Originally Posted by Vic_in_Va
gmsemel, I think both you and Shootinurse have very valid points in the importance of the aforementioned victories against the Japanese forces.

The Battle of the Coral Sea marked a major turning point in how naval warfare would be waged, and affirmed the end of the BB as the king of the sea (not to diminish the importance of the Battleship, but the Aircraft carrier had come of age.) after the debacle suffered by the British when the Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk, and the American disaster at Pearl Harbor. The Coral Sea fight was the first Carrier to Carrier fight, and though a tactical victory for the Japanese, it was the end of their invasion plans. I believe at this point, their expansion had been halted.

Midway was their high-water mark, much the same as the wall at Gettysburg for the confederate forces.

Guadalcanal was the beginning of the end.

Pelelui was a total waste of American lives, and was never well known, even during the war years.

We owe that generation so much.....


If you guys want the BEST account ever written on Midway, read 'Shattered Sword'. Magnificent. Been a student of Midway practically my whole life and I attend as many of the celebrations held at the National Museum Of Naval Aviation as I can. On the Battleship issue, the PoW and Repulse was a sad issue. Both lacked the AAA armament BBs had after we learned these lessons and as a result, not a single BB American or British BB was lost due to air actions after that. Repulse was a WWI ship and very poor AA armaments although she was very maneuverable and avoided a LOT of fish and bombs before she went down. PoW was a victim of bad luck an inexperienced crew and Brit damage control not up to our standards. First torpedo hit her right where the screw shafts enter the ship and the runaway turbine after the hit did some serious damage, essentially shutting down the entire port side of the ship. Inexperienced crew left in the dark panicked and left a lot of WTD open. That, combined with more torpedo hits made damage control impossible. Took at least seven torpedoes before going down. Lessons learned were applied to the surviving members of that class along with LOTS of AAA armament added and electrical cross feeds port/starboard. Back to Midway, the authors did a great job with their level of detail regarding the inherent (non-existent) damage control practices and fire prevention. Basically the japs relied on offense and didn't bother with damage contol on their carriers. jorge

A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”