Pearl Harbor: The Fuel Tanks Were Never In Danger. A 12 Myths show
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- Pearl Harbor: The Fuel Tanks Were Never In Danger - A WWII Myths show
With Jon Parshall
Part of our WWII Myths series of short shows
• WWII Myths - A series ...
This is a new type of show for the channel. Our guest historian will examine a popular claim made about the Second World War and either confirm or debunk it. There probably won't be time for questions from viewers but we hope the shorter length will be popular.
Jonathan Parshall's interest in WWII developed in childhood. He has written for the U.S. Naval War College Review, Naval Institute Proceedings, and World War II magazine. In 1995 Jon founded www.combinedfl..., the foremost Internet site on the Japanese Imperial Navy, which currently attracts more than 50,000 visitors monthly. Recently he has been researching the war in North Africa and beyond and joins us today to offer his American perspective on the desert war.
Jon's previous appearances on WW2TV
El Alamein: If you still can't do combined arms, at least use a lot of artillery
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The End of the Beginning - Lessons Learned in North Africa, 1942
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Shattered Sword - the untold story of the Battle of Midway
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Buy the book - Shattered Sword
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Jonathan is such a wonderful guest. I could listen to him all day.
Agreed. He, Michael Neiberg, Prit Buttar Steven Zaloga are at the top of my list but there have been dozens of fascinating episodes on this channel.
Me too
Agreed. I just watched the Chieftain's spot, scrolled down, spotted Jon Parschal and immediately clicked on it.
Yep, you two together are magic.
I can’t imagine sitting on a deck chatting with him about anything. Totally not a blowhard.
A myth busted easily by Jon. Always a pleasure to hear him give a talk.
Jon's comments on Nagumo reminded me of one of the things "Shattered Sword" really brought home to me: none of the carriers engaged at Midway, with the exception of Yorktown, had ever fought in a carrier-on-carrier battle before. Nagumo was a rookie.
Jon Parshall is always a treat to listen to. ❤
Jon nailed this often-repeated myth. As others have said, Jon is an absolute pleasure to listen to talk about a subject as his explanations are so clear. I have listened to about a dozen of his presentations and discussions, mostly on Midway/Japanese in the Pacific and other WW2 subjects.
The opportunity to learn should never be ignored. Another in a series of enlightening conversations.
8:45 this comment about the Mahanian focus of the IJN immediately threw my mind forward to August 9, 1942, when Mikawa Gunichi "failed" to continue the Battle of Savo Island in order to sink the American transports off Guadalcanal. While we see that as a failure on his part, this comment perfectly explains it as the natural result of Japanese naval doctrine. Mikawa has sunk a bunch of warships and secured command of the sea off Guadalcanal, so victory will naturally follow. What he didn't have the doctrine to anticipate is how an operational airfield would negate that Japanese command of the sea during daylight hours, beginning just a couple weeks later when the airfield was ready.
Mikawa did the right thing by not sacrificing his force in the daylight to carrier and land based aircraft.
He wasn't sure of any probable transports in anchorage.
It was a terrible decision to fire the admiral who quickly threw an attack force of ships that mostly never trained together, led them into a rock strewn, pitch black duck pond, past 2 USN destroyer pickets and ambush 5 heavy cruisers.
But his naval masters deemed it as a failure, as after the fact, scout planes that morning reported the transport fleet was headed out to sea, opportunity missed.
Jon is backed up by Alan Zimm in his work Attack on Pearl Harbor, Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions. He goes to great length describing how Kido Butai did not have the correct weapons aboard or the aircraft available (they had over a hundred damaged aircraft) to make a proper attack on the tank farms or workshops. If you haven’t read the book do so.
Agree, great book!
One thing that always got me about the "Roosevelt knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor and let it happen to give the US a reason to declare war on Japan" nonsense is that a successful defense against the Pearl Harbor attack would still have give Roosevelt all he needed to justify declaring war on Japan, and he'd have been a hero to boot.
I mean... How are the American people going to react to such an attack? "Well, the Japanese attempted a surprise attack at our main fleet base in the central Pacific, but because it didn't do much damage we're going to let it slide...".
Not likely.
