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Originally Posted by Gotthard Heinrici ok
we all know that about the attack on Pearl Harbour, but what sort of troop concentrations were on the Islands in Dec 1941? Was invasion even on the Japanese Agenda? And if so could it have worked. Your opinions and knowledge on this would be most welcome.  |
It may have been on the agenda for it's advantageous positioning for Japanese expansion and would have laid open the West coast of the United States and the thought that the US would sue for peace.
Of the 400 US Aircraft, only 60 survived the attack. The base on Oahu Island was not only the home of the United States Pacific Fleet but about 50,000 American troops. At Pearl Harbor was the largest concentration of U.S. forces in the Pacific.
Whether or not the Japanese were going to invade was made irrelevant for the following reasons:
In the short run, the Japanese accomplished their objective however they failed in three areas:
1) The aircraft carriers weren't touched. (Enterprise, Hornet & Yorktown) The Japanese thought Yorktown sunk at Coral Sea. Even though they thought they had a 3 to 1 advantage in carriers their escape altered the Japanese plans.
2) The submarines were not attacked.
3) The repair dockyards and fuel-oil storage tanks were undamaged.