Pearl Harbor Defense

"John Carrier" wrote in message ...
I think the single biggest undone defense would have been torpedo nets, but
the reality was no one thought torpedoes could be used effectively in Pearl
Harbor's shallow waters.

The US Navy had fallen well behined in torpedo technology. For
instance the IJNs Japanese Navy Long Lance Torpedo could manage 46
knots for about 22 knautical miles and 35 Knots for about 36 nautical
miles. It had 50% more speed and 10 times more range. It used pure
oxygen not air and didn't usually leave a trail. When under attack by
Japanese subs the Americans sometimes thought they were being attacked
from multiple directions when in fact a single Japanese sub had fired
through their fleet to the other side!

The problem was eventualy traced to the USN rotating its staff through
its torpedo division every 2 years or so thus it never developed any
expertise in developing torpedoes or envisaging what the enemies might
be capable of.

It must have been the same for aircraft lauched torpedoes. The
Japanese ones presumably being better in every aspect such as launch
height, speed, range and minimum depth.






Buttoning up the ships and manning battle stations would probably have
helped to some degree. A combination of some opposing fire and some aerial
opposition would have had an impact on the success of the strike ...
probably more in line with Japanese expectations in terms of impact on the
fleet.

I don't think the returning CV's could have accomplished anything of
significance. Worst case would be have been to find the Japanese ...
because they in turn would have been found and likely destroyed.

I think 30 minutes lead time would be insufficient to sortie the fleet ... a
good thing considering the likely outcome had they been caught just clearing
Pearl and entering deeper water.

R / John