pearl took place (thanks to General Billy Mitchell and his air power demonstration) and the loss of a chunk of their battleships, plus their slow speed, accelerated their carrier strategy which is still in place today to some extent.