The sentence reads fine to me, but it's not explicitly clear that it's written from the Japanese perspective i.e Midway was a base *their* planes would have to strike.
Thank you for such an interesting and thoughtful essay.
I am interested in Midway, but I find the history-of-the-history most interesting. It's amazing to me that even in 2022, we are still re-interpreting the events.
I also need to understand how this flight to nowhere is came from.
Regarding the Flight to Nowhere, I explained it in the post, but the short of it is that it's possible the commander of the flight wanted to find the other two carriers believed to be out somewhere, as current reporting had only informed the US about two enemy carriers.
How does the book reconcile the aircraft production numbers in http://www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm (8861 for Japan in 1942) with the factoid you mentioned in part 2?
>[A]s modest as the demands on it had been thus far, Japanese industry *couldn’t even handle these losses*. Between major manufacturing companies Mitsubishi, Nakajima, and Aichi, only the first had a production line that ran well. The other two had neglected their own production in anticipation of newer aircraft.
> In 1942, the US built 46,000 aircraft, with no category of plane having less than a thousand built save for very heavy bombers.
The qualification there is "carrier-based". The US did not build 46000 or so carrier-based aircraft, that was all aircraft. As the website lists about 47000 for the US, I think they are lumping all of them together. So the answer is that the other aircraft would have not been for carriers to use.
You may be aware that China is taking a keen interest in the lessons of the Battle of Midway. Their assessment is interesting.. they view one problem was that the Japanese fleet had two goals - which is one too many - bomb Midway, and also take out the cariers. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-is-learning-from-battle-of-midway-world-war-ii-2021-6
"I don’t want think the WW2 US military was led by thoroughly incompetent fools."
Missing "to" between "want" and "think".
Also:
"It was Fuchida was essentially blaming Nagumo and Genda for not doing that which they could never be expected to do!"
Duplicated "was".
Also:
"Midway was still an active US base that planes would once more have strike."
This sentence doesn't seem right to me but I'm not 100% sure.
Thanks!
The sentence reads fine to me, but it's not explicitly clear that it's written from the Japanese perspective i.e Midway was a base *their* planes would have to strike.
Then shouldn't it be "have to strike"?
Yes, I see it now. Fixing!
Thank you for such an interesting and thoughtful essay.
I am interested in Midway, but I find the history-of-the-history most interesting. It's amazing to me that even in 2022, we are still re-interpreting the events.
I also need to understand how this flight to nowhere is came from.
Thanks!
Regarding the Flight to Nowhere, I explained it in the post, but the short of it is that it's possible the commander of the flight wanted to find the other two carriers believed to be out somewhere, as current reporting had only informed the US about two enemy carriers.
You can read a more in-depth treatment by Maritime Historian Craig Symonds here: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2012/may/mitscher-and-mystery-midway
How does the book reconcile the aircraft production numbers in http://www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm (8861 for Japan in 1942) with the factoid you mentioned in part 2?
>[A]s modest as the demands on it had been thus far, Japanese industry *couldn’t even handle these losses*. Between major manufacturing companies Mitsubishi, Nakajima, and Aichi, only the first had a production line that ran well. The other two had neglected their own production in anticipation of newer aircraft.
> In 1942, the US built 46,000 aircraft, with no category of plane having less than a thousand built save for very heavy bombers.
> The Japanese built 56 carrier-based aircraft.
The qualification there is "carrier-based". The US did not build 46000 or so carrier-based aircraft, that was all aircraft. As the website lists about 47000 for the US, I think they are lumping all of them together. So the answer is that the other aircraft would have not been for carriers to use.