We answer your questions about the Pacific War-Episode 334 

i’m old enough to remember when the only good thing about Tuesday was that it was not Monday. then i found this podcast salud!

I concur with the request for a RN/Commonwealth episode!

I think the role the PBY played in WW2 often gets overlooked. My dad served in one as a radioman & gunner in the Pacific. They weren't fast or flashy & lacked flare but they contributed a lot to the war effort. They served in multiple roles. Scouting, search & rescue, transport, bombing submarines, etc. My dad's crew got commendations for rescuing a shot down army pilot in rough seas close to a Japanese air base. The first thing he said getting on the plane was "praise the navy". The PBY was challenging to take off & land on water & it was very challenging in rough seas. PBY's reportedly sunk many subs.

After hearing Captain Toti comment about people put in charge who should not have been put there....reminded me of my experience with that. I too almost left the Navy due to an unqualified/incompetent CO on a FFG...Fortunately I was promoted and transferred. My next ship, also a FFG had the most amazing CO. At the time, he was a CDR but retired as a RAdm.

Richard Pryor did a bit about how the only Americans the Japanese had met were Californians. He said if they had met Alabamans/Texans etc, they would never have gone to war with us.

I love how Seth and Bill CONSTANTLY apologize for talking for hours about stuff. THAT IS LITERALLY what we tune in for folks! If anything, I get disappointed only when you say that you could talk for hours more on a subject and then do not. Top quality content.

This is the Gold standard for WW2 Podcasts

"Some people went to command (submarines in the 1980's ) that should not have went to command." Truer words were never spoken. Captain Toti nails it once again.

To add to Seth and Bill's comments at about 1:01:00, something else to keep in mind is that, even if the Japanese do sink all three carriers at Midway, it doesn't create a tanker fleet for them out of thin air. There is no way they'll have the fuel to parade their battle line through Hawaii or up and down the West Coast. Furthermore, they don't have the logistical network to support their outlying garrisons effectively in the real events, much less in this hypothetical invasion of Hawaii. The cards are still stacked in the US favor.

Seth was pretty close on the naming conventions of carriers (except the conversions) and new battleships. Cruisers were named after mountains. Many destroyers named after types of winds. ("...kaze")

And TBD's were behind the 8 ball from the start but making a good drop and the torp not exploding must have been demoralizing.

This is HANDS DOWN, WITHOUT QUESTION the best show about the Pacific Theatre of Operations in WW2. I consider myself quite knowledgeable about WW2, but it’s amazing how much I’ve learned by watching you guys. Also, I look forward to enjoying your friendly interaction with each other as well as with your guest speakers each week. Keep up the great job and I look forward to watching more episodes in the weeks and months to come!!

Damn, I couldn't sleep it's 3:45am and lo and behold I realized this is torpedo Tuesday! From the first question about Seth's background moving forward I can't put into words how excited I am about this episode. I was really super curious Seth about your career, how you got started I'm amazed at how many vets that you actually interviewed etcetera. So from my heart I want to thank you for all the work that you've done and for being such a humble human being. So, in the words of the great Marvin Gaye, Let's Get It On!!🇺🇲⚓️💯☕️🚬

What a great episode. You guys are just fantastic.

Bill - your comment about bad commanders in the early 80s resonated with me. It was terrible! I had three in a row and almost got out. Finally PCSd to a great assignment and decided to stick with the plan. Of course by the mid 80s the Army was rolling out the officer and non-commissioned officer education systems. Later we realized how to take care of military families better. Those steps vastly improved leadership, retention, and culture.

Bill's Memorial Day speech vid was inspirational.

To add to the excellent points on the 42 vs 44/45 pilots training levels and focuses don't forget Japanese damage control techniques and AA defense systems were significantly improved by 44/45 as well. The fact their improvements tend to pale against the scale USN advances doesn't remove that fact for the pilots. Ofc you also have the double edged sword of increasingly poor Japanese crew training on particularly newer vessels - but looking at the Kakus survival compared to the early war is enlightening. Also, targets later war were less likely to be carriers - targets were typically more survivable when hit the later you go by design. Enemy always gets a vote.

A very enjoyable Q&A. THank you guys for doing this.

Damage control, in Philadelphia naval damage control training center. We was trained to put out the fire 1 st the get the flooding under control. We did a lot of fun stuff . Class b fire , class D fire was shown to the b Class. Patching holes fixing broken pipes while under pressure . Fun stuff .

