ALL IN The sacrifice by Admirals Callaghan, Scott and their men had only delayed the Japanese by a day. Furious over Abe’s poor performance, Admiral Yamamoto immediately removed him from his command and directed Admiral Kondō to resume the mission. Kondō was described by other officers he had served with as an “English sort of officer, very gentlemanly, and good with his staff, but better suited for training command than battle.” He was well-respected by the “battleship faction” of the Imperial Navy, and was the senior admiral in the South Pacific.
I really should go back and re-read your Pacific War posts but if I am remembering them correctly it seems a pattern is developing. While the American commanders and enlisted men certainly had an indomitable spirit, the Japanese forces initially had the edge in equipment (save radar), and tactics. But Japanese commanders never quite followed through. Am I missing something?
They had individual edges, but like the 760 highly-trained airmen who attacked Pearl Harbor and ran wild from then till Midway, they could never replace any of those lost with a flier of equal value. They had an economy that was 15% of their enemy's. They could never replace anything they lost - a cruiser, an aircraft carrier, a battleship, a well-trained Army division - during the war while the United States created an entire new navy of better ships to replace those lost in the first 18 months. Whether or not Yamamoto ever said it, they did awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
As I pointed out in "Pacific Thunder," you could tell what was going to happen by examining the national games the military leaders learned in school. The Japanese played Batoishi, a complex game of deception with complicated strategies that all had to come together for a score to be made (and that is how they planned their military moves); if one part failed the whole thing failed. The Americans played football: move it down the field 10 yards at a time and keep moving down the field till you get in range of a field goal and either take that or continue on and get a touchdown but regardless, put a score on the board.
Thanks TC.
That you made sense out of that slug fest is mind boggling. Inspiring.
I really should go back and re-read your Pacific War posts but if I am remembering them correctly it seems a pattern is developing. While the American commanders and enlisted men certainly had an indomitable spirit, the Japanese forces initially had the edge in equipment (save radar), and tactics. But Japanese commanders never quite followed through. Am I missing something?
They had individual edges, but like the 760 highly-trained airmen who attacked Pearl Harbor and ran wild from then till Midway, they could never replace any of those lost with a flier of equal value. They had an economy that was 15% of their enemy's. They could never replace anything they lost - a cruiser, an aircraft carrier, a battleship, a well-trained Army division - during the war while the United States created an entire new navy of better ships to replace those lost in the first 18 months. Whether or not Yamamoto ever said it, they did awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
As I pointed out in "Pacific Thunder," you could tell what was going to happen by examining the national games the military leaders learned in school. The Japanese played Batoishi, a complex game of deception with complicated strategies that all had to come together for a score to be made (and that is how they planned their military moves); if one part failed the whole thing failed. The Americans played football: move it down the field 10 yards at a time and keep moving down the field till you get in range of a field goal and either take that or continue on and get a touchdown but regardless, put a score on the board.
Dang. I gotta get that book!