Who would win in a fight on a coast (on paved roads) between 100 production models of the Ratte tank and one Yamato class battleship? No movement is allowed, no other units are allowed, both sides never break down, and both sides are fully loaded with ammunition. The distance is a Yamato class battleship’s point blank range. Yamato can fire it’s broadside. So basically it is a massive gun duel between both sides, until one side is destroyed. If the Ratte tanks lose, how many Ratte tanks would it take to beat down the Yamato? Thank you!
Which Battle Had a Greater Impact?
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11HP20, I agree with you for Midway and Guadalcanal but I do not agree about Leyte Gulf.
IJN was largely inferior in that battle and still fought valiantly.
Ozawa, with a false AC forces, drew away the USA Carrier Task Forces, while Nishimura managed to draw the attention of the Battleships forces. In the critical phases of the battle Kurita with his battleships reached the amphibious force in the off the coast of Samar. Only the desperate courage of the escorsting ships saved the amphibious force from the sure destuction at the hand of the Yamato. Kurita thought he have to fought the 3rd fleet and retreated. The plan was good and complex but was excuted not perfectly and sincerely I think that even if perfectly executed IJN hardly had any possibility to won against USA fleet in October 1944.
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I voted for Midway, but it is more a combination of Coral Sea and Midway in my view. A bit of background. In 1991, I spent several weeks with John Winton assisting him in researching his book on Ultra in the Pacific. We spent a lot of time looking through the declassified intercepts and intercept summaries. I have been studying the Solomon Islands campaign for 40 plus years, and in May of 2002, I spent 15 days in the Solomon Islands assisting Dr. Robert Ballard in his search for JFK’s PT-109. I was responsible for wreck identification, onboard historian, general technical reference person, and explosives and weapons expert. I have also assisted in identifying the wreckage of a Japanese carrier sunk at Midway that is on the bottom in 17,000 feet of water.
First, one of the more interesting intercepts they we read was one concerning the transfer of the surviving air crew from the Shokaku and Zuikaku to the carriers that were attacking the Aleutians. Basically, the Japanese by May of 1941 were short of trained carrier aircrew. The combination of losses at Coral Sea, Midway, and the Aleutians therefore crippled the Japanese to the point where they no longer could field qualified pilots to the surviving carriers.
Second, the Guadalcanal campaign and the advance up the Solomon Islands by the Allies subjected the Japanese to the devastating attrition that they could simply not afford. Losses there could not be replaced Japanese planning was heavily dependent on the decisive battle, with the enemy suffering massive losses while the Japanese were relatively unscathed, as occurred at the Battle of Tsushima. A campaign of attrition was the last thing that the Japanese planned for.
Third, the Japanese Army, after having the 23rd Infantry Division mangled by the Russians at Nomohan/Khalkin-Gol, had no desire whatsoever to engage the Russians again on anything like remotely even terms. Hence, they did not bother the Russians for the entire war. Russian merchant ships carrying supplies from the West Coast to Vladivostok sailed through the Sea of Japan up to the Russian declaration of war in 1945. The Japanese Army had limited knowledge of the US and Britain, and much of what they had was filtered through the Germans. The Japanese Army was calling the shots in starting the war, not the Navy. They needed resources, not Hawaii.
To Be Continued
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Midway! When you lose FOUR of your FIRST line carriers…it becomes demoralizing. The Japanese offensive in the Pacific ended at Midway…they suddenly had to go on the defensive starting at Guadalcanal!
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I’m surprised this post has found life.
I’ll sum up the two battles in football terms. Midway was the shocking interception that was returned for a touchdown, it stopped the Japanese momentum. Guadalcanal was the fifteen play drive for 98 yard that took 7 minutes off the clock for the U.S forces.
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Neither Midway nor Guadalcanal had any great impact on the war on a strategic scale.
If Japan went all in against Hawaii, and killed off every US ship and all the other US ships that was heading for Hawaii, then they might had a snowballs chance in hell to keep anything, and/or to avoid the US demand of total surrender.The biggest error the Japanese did was that they did not understand the American mentality after they attacked Pearl Harbor.
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@ABWorsham:
I’m surprised this post has found life.
I’ll sum up the two battles in football terms. Midway was the shocking interception that was returned for a touchdown, it stopped the Japanese momentum. Guadalcanal was the fifteen play drive for 98 yard that took 7 minutes off the clock for the U.S forces.
I love this analogy, very fitting.
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@ABWorsham:
I’m surprised this post has found life.
I’ll sum up the two battles in football terms. Midway was the shocking interception that was returned for a touchdown, it stopped the Japanese momentum. Guadalcanal was the fifteen play drive for 98 yard that took 7 minutes off the clock for the U.S forces.
My man is a football fan and he puts this in such great terms…Absolutely perfect…
+2 karma to the ABW…
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I’ll sum up the two battles in football terms. Midway was the shocking interception that was returned for a touchdown, it stopped the Japanese momentum. Guadalcanal was the fifteen play drive for 98 yard that took 7 minutes off the clock for the U.S forces.
Fantastic analogy. +2
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@RogertheShrubber:
@ABWorsham:
I’m surprised this post has found life.
I’ll sum up the two battles in football terms. Midway was the shocking interception that was returned for a touchdown, it stopped the Japanese momentum. Guadalcanal was the fifteen play drive for 98 yard that took 7 minutes off the clock for the U.S forces.
I love this analogy, very fitting.
I’m surprised Guadalcanal did not get more votes.
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At the beginning of the war, which country had the largest navy? US, UK(counting navies of Canada, Australia, India, etc.), or Japan?
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At the beginning of the war, which country had the largest navy? US, UK(counting navies of Canada, Australia, India, etc.), or Japan?
I beleive the Royal Navy was the largest, thats counting the huge older reserve fleet.
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Midway without doubt.
The beginning of the end for the Imperial japanese navy.
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