You gentlemen are truly legends of history. I learnt much more about WW2 than I thought so possible. Thank you for the knowledge.

Many Japanese destroyers are named after weather, many of them having the suffix "kaze" for wind. Shigure is Japanese for "drizzle", Fubuki means "blizzard", Akatsuki means "dawn", etc. Also, I just want to add that Unryu (Cloud Dragon) is on my list for coolest carrier names ever.

One of the things our navy had to control their tendency to chase the Japanese navy at every opportunity, mostly for the "Ego benefits" of attacking the US navy's principal enemy, the IJN. The WAR MISSION is the primary objective in every operation. Consequently, Spruance's decision to protect the landing forces in the Marianas was by far the correct decision at the time. The Marianas were critical for our planned bombing of Japan so we must consider what might have happened if we had chased the Japanese fleet and through some querk of fate THEY would have won. Our whole warplan could have been upended. Yes, we need the Halsey's, Mitchener's and Patton's, but we also need the Spruance's, Gieger's and Bradley's.

Admiral King reminds me of an old boss I had. After giving me the business someone asked if he had a problem with me. I said no, he talks to everyone like that.

Cap. As a university lecturer, I came from a solid history in my profession, and went to the academy to provide a strong economic base for my family. Soooo, I do take objection to that rather trite truism... However, I truly love your contributions to historiography. Bless you all.

Top Fighter pilot? Marseille; he fought exclusively against the western allies, and shot down several of their aces. He was a madlad- he also very much did not like Nazism and I suspect that was part of his self-destructive behavior when not in the air.

Both Scharnhorst and Warspite had fire control radars when they made their hits, but they were early war types which only gave accurate range data. The Mk 8 also gave accurate speed and bearing of the target in relation to your own ship, which are also pretty big deals in long range naval gunnery. Add to that the Mk 8 was set up to feed its data directly into the fire control table and you have a system that accurately feeds targeting information into the fire control system continuously. Late war fire control radars like the Mk 8 were an absolute game changer when it came to accurate naval gunnery at long range. Its an apples and oranges question, late war ships with those late war fire direction radars are *always* going to be more accurate than early war ships with early fire control radars simply because the radars were that much better! The late war radars simply add so much more capability, capability that I think all too many people fail to realise.

Bill owned this episode with his to the point analysis.

I wish I could press the LIKE button harder for this episode. I really enjoyed the format, and all of the lines of thought and questioning the answers to the original question open up. With respect to the loss of USS Wasp, she was built to use up the balance of tonnage the US Navy had left under treaty restrictions, as a kind of red headed step-sister to the Yorktown class. My understanding of her capabilities and vulnerabilities comes from the guide Drach did on her: “Armor over the machinery, and aviation fuel tanks was reduced to save weight, and the torpedo defense system was effectively eliminated, in part due to the desire to operate the same size and number of aircraft as her larger half-sisters.” So, if we agree that Wasp was the worst loss suffered by either side to a submarine launched torpedo attack, that raises the question “Given her compromised torpedo defenses, could she have been deployed differently, in a position where she still could’ve supported the campaign in the Solomons, while not making her home at ‘Torpedo Junction’ or in the middle of ‘Torpedo Alley?’”

Seth, Captain Toti & your esteemed guests, I value you as historians and teaching/discussing our common subjects and interests. I (heartfelt) appreciate your hard work. Thank you.

01:48 Drach also has a video on the subject - largely building on Trent's book.

These were some great questions asked by the viewership and listeners. All of them were answered honestly and brilliantly by Bill and Seth. Welcome aboard Shawn. You are a great addition to the team. (From a fellow Army veteran) I truly have grown to love and appreciate this channel.

Gentlemen thank you for your great work. Please consider covering the sad fate of the remaining Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carriers as the war approached its end.

Welcome aboard, Shawn. Fantastic episode, gentlemen. Thank you. V/r - IB

I agree 100% Vincent. One of the best examples of my learning something incredibly enlightening that I didn’t know was during one of the Battle of Leyte Gulf episodes, they mentioned how little has been talked about regarding the many and constant harassing air attacks from the F4Fs and Avengers of Taffy 1, 2 and 3 that contributed to Kurita’s decision to withdraw his ships instead of pressing his attack further. This may sound like a small detail but I always questioned why Kurita withdrew for no apparent reason just when it looked like he could easily wipe out all 3 Taffy Groups and the landing/transport force at Leyte Gulf. Now it all makes perfect sense!!😊

In Craigs Symond’s book Nimitz at War, he describes the performance-altering issue Robert L. Ghormley had was a seriously infected tooth. The entire time he was in command before Halsey took over Ghormley was in tremendous pain and wasn’t able to get medical treatment.