In addition, this silly conspiracy insults FDR greatly, as he was once Assistant Sec. of the Navy and he loved our Navy. He would not get them hurt for some political reason.
@@scottpeters8640 It doesn't just insult FDR.
How could one pull off such a conspiracy without people like King and Marshall being in on it?
I imagine that King would have shot Roosevelt himself if he'd gotten wind of such a scheme.
Yamamoto was shocked the US was not better prepared. He was under the Assumption the Japanese delegation in Washington had issued a formal declaration of war. They did not so Pearl Harbor was by definition a sneak attack and therefore a war crime.
@@scottpeters8640 you're a fool. Look around, politicians are EXPERT at screwing things up! READ MORE!
>
How 'bout----
In the wake of Roosevelt's Sanctions War against Japan in the after Japan's occupation of Indo China, Roosevelt, the US Navy and Army should have EXPECTED retaliation against the United States and BEEN PREPARED to defeat it.
All three were caught unprepared and more asleep at the switch to one degree or another.
And Roosevelt and the US Navy were engaged in their own undeclared war against Germany by providing munitions at no cost and escorting convoys and attacking German submarines, all without a declaration of war.
Roosevelt was in fact, quite the war monger.
WW 2 Mythbusters scored big on this one. Yes it was a myth - read many things touting the failure, and Jon put tons of nails in this myth coffin.
A day Jon shows up with Drach, Alex Clarke, WWII TV, or the unofficial history of the Pacific War, is another video to add to my watch again history folder.
Jon is a busy guy. Seems I am watching him a couple times a week, as he rotates between my favorite WWII history channels. He always good stuff. 😆
Having studied this subject for more than 40 years and writing my Masters thesis on intelligence, Mr Parshall is always a breath of fresh air. I don't always agree with him (usually on small details), but he brings a good in-depth perspective.
It would be boring if we all agreed all the time. Polite debate benefits everyone
Jon Parshall's book is miles better than the latest Midway movie.
You can put a lot more detail into a book than a movie. Also a movie is for entertainment and it's not a documentary.
@@vlad78th the book is terrific. I read it. But the movie does a much better job of helping you imagine what it's like to be in an SBD diving toward a carrier that has every weapon trained on you.
An historically accurate movie wouldn’t be nearly as good of a theater experience
Most books on Midway are better than the movies.
An excellent, clear and concise demolition of the myth; fascinating to see how the story changed over time; and how Tora! Tora! Tora! helped embed it. Thank you.
I'm really looking forward to Jon Parshall talking about his forthcoming book.
Jon is my favorite Tropical themed Historian...😅. He really is one of the most engaging historians out there today, looking forward to seeing more of him as he seems to have hit his stride on UA-cam as of late. In regards to Nagumo....he seems to be the Adm Fletcher of the Japanese side more then the Hitler of the Japanese side....doing the best he can, but just a bit out of his depth( no pun intended). As far as Fuchida and finally debunking or laying to rest all these myths that cropped up over the decades....think it needs to be stressed we have to look at those telling us the information were human too. As a certain Lord and a barnyard animal here on UA-cam like to remind us, think of WHY they told us these stories....what did they gain by embellishing? Alot, be it jobs in a post war military or a means of making some money based on the war. Don't think they will ever die out completely, but hopefully will slowly wither away as more truth comes to light. Thanks for this series Woody its been amazing.
Always a pleasure watching Jon Parshall.👍
Also rarely mentioned is that the Japanese also sunk HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, days after the Pearl Harbor attack, with the loss of 841 men.
i dont think their be much disagreement at the start of the war the japanese navy particular its carrier air core was the best int he world. due to attrition that was no longer the case by 1944.
No, all the history books dating back to 1977 said the Japaneseland based bombers sank Prince of Wales and Repulse. The biggest thing was No one could believe that land based bombers actually sank two capital ships while underway at sea.
@MichaelWKeller and they couldn't've, if they hadn't taken off from 'Neutral' airfields in French Indochina.
Brilliant, concise refutation of this myth. It is an interesting aspect of the mythology that the racially based underestimation of the Japanese capabilities was a significant factor in the failure at Pearl Harbour. I would posit the Americans were not alone in that underestimation as evidenced by the humiliating fall of Indochina, Malaysia and Singapore, the Dutch East Indies etc.
