Sunday, January 16, 2022

good morning justin

  










7 DECEMBER 1941


 






Kido Butai

COMBINED FLEET


Concentrating Japan's naval air power into one powerful task force

payed off in the 7 December strike on Pearl Harbor but the risk

of such a grouping was demonstrated six months later at Midway

with all four fleet carriers sent to ocean's bottom.  Among the lives

lost were hundreds of Japan's pilots, a one-time elite whose talents

and experience would be missed in this time of military crisis.



Washington Naval Treaty

1922 - 1936

Restrict size and number of warships.

Japan                    USA                    Britain

Aircraft carriers tonnage:      81,000                  135,000               135,000


*  Because Japan appreciated a carrier's vulnerability to attack

     it became an essential tactic that Japan's carrier force strike first 

*   Grouping aircraft carriers increases the potency of their strike

     but putting all carriers in one place risks sinking the entire task force

 

 






AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

07.58 HRS / 7 DEC 1941 / FORD ISLAND CONTROL TOWER

 







The leaders of both the Japanese and American navies agreed:

THE BEST CARRIER DEFENSE IS TO STRIKE FIRST

HARD AND FAST







A6M Zero / Mitsubishi


SPEED              350 mph

RANGE              975 miles

ARMAMENT      2 x 20 mm cannon

                          2 x 7.7 mm machineguns  


FIGHTER          FAST, AGILE AND COMBUSTIBLE / BEST 1941 FIGHTER 

 

 







D3A Val / Aichi


SPEED               240 mph

RANGE               970 miles

ARMAMENT       2 x 7.7 mm machinegun

                            830 lb. bombload  

 

DIVEBOMBER    BOMBS LIKE STUKA / EASY TARGET FOR FIGHTERS  

 







B5N Kate / Nakajima 


SPEED               235 mph

RANGE               975 miles

ARMAMENT       4 x 7.7 mm machinegun

                            1750 lb bombload or 1 torpedo  

 

BOMBER            BEST TORPEDO MADE / PLANE SLOW, VULNERABLE

 







Destroyer Shaw explodes


JAPAN CONFIDENT TALKS WILL GO ON

Spokesman Says Both Sides Are 'Sincere'

NY TIMES 6 DEC 1941









Battleship Arizona in flames



JAPANESE HERALD 'SUPREME CRISIS'

U.S. IS HELD AGGRESSIVE

Press Intimates Efforts for Negotiated Settlement

May Soon Be Abandoned

NY TIMES 7 DEC 1941







Battleships drew focus away from crucial Navy resources


1     California           - 2 torpedoes sink ship

2     Maryland           - 2 bomb strikes cause little damage

3     Oklahoma         - 5 torpedoes capsize ship trapping 400 below deck

4     Tennessee        - damage from Arizona falling debris / not severe

5     West Virginia     - sunk by 6 torpedoes, 2 bombs 

6     Arizona              - destroyed / explosion kills 1,000 onboard 

7     Nevada              - fought off all but 1 Kate - single torpedo damage

8     Pennsylvania      - dry dock / light damage from 1 bomb

9     Ford Island         - all planes damaged or destroyed by dive-bombers

A     Oil Storage Tanks   - untouched

B     CINCPAC                - HQ,  Commander in Chief, Pacific / untouched

C     Submarine Base     - untouched

D     Navy Repair Yard    - no significant damage

 

 







BB 48  West Virginia settles in mud


TOKYO ACTS FIRST

Declaration Follows Air and Sea Attacks

On U.S. and Britain

TOGO CALLS ENVOYS

NY TIMES 8 DEC 1941








Roosevelt meets with Congressional leaders


Discuss the way forward over sandwiches and beer.

Two questions hang in the air:


How did we not see this coming?


Why was our military so thoroughly unprepared?

 


_______________




love

   dad 








©  Tom Taylor




coldValentine




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