Thank you guys I enjoy listening to your podcast as I work. You guys are so informative and it's great to hear the lesser known facts about the PTO.

Ok so this is my favourite thing about tuesdays 😂 these guys are great

Just subscribed. Great job guys 👍

Halsey was 100% correct about Peleliu !

"Sometimes we are long-winded and talk too much." The only dumb opinion ever shared on this podcast. You guys are great!

Seth, loved that you called out the racism that blinded us to considering the Japanese tactical and technical skill. It's important to label it that. Conversely, as you suggested, the Japanese Army's dismissal of Americans' ability to fight skilffilully exposes their own biases. Love how you pull no punches, but are fair and objective. Appreciate how objective you are with old Doug MacArthur, who I equally respect and detest for his brilliance and folly. The man is an enigma, and he led a checkered career.

I am an old retired master chief. I served in submarines under several commanding officers and, I gotta say I wish Captain TOTI would have been one of them. Love your commentary on WW2, especially submarine history.!

Seth...You said something about Guadalcanal being the US's school for how to fight the Japanese. I never thought of it that way before. Your statement is so true. Sea, air and land. And it was a harsh school. Thanks to all of you for this podcast and what you do. 😊

I’m relatively new to the non theatrical side of WW2 having myself always been captivated by the cinema depictions of the war. This podcast in particular, has inspired my interest into the specific details of not only the results of Pacific battles but also the particular reasons why the war may have turned out the way it did.

Really enjoyed this format. Great idea

Re: Capt. Toti's point given at 1:23, self sealing fuel tanks not only kept the aircraft from burning, it also allowed many a pilot to make it back to his carrier because he had enough gas to fly home & survive to fight another day. Seth is right, what made the Zero so formidable early in the war was it's maneuverability due to low design weight. If it had another 300 lbs of armor protection and thick rubber lining in its tanks added to the empty weight, it would have been a dog. The Hellcat engine had TWICE the horsepower of early Zeros. Another thing that the U.S. Navy excelled at was search and rescue, Subs and Dumbos (PBY's) fished hundreds of their aviators out of the water, and again they lived to fly and fight more battles. When a Japanese pilot (IJN or IJA) went in the drink, he was essentially just written off. Fantastic episode gentlemen! Major Betgstrom selected some great questions!

Shawn: GO 'NOLES !!! Your comment about Seth not having the much overvalued PhD following his name is so very timely. I had a cellular biology teacher in college who, unlike the rest of the teaching staff, did not have anything higher than a Master's Degree. He was a world-renown biologist and the best Prof I ever had in any class at any school. He had the respect of all of the PhD's that he worked with. It is always what you know and not the accolades you may have. Thanks for pointing that out.

Please check out Drachinifel and his video on US ship construction from WWII. The numbers are staggering. I would love to know if the helmsman from Enterprise that steered her like a Toyoko drift car to avoid incoming bombs was given a medal for that. Yes he was following the Capt course orders but to make a ship that size move like that took a remarkable degree of skill.

パネラーの方達が目を活き活きとさせて語り合うのがいいですね。まるで少年たちが目を輝かせて趣味に熱中する姿に似ていて、なんとなくほのぼのします。やはり男性諸氏はいつになっても少年らしい天真爛漫さがあるのかなと思いました。

Great show. The Corsair being difficult to land due to the torque issue raises another question. If the Hellcat had the same motor (which I am pretty sure it did), why did it not have the same issue?

I may not agree politically with you guys all the time , but I enjoy your show. Its easy listening talk for military history fans, and the relaxed format coupled with minute detail makes it easy to repeat listening to episodes without being bored.

Good morning from SC, great stuff guys!

You and Mark Felton are my favorite channels, thank you.

Great show. QUESTION, for Bill Toti especially, if you do a future show: Granted, you have great sonar officers on subs, but they don’t have brains transplanted from killer whales or dolphins. If there’s a submarine to submarine engagement under water, how the heck do you locate the other vessel? How do you attack it, & avoid getting hit? Do you attack first, giving away your location? Or wait for the enemy sub to do that? This might be common today, but would’ve happened at least occasionally in the diesel-electric era.IIRC, there was a British sub that successfully sunk a German boat near the end of WW-2, maybe in the Baltic? Thanks!

