Ken Burns' -THE WAR on PBS

tater · 09-24-07, 10:43 AM

Yes, clueless.

One, the Japanese never seriously entertained invading Hawaii. So it's MOOT what "might have been." The show is supposed to be a history, correct? You could argue anyfantasy, but the fact is the show said their reason for going for Midway was in invade Hawaii, take the population hostage, and use this to get a peace settlement. CLUELESS. Sure, we could imagine a fantasy where this was the case, but it was NOT part of real life japanese planning at all. I don;t have to think about the meaning of the hostage term, the Japanese never planned to invade Hawaii so they couldn't have plans to hold hostages---however you define them.

Two, the only reason to invade Midway was to lure out the US fleet. Period.

1. Midway was untenable to maintain, it was a lot farther from the japanese bases than Wake, and Wake withered at the vine from early on.

2. Midway was within bombing range of Hawaii, but that's a 2-edged sword. The IJN never interdicted supply to Hawaii in any meaningful way. US bombers would be there daily, and the japanese could do squat about it. Their own bombers would be unescorted as well, it's over 1000 miles from Midway to PH---Rabaul to Guadalcanal was 650 miles and only allowed the zekes limited combat time before they needed to RTB.

3. Any attempt to hold Midway at any level would require a constant influx of planes. Planes that would come via aircraft carrier or ferry. Would make for an interesting SH4 campaign, wonder how many CVs would get sunk. All of them, I imagine

tater

09-24-07, 10:43 AM	#8
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Yes, clueless. One, the Japanese never seriously entertained invading Hawaii. So it's MOOT what "might have been." The show is supposed to be a history, correct? You could argue anyfantasy, but the fact is the show said their reason for going for Midway was in invade Hawaii, take the population hostage, and use this to get a peace settlement. CLUELESS. Sure, we could imagine a fantasy where this was the case, but it was NOT part of real life japanese planning at all. I don;t have to think about the meaning of the hostage term, the Japanese never planned to invade Hawaii so they couldn't have plans to hold hostages---however you define them. Two, the only reason to invade Midway was to lure out the US fleet. Period. 1. Midway was untenable to maintain, it was a lot farther from the japanese bases than Wake, and Wake withered at the vine from early on. 2. Midway was within bombing range of Hawaii, but that's a 2-edged sword. The IJN never interdicted supply to Hawaii in any meaningful way. US bombers would be there daily, and the japanese could do squat about it. Their own bombers would be unescorted as well, it's over 1000 miles from Midway to PH---Rabaul to Guadalcanal was 650 miles and only allowed the zekes limited combat time before they needed to RTB. 3. Any attempt to hold Midway at any level would require a constant influx of planes. Planes that would come via aircraft carrier or ferry. Would make for an interesting SH4 campaign, wonder how many CVs would get sunk. All of them, I imagine tater