A late add on: Your myth busting efforts do influence people like me who are not full time historians but are interested enough to seek data driven analyses beyond big budget films or television.
_It is an interesting aspect of the mythology that the racially based underestimation of the Japanese capabilities was a significant factor in the failure at Pearl Harbour_
Japan's attack force sailed some 4,000 miles across the Pacific to strike Pearl Harbor. That is an incredibly audacious and risky move. And it's an aspect that is often overlooked.
@@primmakinsofis614 Audacious and risky, yes. The scale of the operations the Japanese pulled off in Malaysia, the Philippines, Wake (OK, that didn't go great initially), Guam, etc. to start the war were huge.
America certainly was not alone in that regard-weeks prior to the invasion of British Malaya some British officers described thr japanese troops they saw as "subhuman" and when asked why they were not worried about an attack by the japanese they replied with something to the effect of "we're better than they are"
Jon Parshall is a legend. I love your "myth-busting" videos, keep 'em coming!
I could listen to him for hours! I am excited for his next book! Thanks
Two modern day ww2 history legends right here
Fantastic presentation. Thanks Jon and Paul.
Hi Woody, thank you for getting Jon Parshall back on the channel to tackle the myth of the Pearl Harbour oil tanks (and of course thank you to Jon himself}. Loving this series of myth busting programmes.
Nothing can undo lazy conspiracy thinking better than FACTS. Great show, Woody...and Jon.
Mr. Parshall parses no words, and debunks from the word "Go" from Woody. Fuchida Mitsuo was NOT the first to alter prior statements in memoirs--another major reason not to invest too much in faded memories after the fact (I'm looking at you Herr Halder, Herr Manstein, & the Wehraboo Express)! Brilliantly done. again. Standing Oh for this one! See you tomorrow everyone, Slainte!
Two Naval History Legends in one day? You spoil us!
Great to hear Jon give us a lesson without any spin or agenda. Thanks for having him on Woody!
Howdy folks! Great show busting a myth I heard just yesterday from a source who should know better. Parshall is the voice of reason. I worked in oil business for many years and I want to bust the myth that oil tanks are soft targets. They are almost invulnerable to common mayhem, and are designed not to leak or burn. Give ‘em hell Woody.
That’s interesting. Thank you.
Exactly. The tanks held thick bunker fuel, not high octane gasoline. Too many people think a few random bombs and half the island would have been on fire.
It's always great to hear from Jon Parshall.
Good stuff as usual with this Channel and Jon Parshall always does it right!
Much appreciated!
Another great show Woody. Jon always brings it and backs it up with references.
Woody/Jon. Fabulous presentation! The same could be asked on the Fleet Air Arm on Taranto which the Japanese studied. The Pearl Harbour myths series deserve a full length presentation! Thanks Gents. Bob
Another great show and another fabulous presentation from Jon. I'm really enjoying this series for something different!
Great interview- love Jon’s comments 👍
I always enjoy listening to Jon Parshall. Typically about naval affairs, but I highly suggest his analysis of WWII tank production.
Thanks for a great episode Woody. I believe that Jon is right, that the fuel tanks and repair facilities were never truly under any threat by the myopic Japanese. Admiral Nimitz did proclaim that had they attacked these targets that it may have taken around 18 months for Pearl Harbor to be operational at the same capacity, perhaps giving Japan the time she needed to fully complete her defensive perimeter.
They weren't myopic. The Japanese General Staff knew that they had 6 months, whatever they did, before the US forces would begin to overwhelm them. That fleet was at the very far end of it's reach. Midway was a sub base. Once Americans knew there was a fleet at sea, it was in deadly danger. Any moderately damaged ship would have to be abandonded.
Problem is Port facilities are/were not as easy to destroy as ships. For example, Fuel tanks need repeated attack by dive bomber, good luck with that with the smoke from the oil.
It will be a hard sell to any military planners.
Remember when American attacked Japanese Ports, they also attacked ships and plane first.
@@cck4863And those tanks didn't contain nice volatile avgas or even gasoline. They contained fuel oil for ships' engines, which is even less flammable than diesel .