I enjoyed this format for an episode as much as your regular format. I think it's a great way to end a season. Maybe throw one in mid-season. Excellent show. One suggestion, possibly have your moderator in the middle box.

Thank you for answering my Nimitz question.

This may have been the best episode yet!! Can't help but wonder though, would a Q & A session following each season with questions limited to the material covered in that season be a better way to take care of this. Doesn't much matter now--KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!! Mondays suck, but Tuesday makes it all better.

26:46 And how many more attacks would have been made if the crews had confidence in the torpedos?

Thank you Bill and Seth.

Great show! Getting addicted to the series. Have subscribed.

Great episode, along with a set of great questions as well. I just loved the response that mentioned MacArthur and medals!!!!

Thank you gentlemen. Once again, I learned a lot. As an aside, Shawn seems to be a very nice fit/addition to the team. Welcome, Shawn! Looking forward to your US Army (and other) input during the coming island hopping campaign. I'd guess quite a few people have no idea the extent to which US Army troops participated in the PTO during WWII. I was guilty of same for too many years.

Again Gentlemen an out standing podcast as usual. This is by far THE must watch podcast on WW2. Thank you!

Bill answering my question has made my year. Thanks so much for the many, many hours of education and entertainment.

I wish I could ask follow ups. You guys are the best.

I thought the Corsair had left-handed rivets

Regarding the F4U versus the F6F; By 1946, Hellcat was going to be replaced by the F8F. The Corsair served into Korea, even though it was at ground support.

Regarding Ghormley, I get the impression that he had much the same problem as the Japanese had. When the Guadalcanal campaign kicked off, the goal was to seize Tulagi and surrounding islands for further operations. At the same time, the Japanese had forces somewhere along the Kokoda Track on New Guinea. It took the Japanese, and Ghormley I suspect, some time to realize that Guadalcanal was, and had to be, the focal point of the southwest Pacific campaign until it was concluded. Before Ghormley really came to grips with that he was sick, and then relieved and replaced. He had, however, brought Norman Scott in to develop night battle doctrine and start contesting Japanese control of the waters off Guadalcanal at night, and the Battle of Cape Esperance happened shortly.befote Halsey took over. As far as the mistakes go, a Japanese attack on the Philipines would still have brought the US into the war. The Philipines, while on the path to independence, was still a US posession just as much as Guam or Wake Islands and there are American soldiers there who the Japanese would have killed; the US would not simply have ignored that the way it might have looked past the sinking of the Reuben James in 1941. As far as King's "Anglophobia" goes, I honestly think it has yo be taken back to his experience in the UK during WW1 when the Grand Fleet was under the command of David Beatty. What King hated was incompetence, and Beatty was incompetence personified as far as high command goes. I'm sure that colored his perception of the Royal Navy until specific RN officers could show themselves to be competent.

Welcome to the party Shawn. Great show guys.

For the US Navy Aviation being less effective in 1944-1945 there's also the volume of anti-aircraft fire that both sides were facing, whether it was effective or not. Early in the war the anti-aircraft weapons wasn't nearly the umbrella to fly through, and pilots on both sides could be more aggressive and make much closer approaches before releasing their weapons. That sort of aggression seen before and during Midway proved to be suicidal for the Japanese pilots in the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese learned that lesson and did the best they could to improve their anti-aircraft umbrella. Your statement on the dilution of the aviator pool also dovetails with that, where fewer of the pilots would challenge the anti-aircraft umbrella and thus increase their odds for a hit (until the anti-aircraft fire was eroded).

Well done! There will always be disparate opinions when revisiting historical events. You two are the best.

Very nicely done an impressive display of your deep knowledge. I learned quite a bit from your responses.

A wonderful episode, lots of great answers to many really good questions. Looking forward to more such info, Thanks for the [resentation.

