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samboct -> RE: WWII and Who Won It (8/9/2007 6:52:20 PM)
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Well, Thompson dealt with the FW issue on the Russian front quite effectively. Off the top, I know that Hans-Ulrich Rudel (the top Stuka ace in Russia) traded in his Stuka for an FW by '44 or so. The Me 109 with its tricky undercarriage was really a terrible airplane in Russia (well, something like a third of them were wiped out in takeoff/landing accidents)- I suspect that most of the latter production of Me's was used on the Western front because the US bombers often flew at over 25,000 feet and the Me did better than the FW at altitude (with the exception of the Ta-152 which was built in very limited numbers.) Most air battles in Russia were fought below 12,000 or so feet- hence high altitude performance wasn't really that important. And AFAIK, they didn't operate some of the really exotic machinery such as the Do 335 or the Me 262, or 163 on the Eastern front.
"The Japanese knew going in that naval air power would either make or break their empire. In the West, there was a deeply held believe that the most powerful naval weapon was the biggest, most heavily armed and armored, floating juggernaut one could build.
These are known to naval aviators as "targets""
Umm, not quite. Carrier aviation was an untried concept at the outbreak of WWII, even the Stringbag's success in stopping the Bismark (with a very, very, lucky torpedo hit) didn't change this impression prior to Pearl Harbor. Plus the Stringbags got wiped out by land based aircraft quite easily.
Consequently, all navies put their faith and most of their money in large gun toting vessels- including Japan, which built the two largest battlewagons ever- the Yamato and Musashi, some 70,000 ton ships with 18" guns. In one of the most one sided battles of all time, Sprague's Taffy 34? (I don't remember the number) held off the assault of the Yamato on the Leyte beachhead- which showed by that point of the war- the Japanese had no morale left. They were content to commit suicide- but they sure didn't think they had a chance to win. By the way- Yamamoto predicted that the Yamato and Musashi would be sunk by carrier based aircraft- and needless to say- he was right. I'm not sure that the Musashi ever fired her main batteries at another ship.
And I think submariners have it right- there are two types of ships in the ocean- submarines and targets. And in another what if- if Doenitz had 100 U-boats at the start of the war instead of the 40? or so that he started with, the Battle of the Atlantic would probably have been lost. I don't know who came up with the idea that the U-boats weren't effective- they certainly were. Both the US and Germans figured out that the U-boats best targets were soft skinned merchant vessels, but all sub drivers were obsessed with hitting major warships- and occasionally succeeded. Japan, on the other hand, did an abysmal job of using their subs effectively- they went chasing capital ships instead of doing something useful like sinking tankers and transports- targets not as glamorous but often just as vital. Something like 2/3rds of Japanese shipping was sunk by US submarines.
The conspiracy theories do a terrible disservice to Yamamoto who was perhaps the most brilliant admiral of the war. The Pearl Harbor strike was beautifully planned and executed. And Hawaii had plenty of warning to go on a wartime footing- but the way they dispersed their aircraft showed that they didn't take the threat seriously. Yes, even by that point, most generals had figured out that dispersing your aircraft made it harder to destroy them all quickly- they'd learned that one in France and were doing it by the Battle of Britain. And a CAP also helped prevent getting wiped out- but since Short had done none of these precautions (and most of the fighters weren't armed.) he was basically a peacetime Col. Blimp and a terrific asset for the Japanese. Often the guys that are spit and polish don't do so hot when it comes time to actually fight. The track record of West Pointers when flying with the 8th wasn't very good compared to the college boys- but some of the crews did pretty well.
Sam
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