Today - all those years ago (Pearl Harbour)

[krus_aragon]

I often wonder what the Japanese thought they would actually achieve. Between 1941-1945 (not consecutive figures but cumulative totals) the USN had 23 battleships, the IJN had 12. Carriers, the IJN had 24, the USN 58. Thrown in the RN, 91 carriers and another 20 battleships. (I'll accept that many of the RN ships were tied up in Europe)

They never had the capacity to replace loses. I just don't understand how they thought they might win.

Do bear in mind that the USA (and others) had stopped selling oil and other materials to Japan from 1940 onwards. When you're in a corner...

 

[ainsworth74]

Mind you, the Germans managed to zip through the channel with Prinz Eugen, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst plus assorted Destroyers and S-boats. That rather caught the R.N. and R.A.F. napping.

True that was a rather embarrassing episode but there is a significant difference between racing through the channel as fast as you can and bringing across and then supporting an invasion force.

The German Navy would have had no choice but to sit in the Channel for an extended period of time whilst the motley collection of barges, fishing boats and whatever else could be found transported the German Army across and then brought them the supplies they would require.

The Luftwaffe may have established air superiority but they wouldn't be able to sink the Royal Navy before it had had chance to inflict severe and invasion ending losses on the Germans simply because they would have been a sitting duck.

 

[TheEdge]

Do bear in mind that the USA (and others) had stopped selling oil and other materials to Japan from 1940 onwards. When you're in a corner...

Materials notwithstanding with the huge shipyards of the USA they could just throw ship after ship after ship. The IJN may have had some amazing equipment and some brilliant tacticians and men they could never keep up with the US.
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Interesting just found an article claiming that in the Sandhurst wargame of Sea Lion done in 1974 the Royal Navy had to be put at an artificial disadvantage. The planners, which included WWII British and German officers came to the conclusion that if true September 1940 RN positions were used there was no chance a single German would even set foot in Kent. The entire RN got shifted north as the wargame was to see if the Germans would have been able to occupy the UK after a landing after combat with the Army, Home Guard and stop lines.