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Originally Posted by micky1up
the IJN made a fatal mistake they should have remained in place off pearl harbour untill they got the carriers they came for the carrier force commander made this mistake and it cost japan the war maybe an invasion of the island would have achieve similar results but it wasnt a time for half measures
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It was not really a mistake of the Japanese: their plan intended to kill the battleships, heavy cruisers and carriers indeed. It's just that luck plays a role in war, and the carriers shortly before had left the harbour, and their return was delayed, which saved them from being in place when the Japanese hammer fell down. The Japanese expected them to be there, and planned to kill them, but had no chance to know of the carriers having left shortly before. there were several occaisons were bad luck and coincidence massively messed up the war from a Japanese perspective, especially during Midway and the way in which the Japanese carriers got lost. Several air attack waves of the americans went very badly before, and costed the Navy alost all participating airplanes withoiut sinking a single destroyer, and then all changed completely within just three minutes due to the constant changing of armament of the Japanese planes wich led to all that explosives on deck when by random chance (more or less) a new wave of bombers arrived, and destroyed three? four? carriers. A chain of extremly unlucky coincidences (from a Japanese perspective, for it meant the turning point in the war).