Wow a Nole on the show! I spent the first 25 years of my life in Tallahassee florida, proud Lincoln highschool graduate

Many discussions about WWII in the Pacific start with "my dad was" or "my dad did." In my case I was told by my father's commanding officer that my dad was the only man the commander knew who not only punched his commanding officer but received a medal instead of being put in the brig. My father was a machinist mate gunner on a TBM. His commander was the pilot. One day they were providing support to the marines on some island. A five hundred pound bomb was hung up in the bomb bay. They couldn't land the plane on the carrier. Instead they decided to land on a Japanese airfield. They pulled the plane to a stop right in middle of the runway, with the marines on one side and the Japanese on th other side of the field. The pilot moved to the bombbay and tried to release the bomb. My father realized that there was a lot of shooting going on, but the bomb was armed and the pilot was about be killed by the armed bomb. My dad told the pilot to go to the marine side of the field. The pilot was focused on getting the bomb off the plane. The radio operator was wounded and needed to be evacuated. The pilot told my dad to carry the radio operator to marine line. The pilot told my young brothers and me that at that point my father knocked him cold and drug him and the radio operator to the marine side of the field. The pilot woke to the plane going up more thant a hundred away. The pilot recommended my father for an air medal. My dad's response to the story was he would never strike a superior officer but he did pursuade the pilot with some force. My point is my father's action wasn't unusual at all. For all the badass stories you tell there were 100s or thousands of others who were equally badass . They just didn't have the honor of meeting an esteemed historian.

On the question of Night Fighters & Radar- Look up VMF-N-531 “Gray Ghosts” and “Project Cadillac” which was MIT & General Electric development of Airborne Radar. Early Navy & Marine Night Fighter Squadrons operated from Land Bases, introduced in 1943 in the South Pacific, at Boganville in the Russel Island. First Nighttime Intercept and kill coming December 6, 1943 by a Lockheed PV1(N) Ventura of VMF-N-531.

Thanks so much. No joke. It's the wondering and candid things that make these episodes so great. All of them

A "what if" I've long wondered about..... At Midway, what if the Hornet air groups don't go astray in the morning strike, but instead arrive (disorganized) at the Japanese carriers at about the same time frame as the other groups (10 am). Is it likely Hiryu would have been afire by 10:30, and thus Yorktown would not have been damaged / sunk at Midway? Excellent Q&A, thought-provoking and insightful. Hope you do some more of these.

Having Major Betgstrom moderate the questions and even help elaborate on the details was an excellent choice, super cool to see you guys interact with those who watch like this!

16:00. By 1944-45, wasn’t the about half the IJN fleet lying on the ocean floor?. Seems like there were simply fewer targets. Maybe that’s why the sink rate went down…just a thought.

Welcome aboard Maj. Betgstrom, and Go Noles!

Another great episode. Thank you. Minor point, perhaps. Seth said that he doesn't care whether the viewers/listeners agree with his views. That is fair. As a professional historian who has spent decades compiling source material and building museum exhibition spaces on the subject he doesn't have to be too bothered with us. However, the right to have an alternative opinion and freely express it was I believe one of the tenets for which the Allies fought in WWII.

To Seth. "Well, you know, sir" The Saratoga was finished with her repairs and left Puget Sound Navy Yard on May 22. She could have been at the Battle of Midway had she been hurried to Pearl Harbor a day after reaching San Diego on May 25. In reality she did not leave there until June 1 with arrival at Pearl Harbor on June 6. This statement that the Saratoga "was in the yard" during Midway is an incorrect statement that keeps being stated by far too many otherwise well-informed historians. When this show finishes its shows about the war in 1945, it could be continued by having some roundtable discussions with many of the historians who have already appeared on the show on specific aspects of the war. Even some "what if" or alternate history discussions on the "big" battles of the war. I really enjoyed this episode, but the question about "had the US lost at Midway" is a full-length show in itself.

Really enjoyed this episode! I always learn something (actually lots of things) with every episode. Looking forward to the next one.

Carriers named after birds and flying dragons, unless they were converted from other classes of ship hull in which case they often carried the original convention. Battleships, after provinces Battlecruisers, after mountains Cruisers, after rivers Light cruisers, after prefectures Destroyers, after weather phenomena (wave, wind, snow, etc.)

I’m glad you’re joining the podcast. But please in the interim work on your audio? You being in that big room gives us a lot of variation and rebound. Do you have a smaller room and a better microphone by chance?

