I seem to recall Germany did not attack the US Navy in December 1941. I seem to recall that Germany did not attack other US military locations in the Pacific at the same time as Pearl Harbor attack. I also seem to recall that Hitler declared war against the United States after Japan murdered over 2000 American sailors, Marines, and soldiers.
all true
Also, naval power is military power. GBO member yellowtail3 should be very aware of this fact, having served in the US Navy [taking his word for it]. Germany had absolutely no navy [U-boats don't count, surface fleet is the true power], while Japan had a navy that was comparable in size to the United States and UK.
All true, pretty much. Japan's navy was sized by the Washtington treaty and 5-5-3 ratio. So it was smaller than either the USN or RN, but after Pearl, and after Prince of Wales & Repulse and the RN Indian fleet was scuppered, and considering much of US and most of RN was in the Atlantic... it was pretty close to No. 1. But that was very temporory, and they knew it, has the Vinson act had us cranking out ships. Note: every capital ship that fought in ww2 was either under construction or already in commission at beginning of war.
I will politely disagree with yellowtail3 saying Germany was the more dangerous enemy. Japan fought the war on 5 fronts, and Germany only fought on two fronts. I contend they were both equally formidable opponents. Remember, Japan held out longer than Germany.
ST762
Nothing wrong with a little disagreement. I'll submit, though, that the historical record shows we put
Germany First for very good reasons.
Mainly, Japan had only about 1/4 of Germany's economic (thus, military) wherewithal. Next, Japan was far behind Germany, technologically, with
nowhere near as advanced industrial technique. And most importantly - by late 1940 we
knew we'd be in the fight in Europe, and that
a Germany victory over England was a far greater threat to the US than anything Japan could do. So yeah, the Pacific was a sideshow, strategically, until Britain was secure. By late 1942 it all turned around on both fronts (see Guadalcanal & Stalingrad) but until then it was uncertain.
The Japanese, despite their economic/technological handicapps, did put on one hell of a war. I'd never say that the Pacific Campaign (and I know far more about it than the European one) was unimportant or that it was easy... but it was second-string. Imagine if all the resources that went across the Atlantic - the Eight AF & its infrastructure, shipping, everything that went to North Africa, all production sent to Europe - had gone to the Pacific instead. Japan would have been toast by end of '43, and our guys in the PI wouldn't have been captured (my opinion). As it was we had enough to prevail in Europe (acknowledging that
most of the fighting & bleeding was done by Red Army & our allies) and still have enough leftover to beat Japan with no substantial help from Europe (thought Australia and New Zealand contributed much to the air & ground war fights in the Pacific). And if Japan had to fight against the Red Army... they'd have been defeated much sooner. The Imperial Army was nowhere near a match for the Red Army, as demonstrated at Lake Khasan and at Nomonhan in 1938, and by how quickly the Red Army rolled up the Kwantung army in 1945.
couple good articles.
on pre-war plans, and what actually happened:
http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_01.htmon Japan's economic disparity (what the hell were they thinking, going to war with US?)
http://www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htmI got excited when I saw this thread - I thought it was about CV-5, not CV-10... and CV-5 has a more heroic story.
