Allen W. McDonnell
7/14/2013 12:35:00 PM
"Anthony Buckland" <anthonybucklandnospam@telus.net> wrote in message
news:eaOdnVmMe-z6aXzMnZ2dnUVZ_uGdnZ2d@giganews.com...
> On 13/07/2013 1:49 PM, Allen W. McDonnell wrote:
>> In May 1940 the President of the USA decided to forward deploy the US
>> Navy
>> battle fleet to the mid pacific in an attempt to influence the policies
>> and
>> actions of the Japanese Empire.
>>
>> OTL he ordered the fleet to be based in Pearl Harbor on the island of
>> Oahu
>> in the Territory of Hawaii. This was not the only viable location, and
>> many
>> voices were raised against it because the population of Oahu was 1/3rd
>> Japanese descent. Many in the Navy and other branches of the government
>> felt this made the threat of Sabotage in the event of a war a very large
>> concern.
>>
>> WI Instead of Pearl Harbor the President, being familiar with the Navy as
>> a
>> former Assistant Secretary of the same during the Wilson Administration
>> including World War I, he chose to redeploy the fleet to Pago Pago
>> harbor,
>> Tutuila Island, Territory of American Samoa? At the time only minimal
>> facilities existed at the naval station there, however building
>> facilities
>> would not be a difficult task. The base would start out with shore
>> housing
>> and so on for the crews and shore personnel. As time went on major
>> repair
>> facilities and dry docks would be added, though most ships would still go
>> back to the USA west coast just as they did OTL for major overhauls and
>> repairs.
>>
>> Samoa is on the direct sea route from the USA to Australia/New Zealand
>> and
>> would be seen as vital to maintaining the flow of men and material
>> between
>> the two continents in the event of a war between the Allies and Japan.
>> It
>> is also almost the same distance south of the equator as Oahu Hawaii is
>> north of the equator and much harder for the Japanese to approach
>> undetected. There are also very few Japanese living in Samoa in the
>> 1940's,
>> the vast majority of the population was and is Polynesian in descent.
>> That
>> almost eliminates fear of sabotage to equipment, facilities and
>> personnel.
>>
>>
> It's around twice as far from San Diego. Also, with the
> capabilities of aircraft of that time, how difficult
> would it be to fly large quantities of warplanes there?
> Those points raised, there's a question beyond my
> abilities: would it put the Navy and ground forces
> carried by the Navy in better or worse position for
> going after the territories Japan was interested in?
> And then later in the War, if the War went something
> like OTL, there's the question of rolling up the
> Japanese positions all the way to their home islands:
> more difficult, more work, or not?
Moving the long range multi engine aircraft is no problem, they stage there
way across just as they did going to PH or the Philippine Islands. For the
single engine aircraft you use the same system used OTL moving planes there
during the war, you either ship them as freight or you put them on aircraft
carriers and fly them off at sea once you get in range. The second system
is trickier, some of those Army types couldn't find a destination by dead
reckoning so you either needed an experienced pilot as a group
leader/shepherd or a radio beacon for them to home in on and the skills to
use it.
As for the war with Japan if it develops being in Samoa puts them in a much
better position to help Australia and to fight in the Dutch Indies. If they
can keep Japan from success in the Indies they just shortened the war
greatly by keeping the oil they need away from them.
For the island hopping campaign it is a wash, the ships were all capable of
operating the distance needed, and as soon as you start taking islands you
can forward base troops supplies and weapons on the captured islands. That
was the whole point of the strategy after all.
Something else, I am not saying Pearl Harbor is to be abandoned, far from
it. I am saying Pago Pago is the main anchorage making a Japanese attack
much less likely to succeed. The distance to Japan is still in strike
range, but they would have to pass through several shipping lanes to strike
Pago Pago undetected, for Pearl Harbor they were able to pass far north and
then head nearly due south avoiding other ships.
Pearl Harbor would still be a major base in the Pacific, and unlike Subic
base in the Philippines it is unlikely to be captured by the Japanese, but
in this ATL it plays a supporting role as the pre 1940 plans expected with
San Diego being the main fleet anchorage for the Pacific Fleet. There were
several Admirals who spoke out against PH because the entrance is narrow,
sinking a single large ship in the entry would 'bottle up' the whole main
battle fleet until the wreck was cleared. Pago Pago does not suffer from
the same issue, the harbor is much more of a cone shape with a very broad
entrance.
Using Pago Pago the Navy has secure Sea Lines Of Communication (SLOC) with
New Zealand and Australia and the position to favor disruption of Japanese
plans in Indonesia, the Solomon's, the Coral Sea, the Gilbert islands and
the Marshall islands more easily than could be done from Pearl Harbor.
Perhaps the Japanese still manage to pull off the raid on December 7, 1941
in Pago Pago, but the odds are less favorable for avoiding detection. If
war does start on schedule with the Japanese still invading Guam and the
Philippines as well as UK territories then they have to face the US Fleet at
some point early in the war.
The majority of the Japanese air assets were based on the islands, the
Marshall's and Gilberts were called 'unsinkable aircraft carriers' and
thought of exactly that way. Air battles between Army, Navy and Marine
aircraft and the Japanese will kick off as soon as war breaks out, and plans
to start island hopping will come up very soon. All of that will force the
Japanese to change their strategy and tactics so the war might develop in a
very different way from a battle by battle point of view, but the USA will
have overwhelming forces available within a few years because of the
production rates and population differences. Movements to garrison islands
like Guadalcanal will be a priority in this ATL, not the almost side show it
was OTL.