@@lamwen03 Yes the fuel oil could have been ignited if they had used incendiary bombs. The Pearl Harbor attack was carefully planned but only to destroy warships and shoot down planes. As always with the Japanese logistics one way or another defeated them. What so many here do not understand is that even if the fuel farms DID Not burn, the oil would leak out. Do you people realize how many tanker loads it would take to fill them up once they were empty? How LONG that would take; and thus we would be severaly hamstrung at doing much of anything with our fleet. No raids that Halsey did; no Coral Sea. And so on.
We did not have very many tankers. We could have gotten more but that would have taken time. I think at LEAST six months and maybe as much as a year. When the Japanese could have been fortifying their islands. When you add this to the bad torpedoes of our subs, they would have had a free hand for much of 1942.
AND Australia and New Zealand would have been even more vulnerable. The knock on effects would have been HUGE.
You can't just drop incendiary bombs on heavy duty concrete storage facilities and expect to get a positive result. You would have to drop bunker busters and then drop incendiaries on top if you want to get it going. Frankly notwithstanding Hollywood it's actually pretty hard to get gasoline lit inside a tank let alone fuel oil. I have seen videos of experiments done where spark igniters were put inside automotive gasoline tanks. Most of them fail to get ignition and in a very few cases they were able to get an unimpressive dripping burn. (Environment Canada studies are the comparative safety of methanol versus gasoline in automotive tanks). No explosion. In any case it seems pretty clear: in those photographs you could see about three or maybe even four dozen tanks. In your first wave you were lucky to hit half a dozen battleships. How many of those tanks do you think you'll take out in a second wave? Not all of them that's for sure.
The oil tankers are surely a strategic asset. But one has to bear in mind that at this time the United States is the largest oil exporting country in the world and this was before tax evasion led tankers to be reflagged in other countries. I think they would have gotten a few tankers running to Hawaii but sure it would have taken some careful planning.
Woody, Jon hit that myth out of the Park.
Thanks again.
21:45 Parshall is spot on. In 1941 carrier doctrine was largely theoretical on both sides. Doctrine is like a battle plan; neither survives first contact with the enemy intact.
Jon Parshall has confirmed what many take as gospel from a movie. I agree Tora Tora Tora is the best movie rendition now available but beware of the screen writers traps. Also, Harou Yoshino, a torpedo attack pilot flying a Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" (AII-305), aboard IJN Kaga verified to author/historian Dan King that the third wave was a myth. Mr. King interviewed Mr. Yoshino before he passed away in 2011. Taking from Mr. King's book "The Last Zero Fighter" on page 155, "Yoshino stated there was no planned third wave attack against Pearl Harbor. This opinion was shared by others who were there; Takashi Maeda (Kaga), Shintaro Hasegawa (Akagi) and Kaname Harada (Soryu). As what was stated in the video that there will always be nay sayers but to them I say, "You can only know what you can prove".
An excellent presentation by John. I really appreciated the back story of the myth.
As a pilot and military aviation buff, the problem I had with the new midway movie was the TBD devastator‘s lugging, a torpedo and 500 pound bombs under the wings when the airplane did not even have wing shackles for the 500 pound bombs. Three 500 pound bombs could be carried in lieu of the torpedo on the centerline and there were some seldom used detachable wing mounts for 100 pound bombs on horizontal racks but I don’t know if those were ever used and they could only be carried in lieu of a torpedo. There is no way a TBD could even get off a carrier deck with a torpedo and a pair of bombs as it could barely get off the deck with a torpedo alone.
The lack of a single Wildcat was strange
John’s not wrong, but it isn’t just doctrine: it is ordnance and AA. As the Allies discovered in Europe, dropping staggering tons of bombs far beyond the capacity of the Kido Butai, it is not a simple thing to destroy machine tools, or even to ignite fuel tanks filled with bunker fuel. Destroying machine tools took virtually a direct hit, and many a German factory had its roof burned off, and went back to production in the open air as soon as the rubble was pulled off. So it is unlikely the shipyard would be neutralized with Kido Butai’s ordnance throw weight. Heavy bunker fuel you can throw a match into and it will not ignite. As for breaking up dry docks, the Japanese didn’t have earthquake bombs, or planes capable of carrying them, much less off a carrier. (Okay, John got to the fuel issue eventually).
