Good points. A sortie to safety might have been best, but if they had been
caught a lot of hardware and good men would have gone to the bottom. Any
attempt to engage with the battle line would have likely been disastrous.
Staying put, condition zebra set and GQ at 7:00 am with fighter cover may
well have proven best ... I doubt they would have imagined the need for
torpedo nets (a shame, had they been rigged, the damage would have been far
less).

OTOH, the devastating losses forced the US to abandon traditional thinking.
The battle line was obsolete. The cargru was the wave of the future. It
all came to fruition at Midway.

I still think the Pearl Harbor strike was one of the most brilliantly
planned and executed tactical air strikes of all time. Strategically, it
was wrong. Geopolitically, it was dead wrong.

R / John

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
...

"BOB URZ" wrote in message
...
I have often wondered. Given a 24 hour advanced notice that an attack
was eminent in 72 hours or less, what would have been the outcome at
Pearl Harbor? Say on dec 6, Pearl was given intel that an attack would
come anytime in the next 72 hours.

What could have been done differently to affect the outcome?

They could have issued ammunition for the army fixed AA guns
instead of keeping it in depots (the army didnt like its shells
getting dirty - no kidding)

The USAAF could have been alert with some fighters airbornes
and the rest properly dispersed instead of parked together in the
middle of the field lacking only a neon sign saying 'bomb here'

The fleet could have been on a higher state of readiness instead
of enjoying a sunday morning lie in

They could have taken some basic precautions like rigging torpedo
nets.


Granted at that point in the war, some of the hardware was not up
to snuff with the Japanese. With a 24 hour warning, how many fighter
aircraft could have been prepared, armed, and either flying or on
alert?

The army hearings estimated that if they had been alert between 70 and
80 fighters could have been in the air.

What (if any) could have been used for night operations?
What would have been the likely outcome of an even plane
dogfight scenario?

Given the 24 hour warning time, where would you position the
carriers that were out at sea and why? Offensive or defensive?


They were too far way to make an effective counterstrike or defense.

What about the surface ships in the harbor. In or out?
Was there better way to position them against air attack?


The BB's could have been sent back to the West Coast.

What combination of aircraft could have been marshalled for an
offensive strike against the carrier group at the range they
were at? Were there enough trained aviators to even attempt this
at this time? Were the Japanese aviators better trained and equipped
at this point in the war?


There really wasnt an effective strike force available.

Would the crude land based radar have been any major help with the
advanced warning and defensive attack ?


The land based radar detected the incoming attack very succesfully,
trouble is the information center couldnt handle the data and
simply assumed the aircraft were friendly, no IFF was available.

Would the US fleet have attempted to put to sea to go after the Japanese
task force, or stay close in for the defence against the possible
invasion of Hawaii? Was the fleet safer at sea knowing the
japs were coming, or safer in the harbor?


Safer halfway to San Francisco, sortieing against the carriers
was a hopeless task, they were too slow to catch them and
would likley have lost more men as ships were sunk in the
deep ocean and would not have been salvageable.

Keith