Ragnar wrote:
"Bob Urz" wrote in message
...

Now, if you emptied the harbor of capital ships for a strike force the
Japanese spies would have relayed the information back and the jap fleet
may have turned back. Or set up for attack.

Umm, then how come the Japanese spies didn't tell the fleet that the
carriers were gone? As far as I know, right up to when the Japanese were
over Oahu they thought the carriers were there.

It's been said that the target ship USS Utah (former BB with turrets
removed and railroad ties lining the upper deck for extra protection
from practice projectiles) may have been mistaken for a carrier.

The Japanese certainly paid it the attention due a carrier, anyway.

If the fleet had been in the open sea the Japanese would have been even
more eager to attack. Less likely that we'd be able to salvage sunken
ships. (Nagumo had hoped to catch the fleet at the training anchorage
near Lahaina - nice, deep water there.)

The Japanese spies were pretty slow to get information out - I seem to
recall reading that the most up-to-date information they had at the time
the attack was launched was a week old.
--
Marc Reeve
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