| Tango01 | 08 Feb 2024 4:20 p.m. PST |
"One of the most frequently-asked questions brought up for discussion by readers of my website, and contributors to some of the World War II newsgroups I read, has been (roughly paraphrased), 'Why the heck didn't the Japanese send their battleships down to Guadalcanal and put Henderson Field out of business for good?'
It's a good question. Additional Japanese capital ships clearly would have been useful in two ways:…"
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Armand |
| Nine pound round | 08 Feb 2024 5:38 p.m. PST |
If the Japanese had oil, and the US had tankers, Guadalcanal would have been a real slugfest. Imagine Cape Esperance as a duel between battleships! As it was, it was fought at the very end of both sides' logistical tether, which accounts for the otherwise inexplicable reliance on small ships and small units. From 1943 onwards, the US got a whole heck of a lot stronger, the Japanese got progressively weaker, and you know the rest. |
| Wackmole9 | 08 Feb 2024 5:51 p.m. PST |
Brief history of Japanese Merchant marine in ww2 YouTube link |
| HMS Exeter | 08 Feb 2024 6:15 p.m. PST |
Yamato and Musashi were employed as station ships at Truk. Their principal use was a reserve fuel storage ships. Actually sortieing with them would have represented an infeasible strain on fuel availability. Additionally, the waters of the "Slot" were deemed, by both sides, as being too restricted to be suitable for capital ships, until it became operational unavoudable. |
| Nine pound round | 08 Feb 2024 7:59 p.m. PST |
It's a similar story with the American battle line that reformed on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor: there weren't enough tankers to deploy them forward until late in the Solomons campaign. |
| Murvihill | 09 Feb 2024 7:04 a.m. PST |
I was going to say, that's a lot of fuel to burn to support a campaign far from anything important. And you'd leave other more important places undefended while the battleships were gone. |
| Tango01 | 09 Feb 2024 3:08 p.m. PST |
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| Nine pound round | 09 Feb 2024 3:47 p.m. PST |
Lines of communication between the US and Australia were pretty important. The Navy sacrificed 3 of the 7 prewar carriers to save them. |
| Tango01 | 10 Feb 2024 3:41 p.m. PST |
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| Zephyr1 | 10 Feb 2024 4:08 p.m. PST |
'Why the heck didn't the Japanese send their battleships down to Guadalcanal and put Henderson Field out of business for good?' IIRC the Japanese did send battleships down to shell Henderson Field… |
Deucey  | 11 Feb 2024 9:51 a.m. PST |
Dang! That Web site is impressive. It has the detailed movements of every ship in the IJN! Thanks Tango!!! |
| Tango01 | 11 Feb 2024 3:27 p.m. PST |
A votre service mon ami…
Armand
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| Nine pound round | 12 Feb 2024 8:31 p.m. PST |
Tully is one of the coauthors of "Shattered Sword", one of the most interesting books out there on Midway. Those pages are just fascinating, there is so much information assembled there, it's an amazing effort. The account of the sinking of Shokaku is appalling, but well worth a read. |
's commission from one of our own.
