"Dutch Harbor: The Unraveling of Japan's Pacific Strategy" Topic
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| Tango01 | 23 Oct 2019 9:27 p.m. PST |
"Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto drew his hand across a map of the northern Pacific Ocean in a long, sweeping arc. From Attu Island on the far western edge of the Bearing Sea, the admiral traced his finger along the Aleutian archipelago to the island of Amaknak near the Alaskan mainland. There, in June of 1942, Yamamoto intended to strike the American forces at Dutch Harbor. As a strategist, Yamamoto had achieved near deity status among the Japanese Imperial High Command. His crushing attack on Pearl Harbor just six months prior was followed by quick and decisive victory in the Philippines, Malaya, and the East Indies. Now, with the southwest Pacific under firm Japanese control, Yamamoto looked to expand offensive operations to the north and central Pacific. By attacking key strategic points in the Aleutians, as well as Midway Island on the western tip of the Hawaiian chain, he intended to lure the already weakened U.S. Pacific fleet from Pearl Harbor to its final destruction. Yet despite his meticulous planning, his intellect and his vaunted reputation, the attack on the remote Alaskan harbor upon which he now rested his finger would prove to be one of Yamamoto's greatest strategic blunders. Japan had gathered extensive information about the Aleutians prior to the war.[2] The islands constitute a natural corridor between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, and by occupying key strategic locations along the Aleutians the Japanese hoped to control and defend the northern perimeter of their expanding empire.[3] Dutch Harbor was considered vital to Japanese operations in the northern Pacific. As the only developed deep water port along the vast Aleutian chain, it was assumed that the United States would establish a major fleet presence within the harbor including berthing for one or two aircraft carriers.[4] By destroying this facility, the Japanese could run roughshod over the northern Pacific as they had in the southwest after the crippling of Pearl Harbor…"
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