You gentlemen are doing sterling work! Capt'n Bill: as an ally who was once honourd by being invited by her Skipper to dance The Macerana with him on the Fo'c's'le of OLYMPIA (it was a Sunday alongside in Olympia, and we, being an RCN ship had wet bars...made us rather popular with your folks), and as a War Studies RMC grad, I deeply appreciate yours and Seth's brilliant work. Now: while your appreciation of the RN/and limited RCN involvement in the Pacific is accurate, If possible, would you be willing to delve into the RCN contributions in the big pond, as well as the events that lead to the HMCS Uganda incident. I know you'll get to A/Comd Burchill DM, OBE, DFC, CD - a man I had the deep honour to spend some time with. But also, there is some seriously interesting Naval history WRT Uganda that deserves attention as it explores the complexities of the public sentiment of the times, and the nature of democratic civilians participating in a global war. Uganda was the father of the Mainguy Report that basically made the RCN the force it was thoughout the next 80 years.

Excellent episode. You ought to do these Q&A sessions quarterly. Think about including some of your frequent guests. Even better, you ought to invite some Japanese historians to participate. Thanks to the moderator. Re a Japanese victory at Midway, IMO the worst the IJN could have done afterwards is take New Caledonia (or Fiji) thereby buggering US-Australian lines of communication. A knock-on effect is disrupted delivery of fuel and (dodgy) torpedoes for USN subs operating from Oz as well as supplies for the Army. New Zealand becomes more important to the Americans in response. (Do the Kiwis withdraw their forces from North Africa to defend the homeland like the Aussies did?) If the IJN was tempted to do something really bold that would have pressed it to its limits if not beyond, attack the Panama Canal with the intent to destroy the locks, the rail system that pulls the ships through, and Gatun dam's power station. That said, the Panama Canal is about 13k km from New Caledonia, twice the distance of Yokosuka naval base to Honolulu. I think the Canal's dam isn't a viable target because it's a very thick 121 metres at the base on the downstream spillway side (about 4x thicker than the Eder Dam's base) and 30 metres thick at the crest on the reservoir side (5x wider than Eder's crest). None of the IJN's carrier-launched bombers had a payload close to that of the bombs used on Operation Chastise raid.

I've just started watching but know I will really enjoy this. Thank you for all the content and work.

Thank you! Could Nautilus be added to the list of subs that could have made a difference with good torpedoes, particulaly at Midway?

Great show gentlemen.

Regarding question on why Japan did not ramp up pilot training like the US. While I agree on the attrition answer, I wonder if a major reason was that the Japanese did not take their experienced pilots off the front to train newbies, in the same way as did the US (and, BTW, UK, and most of the war, Germany) did to take their experience and skills to the newbies.

I always wondered about those great Royal Navy carrier films on RU-vid showing the Hellcats and Corsairs in action.. seems like a lot of US ammo/ordinance in use on those ships - that had to be a logistical nightmare.

1:40:00 My sainted father served on the USS Birmingham during World War II. His ship was badly damaged three times during the war, off Bougainville, at Leyte Gulf and off Okinawa. Each time, the ship went back to the US for repairs. While there, he got leave and it worked out that he was home for Christmas each time (he was an Idaho boy). But, each time, he returned to the USS Birmingham.

Great episode gentlemen

Very interesting, thanks.

As per usual fantastic. Welcome aboard Shawn. Capt. Bill thanks again for your Memorial Day presentation. I have recommended it to everyone that will listen. Some were deep reflection and some were tears. One of the best speechs I've ever heard.

Thought it was a Van Heflin movie

Long time listener, first time commenter. I love the podcast and it really brings home the human experiences of the war and meshes it well with the bigger strategic picture. Y'all are excellent. Just wanted to add on to the answer about IJN battleship construction as opposed to cruiser or carrier construction. A lot of the reason comes down to the impact of the Washington and London naval treaties. From 1922-1936, the Japanese built up to the allowed limits in cruisers and carriers, and the last battleship completed was Mutsu in the '20s. After they left the treaty in 1936 they built two cruisers, the Tone class, and two carriers, the excellent Shokaku class. They also built two battleships, Yamato and Musashi, and started a third. Could they have built more cruisers or carriers instead of the Yamatos? Maybe they'd get four cruisers due to the shorter lead time, definitely not more than two carriers prior to December 7th. The other problem is that all this has to be decided in 1936-7, when aircraft performance is still nowhere near what we see in 1941-42, the IJN's gun line is entirely WWI vintage, and the army is fighting for budget for their China war. P.S. I second Bill's recommendation for the Archimedes movie for all the reasons mentioned, and also because it's the most human portrayal of Isoroku Yamamoto I've ever seen.

Love this. Good work