The other issue is AA fire; even surprised the USN threw up AA fire heavier than anything the Japanese had seen in China, and they balked. Genda stated they were unwilling to risk the Kates over Oahu again. And although only 29 aircraft were “lost” many more were damaged (79 IIRC) and many of those were the Vals which Genda was still willing to risk; and a Val couldn’t carry even remotely heavy enough ordnance. By the time enough aircraft could be patched up for a third strike they would have flown into even heavier AA fire and been forced to land in the dark with even more damaged aircraft.
I like Jon a lot, and for any who haven't read Shattered Sword, I highly recommend it. As for an additional attack, either for more ships or for the fuel tanks, Nagumo knew the anti-aircraft would be a lot more deadly if they came back. Once the surprise is lost and the Americans have manned their guns, the value of additional targets did not offset the very likely loss of experienced Japanese pilots or planes.
thanks. a lot of fun. have been guilty of believing that one myself and he pretty nicely takes care of it.
Right on
Great discussion.
I enjoy these episodes. Jon Parshall is excellent. I have read his book Shattered Sword and it covers a lot of info regarding the Naval Doctrine of the Kido Butai that other books seem to miss out. Excellent episode can't wait to see more!! Job well done!!
13/12/23 all episdes were superb. thank you
The IJN was generally less flexible and slower about changing their pre-war doctrine than was the USN. E.G., Nagumo seems to have learned less/slower that did Spruance.
I bought and read Shattered Sword just this year. There's SO much detail in it, I have to read it again - at least once, maybe more. And I don't usually read books more than once unless it was for college...
Can't wait to get hold of his next book. Just found out there was one! :)
Love these shorter ones!
Another reason the "Roosevelt knew because the carriers were at sea" myth is silly.
Before Pearl Harbor NOBODY in the US Navy valued carriers over battleships!!!
If Roosevelt had turned to his Secretary of the Navy and said. "I want to allow an attack from the Japanese at Pearl Harbor that will sink a bunch of our ships but I want to save our most important ships by having them conveniently out to sea during the attack. Which ships should I save?" Frank Knox's reply would have been simple and emphatic. "THE BATTLESHIPS!"
I love that wallpaper!
Neosho was at Pearl during the attack and survived. She would be one of few oil tankers in the Pacific in the early operations and would be lost in Coral Sea. Since the US had few oil tankers in the beginning, sinking a few of those could have been crucial, and hampered operations in 1942.
Yes Drach talked about that on another WW2TV show ua-cam.com/users/liveumHbkowWi1s?si=OUY48Efp_UY9ABAN
Merchant shipping, almost!
I know Jon's a navy guy but he's also doing talks on Ukraine, I would like to hear his thoughts on the Armor taking such a beating and how tank evolution may be heading.
I think that part of the fuel tanks myth is the assumption that if just one tank went up, the tanks were so flimsy that the whole complex would go up. Cool image, but the USN wasn't THAT stupid in building storage. As to the tankers plying between the mainland and Hawaii, the IJN was hyper-focused on warships.
Indeed
After raving about Zimm's seminal Attack on Pearl Harbor book which busts every myth going about PH I notice it's currently just 2.99 on Kindle. Advised in case anyone interested 👍
IMHO the reason that this myth continues is that destruction of the fuel tans,dry docks, and workshops WOULD have been disastrous for the USNavy. Why did they get ignored?
So good to know this myth is just that!
Thanks gents for hitting this home.
BTW "Shattered Sword" was a great book!
As I commented last night I'm now reading Edwin Lay tons book "I Was There." Honest and unflinchinly brutal. He did the research.
It amazes me people think a man who was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and an avid sailor would allow Pearl Harbor to happen has always left me speechless.
Yep, me too
Always a good day when we get to see what Hawaiian shirt Jon is wearing.
Very interesting episode. I have been enjoying these "myth-busting" episodes. They are interesting and informative, and their brevity is a strength.
Great interview! Well done, Paul and Jon!
