Interesting...

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm not much for historical discussions, but Q, that last bit scares me. (Even though I wasn't around then) My neighbour served in Singapore, IIRC, and he doesn't want to talk about it much. Anyway, I was just thinking about WWII, that during the height of Japanese control, there was only about 200km between Australia and Japan.
 
The attack on Pearl Harbor was both cowardly and something of a good idea. The problem with doing something like that is it's ok if you do win, but if you lose it's terrible. I mean, suprise attacks are good. Had they gotten everything there it might have been alittle bit different. But no matter how smart of a tactic it may be, it's still cowardly. It's no different than me wanting to start a fight with someone, but not to go up and challenge them but just sucker punch them from behind. Cowardly.
 
Not to mention that they did win, technically. The attack was a success. Unfortunately for the Japanese, it really, really made us mad. After that, it was only a matter of time.
 
Speaking of Pearl Harbor (the movie), what a crap is Valentine, i saw it with my girlfriend tonight and she thinks the same.
 
If you what you meant by they win, that the attack was successful, your right. How many ships were destroyed or damaged in the attack? And several thousand Americans died. Then the Japanese lost about 30 out of 300 planes, and a couple of mini subs. Its war and if you can do it, a sneak attack is the way to go. But it was definitly one of those situations where they may have won the battle but they were going to lose the war.
 
Ladiesman: Cowardly? How does getting into war with one of the great industrial powers of the world fit your definition of 'cowardly'?

Supdon: No, they didn't win the battle. The Japanese did some damage but were forced to retreat (not by armed resistance, but by their tactical circumstances) so the overall result was an inconclusive draw. Hell, the main target was absent - how can you possibly win if the object you wanted to destroy is not there?

[Edited by Quarto on 05-31-2001 at 00:32]
 
the reason the declaration of war was an hour after pearl harbor was because the japanese ambasador got one of the time zones wrong. simple mistake that cost them HARD
 
He means that attacking unannounced made the Americans twice as mad. True enough, I suppose, but I'm not sure if it really made much of a difference to the overall strategical situation.
 
Quarto, actually, Pearl Harbor was considered a victory for the Japanese. They pulled out because they had hit everything in the harbor there was to hit. When you lose twenty-seven planes and five midget subs for several hundred American planes, fourteen warships sunk or heavily damaged, and over three thousand American soldiers, sailors, and marines killed, it is considered a victory.
 
The US got caught with its pants down with Pearl Harbor. Messages were sent to command, but ignored. For what reason, who knows. The US could have been prepared for the attack, but the higher ups didnt heed the warning from the intercepted radio transmissions picked up by the radio operators at Pearl. They also had a new radar system pointed right at the incomming Japaneese fleet, but the schedule they had shut down that radar only a few minutes after detecting the fleet, the operators thought it was a flight group from the mainland, and didnt report anything! The operators were more concerned with going home after their working hours. That radar station should have been online 24/7, but wasnt. There were plenty of warnings, but the brass ignored them.

It was a victory for the Japaneese. The "anger" that was generated by the public should have been directed at the brass of the US military since they knew well in advance of a possible Japaneese attack. Of course, they are not going to admit they screwed up, they never do. The whole thing is just one great tragedy that could have been avoided.

RFB
 
Arrogance is one of the greatest factors in such defeats. Basically, we figured we could never be attacked, and it came around and bit us in the ass. Kind of like now...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top