Was there ever a key moment or two in the Pacific that could have swayed the balance in their favor?
Or could they only have delayed the inevitable?
Or could they only have delayed the inevitable?
LETTUCE PRAY said:
Was there ever a key moment or two in the Pacific that could have swayed the balance in their favor?
Or could they only have delayed the inevitable?
BQ78 said:
Don't lose their carriers at Midway.
This. Good summation!Smeghead4761 said:
Once Japan's "shock and awe" campaign to start the war failed to bring the US to ask for a negotiated settlement, Japan had lost the war. At that point the best they could hope for was that Hitler's 1942 campaign would take the USSR out of the war, forcing the US to devote more resources to Europe. But it would still just have delayed the inevitable.
Midway and the Guadalcanal/Solomons campaigns accelerated the process, by sinking most of the IJN's fast carriers, and then by wrestling the initiative away and grinding down the Japanese air arm. But even without those victories, by late 1943-early 1944, the USN would have built up a fleet that the IJN couldn't match. If Australia was isolated, it would have become a pure War Plan Orange drive through the Central Pacific.
And the Japanese knew that they couldn't win a long war against the US, even before the war started. "Shock and awe" was really their only chance. I don't have the book with me, but read Tower of Skulls by Richard Frank. They knew before they even planned the Pearl Harbor attack that by late 1943, the naval balance of power would swing against them, and only get worse from there, thanks to the Two Ocean Navy Act of 1940. Yamamoto actually argued against going to war with the US, saying "A war so unlikely to be won should not be fought."
3⃣Operation Vengeance
— MindVoyager (@Karol1669024) March 26, 2025
🛩️ 18 U.S. P-38 Lightning fighters took off from Guadalcanal.
Their mission: ambush and kill Yamamoto mid-flight.
To reach the intercept point in time, pilots flew over 400 miles at tree-top level, risking fuel shortages and detection.
🔥 When the enemy… pic.twitter.com/k2Z2ScugLz
All of those ships were deployed in the pacific? How many more were made for the Atlantic?JABQ04 said:
Japan never had a chance. As some have said, with luck they could have delayed the inevitable longer but they were on borrowed time.
I like this graphic to illustrate just how outclassed the Japanese were.
whoop1995 said:All of those ships were deployed in the pacific? How many more were made for the Atlantic?JABQ04 said:
Japan never had a chance. As some have said, with luck they could have delayed the inevitable longer but they were on borrowed time.
I like this graphic to illustrate just how outclassed the Japanese were.
BB-35 USS Texas comes to mind.JABQ04 said:whoop1995 said:All of those ships were deployed in the pacific? How many more were made for the Atlantic?JABQ04 said:
Japan never had a chance. As some have said, with luck they could have delayed the inevitable longer but they were on borrowed time.
I like this graphic to illustrate just how outclassed the Japanese were.
I don't have those numbers but I'd be interested to see as well. Keep in mind, ships did serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific as well. Plus I think it's more astounding our numbers fighting a 2 ocean war and still dominating the Japanese.
One of the best quotes I ever read on this topic came from Bull Halsey, where he said that we (the US) were perfectly willing to share the Pacific with the Japanese. We would take the top half and they would take the bottom.JABQ04 said:
And even more so was the Japanese navy was essentially wiped off the face of earth (or surface)
I stand to be corrected, but I think he said something to that effect. He comes across as a no-BS, tell it like it is man, so this would be something he would say.JABQ04 said:
Isn't Halsey the one who said that the Japanese language will only be spoken in hell, when he sailed back into Pearl Harbor immediately post December 7th?
True, forcing Stalin into a two-front war would have been really helpful for the Axis.Aggie_Journalist said:
If Japan had attacked the Soviet Union instead of the U.S., they could have won the war.
As much as FDR was helping the Allies, I'm not sure he would have gotten a declaration of war for quite a bit longer without Pearl Harbor.
The Soviets barely survived Germany's attack. Add in Japan, they lose.
Given an overland link to Germany, Japan may have been able to acquire the resources needed to finish off China. And then they could have declared "gg, we win," sat on their empire and planned next moves.
I'm just not sure if the resources from Russia, China, and trade with the European fascists would have offset what they lost access to in the South Pacific.
The window of opportunity for Japan to attack the USSR was basically the summer of 1941. After a certain point (somewhere in October, IIRC), winter weather would make operations impossible. And the Red Army kept enough forces in the Far East to deter the IJA until that window had closed.BonfireNerd04 said:True, forcing Stalin into a two-front war would have been really helpful for the Axis.Aggie_Journalist said:
If Japan had attacked the Soviet Union instead of the U.S., they could have won the war.
As much as FDR was helping the Allies, I'm not sure he would have gotten a declaration of war for quite a bit longer without Pearl Harbor.
The Soviets barely survived Germany's attack. Add in Japan, they lose.
Given an overland link to Germany, Japan may have been able to acquire the resources needed to finish off China. And then they could have declared "gg, we win," sat on their empire and planned next moves.
I'm just not sure if the resources from Russia, China, and trade with the European fascists would have offset what they lost access to in the South Pacific.
But there's the geography problem: Japan would have to go though a bunch of frozen wasteland to get to anywhere useful. Unless they invaded by a southern route through China and Afghanistan, which would have its own challenges.