Really awesome interview. Thank you!
Excellent series. Hopefully people will reference these for years to come.
Alan Zimm's book needs to be included in the suggested reading links. “Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions,”
I had also heard that the Japanese didn't want to black smoke up the whole area with those tanks of fuel, it would interfere with operations.
Great interview as usual. Thank you!
Great stuff! Parshall is a wonderful guest.
I'd love to see Tone number 4 survive to ask him what really happened with his plane and just his whole take on what happened with his scouting
Was there anything wrong with Tone No. 4? I thought he was late because of a catapult malfunction. Wasnt it Chikuma 's scout that flew right over Yorktown and co and failed to spot them?
Outstanding fact-based analysis and excellent presentation.
Thank you kindly!
There is another issue - The USA was the largest oil producers in the Earth at the time so they would have shipped more fuel over.
When the top expert on the IJN carrier fleet is a guest, a quick question from me:
The Japanese are bringing two more Shōkaku carriers to Hawaii (so a total of 8 carriers) + these two only attack the oil tanks, dry docks, shipyards - what damage could the approximately 120 - 130 carrier aircraft actually have caused? When would Pearl be operational again as a naval base after this hypothetical attack?
There were still other higher priorities.
You can't fool me, I've watched Tora! Tora! Tora! many times. It was that damn fool Nagumo breaking off the attack after only two waves. Every one of the Japanese knew they needed to hit the fuel tank farm, except Nagumo! He's to blame!
Nah, I'm joking of course. They simply hadn't thought of hitting the fuel as a high priority.
As for the conspiracy theories, I agree with Jon. That is why these happen. The enemy couldn't possibly have gotten one over on us. I can't stand that attitude by some Americans. Other nations are just as capable of being intelligent as we are. Sometimes, the enemy gets one over on you.
The Japanese hit us with greater capabilities than we imagined possible. They also attacked us in every place we suspected they might, all at once! That was crazy brave of them. We kind of gloss it over, but what they pulled off to start the war against us was as impressive as it was cruel. I despise WW2 Japan (love em today❤), yet I also respect them because they really were amazing at the start of the war. All of which simply makes our later victories more impressive.
great presentation, enjoying these myths shows
“Who cares about logistics.” This is proven by Japanese submarine strategy in the pacific. Merchant shipping was on the back burner.
Great speaker!
Parshall is a favorite! Looking forward to his 1942 book.
how many a day of these do you do? yesterday i joked about slowin down. there is at least 2 today... im so glad you cut down from 90 min to 30 i guess you have to make them when the muse is hot. i cant keep up.
The fact of the matter it was the dry docks and repair facilities that allowed to raise and repair ships that had been sunk enough to make it back to the continental United States to complete the repairs. Some of those same ships that had been sunk returned to action and participated in the invasion of the Islands Japan had captured.
Jon is brilliant, as usual!
except he hasn't even looked into 911 apparently
Brilliant idea and content, Woody; B.Z.
For the algorithm!!!!! Drach and Jonny P mate?! Christmas truly has come early. Forgive my goofy for the Alg comments on all your videos man I’ve made that my thing to be second nature on all content by content creators big or small I’m sorry I can’t do more at this time to support your work aside from liking sharing and commenting. I truly hope that at least doing that makes some difference, I’d love nothing more for Christmas than to see WW2TV hit 100K subs to start the new year. There’s no one in the genre working as hard as you are to bring us viewers so much new and fascinating information on new topics and ones we all have learned about but no where near as clear and fun as you and your guests presentation of it. Anyway I’ve blustered too long keep up the amazing work my brother, nothing but continued well earned success I promise you all your hard work will be rewarded. God bless and God Speed!
Great Guest....interesting topic. Thanks. !!
except he's wrong about 911 😅
All FDR had to do is to order the battleships out to sea a couple of days before December 7th, and the Japanese bombing an empty Pearl Harbor starts WWII. So he's absolutely right, there were far less expensive ways to get the US into war.
Forty years ago I read the autobiography of Admiral Chester Nimitz. He replied to a seaman who asked of his good humour. They missed so much of value. He had a huge staff who had so deeply prepared for the fight back.
