Tora! Tora! Tora! Special Edition

[hoahao]

The Japanese barely had the sea lift capacity to do what they did. Invading Hawaii was never in the cards. Invasion of the US proper is comedy material.

[SoCal Sam]

Again from a purely strategic perspective... An invasion of the U.S. mainland was an impossibility but an invasion of Hawaii could have been accomplished in much the same way the Phillipines was taken. By invading Hawaii, the Japanese would have lengthened U.S. supply lines making operations much more difficult. Furthermore, the Japanese would have turned Hawaii into a bigger version of Iwo Jima.

The Japanese had the vast majority of troops occupying China, which was foolish given that China could never pose the threat the Americans ultimately presented. Those forces could have been used to occupy Hawaii. And given that Hawaii is a fertile island chain, it is possible they could have sustained themselves indefinitely.

All conjecture of course.

[hoahao]

The Japanese never had the sea lift assets to invade Hawaii... but I repeat myself.

[Wireworm5]

If they saw the need for them they probably would have built more transports.While the US would have been busy trying to replace the carriers and the rest of the fleet lost at Pearl Harbor, and I doubt the American lift capacity at the start of war was all that big either. With the transports they did have that would have been sufficient to form a bridgehead capture an airfield and fly troops into Hawaii. They would have hammered the island into submission with no US air cover to oppose them, and finnish off any ships that tried to oppose them with their huge navy and at least 6 aircraft carriers.
And what would have stopped them from invading Alaska and capturing and oilfield there. I guess that's why there was the urgency to build the Alaskan Highway through the north.

[hoahao]

"With the transports they did have that would have been sufficient to form a bridgehead capture an airfield and fly troops into Hawaii."

No disrespect intended, but, your nuts. Fly them in from where and in what aircraft??

Your in luck. Some guys have just recently gone around and around on the issue of WW 2 Japanese sea lift and industrial capacity.

http://p076.ezboard.com/fhistorypoli...cID=2519.topic

[Jack Lord]

And what would have stopped them from invading Alaska and capturing and oilfield there. I guess that's why there was the urgency to build the Alaskan Highway through the north

The same thing that would have stopped all of these scenarios- distance, long supply lines, manpower and committments to territory already conquered.

The Japanese had few illusions about incorporating North America into their Empire. They wanted East Asia and parts of the Pacific in somewhat the same way that Hitler wanted Russia, but had little interest in occupying England.

To do what they wanted inevitably brought conflict with the US. Therefore, they needed a TKO move to simply have us move to the sidelines and acquiese to their interests (empire building by brutal submission). We see a similiar theme with Al Qaeda. They cannot conqueor us, but they do not want that. They want us out of the ME so they can do their thing.

[Wireworm5]

I guess I was mistaken about Alaska having oil. From what I could find about Alaska the oil wasn't ready for production until 1961. So there was no benefit to them there for much needed oil.
But Alaska was a supply route for Russian Lend lease. And if they knew about that they might have wanted to put a stop to it to help the Axis cause.

Hoahao, the Japanese would have known the strategic importance of controlling Hawaii for control of the pacific. They would have done whatever they could to get troops there. It may have taken them awhile to develop airlift capability but probably would have done so when they realized the need to fly to Hawaii. In the meantime Hawaii would have had a naval blockade around it for however long it took them to occupy it and there after.

[Jack Lord]

I guess I was mistaken about Alaska having oil. From what I could find about Alaska the oil wasn't ready for production until 1961. So there was no benefit to them there for much needed oil.

They already had the Dutch East Indies. Full of oil and nka Indonesia, a member of OPEC.

But the Japanese did occupy some of the Aleutians, which is technically part of Alaska.

But Alaska was a supply route for Russian Lend lease. And if they knew about that they might have wanted to put a stop to it to help the Axis cause.

Not at all. The USSR did not declare war on Japan until after the first A-Bomb was dropped, so they had no combat until the last week of the war (lucky for both, eh?). Neither could afford opening up another front with each other.

In reality, the Japanese and Germans were allies in name only. The French had a bigger claim to Axis status.

[hoahao]

Sorry wireworm, but the Japanese had limited industrial capacity and simply stating that the Japanese will do this or do that ignores that reality. For example, flying in soldiers to Hawaii would mean designing a aircraft transport with sufficent capacity and range, and then building a LOT of them. Something similar to a DC-3 won't cut it. Try figuring what airport they would fly out of and the distance to Hawaii and you'll understand why the US transported most of it's troops to and from Europe by ship even though the Atlantic is smaller then the Pacific and the US did ferry aircraft via Greenland.

Same with a blockade of Hawaii. How does the Japanese Navy maintain and replenish so far from it's naval bases?? It can't be done without using all the Japanese have (which still is probably not enought) which limits them from invading the Phillipines or taking what is modern day Indonesia from the Dutch. It's all about logistics and the Japanese have very little.