While not exactly germaine to this discussion, war between Japan and the U.S. was inevetible in early December 1941. Japan's goal was the natural resources in the East Indies. The Philippines arr right across the sea lanes from thr Indies to Japan. In order to ensure that anything shipped from the Indies made it to Japan, the Philippines, whicj at the time were as much a U.S. Terretory as Hawaii or Alaska, and the U.S. forces there would have to be neutralized or destroyed, and the Philippones taken. The U.S
wasn't just going to sit and take it.
Jon can easilly debunk the myths.
The carriers were not in pearl because while returning back to pearl, they hit a heavy storm and the destroyers ran low on fuel. It delayed the carriers 1 day refueling the destroyers, or they would have been at pearl dec 7th.
We lucked out. Straight up.
Roosevelt had been trying to force the germans hand for 2 years. Supplying Britain & Russia war material. Roosevelt even went as far as having US destroyers escorting British supply ship which put Americans in harm's way. German u boats even sunk a US destroyer with loss of life.
None of it worked. Americsns were still in an isolationist mood, so roosevelt couldnt declare war. He needed Germany to declare war.
When roosevelt put an oil embargo on Japan, again, he was trying to force their hand.
Make no mistake. Roosevelt wanted war, he just couldnt declare it.
The Japanese just took the bait before Germany did.
The fact that Roosevelt was such a secret political weasel, and repeatedly did things to TRY and get into the war in Europe, that led to many conspiracies.
Did rousevelt know pearl harbor was getting attacked? I doubt it.
It's more likely they suspected the Philippines. But there was MacArthur, arrogant and delusional, assuring roosevelt "THE JAPANESE WONT DARE ATTACK ME, IM DOUGLAS MACARTHUR. "
Many mistakes were also made. And I think Americans just didnt want to believe OUR LEADERS were that incompetent.
So more conspiracy theories.
Roosevelt was saying no war in public, while trying to make it happen without Americans finding out he caused it.
Imo, Roosevelt and MacArthur were both political weasels. One reason they likely got along so well.
The only person who should have been demoted for the disaster at pearl harbor was roosevelt.
Followed immediately by firing MacArthur for his blatant incompetence in the Philippines.
He needed tarred and feathered for many more reasons than that.
I wouldn't compare something like this to JFK just the fact that Ruby walked into the Dallas PD and at great personal risk to himself, killed Oswald and knew he had zero chance of getting away with it, makes the whole JFK thing awful suspicious. Do people actually think Ruby would throw away his life because he was upset JFK got shot?
Given a choice to lead your carriers into a decisive battle, who do you pick? Fletcher or Nagumo?
Spruance
@@mcamp9445objectively the correct answer
In the late 1950’s a neighbor family who lost their son at Pearl Harbor, expressed their view that FDR new prior about the attack.
And?
Love the Myth busters: WW2 History Edition
Excellent reasoning on why the tanks were not attacked. It matches up with why the attack on the invasion transports in the battle off Samar was called of by the Japanese - a battle task force firing on transports was considered beneath them.
Oh, you guys are going to make me dig out "Shattered Sword" for a fourth reading!
It's so good!
I will watch any program that Jon is a guest on. Don't get me wrong I watch you also as I'm a subscriber to your channel.
Jon never ceases to impress me with his way of cutting through the noise. That said, as a wargame designer I bring to the table the plausible alternatives. In my Pacific War wargame the Japanese have the option to hit the port. If successful its main impact is to slow down the US by a few months, but certainly not a war winner. The flip side is the loss of the US battleships had the unintended consequence that it ended the carrier vs. battleship debate.
Interesting counter-factual - thanks
See the 2019 University of Fairbanks Alaska WTC building 7 collapse study, they don't use the word explosives, but you will.
4:40 10 October 1945...wow. 30 years to the day before I was born.
I heard the rumour about FDR years ago, it makes no sense as was said, what commander at any level would allow an enemy to sink have his fleet just to start a war
The book "Pearl Harbor" written by Willmott is on the way! Thank you again to you and your host, Jon Parshall, for sharing information that is so important to correct those mythos out there that are out right flat wrong. Anyway, the book is on the way and I am looking forward to the read.