This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Pyrrhic Victory: From YKTTW
ccoa: Trope originally suggested by Darth Howie, only launched by me.
Pulled from the main page:
- Also the attack on Pearl Harbor, which despite being an awesome victory for the Japanese on paper, was a top contender for being the worst military blunder in the twentieth century. Deprived of their battleships, the Americans were forced to make do with their carriers, at the time an experimental and unproven technology in wartime. The Americans subsequently discovered that aircraft carriers rendered battleships mostly obsolete, and never again bothered with enormous battleships-even the Iowa class battleships deployed during the war spent most of their time escorting carriers-the truly valuable ships in the fleet.
- I disagree - both sides were aware since the 1930s that carriers had substantial potential and their position in Pacific naval warfare had less to do with the loss of four US battleships and more to do with the demonstration of effective carrier tactics under which they were lost. Additionally, the destruction of the two carriers at Pearl Harbor was a major Japanese objective and the fact they were not there during the attack was a serious concern, as the IJN would never have a better opportunity to destroy them. The victory was by no means Pyrrhic - it effectively eliminated the US Pacific Fleet for six months so the IJN could conquer critical Pacific strongholds. The problem was that the IJN's war strategy didn't properly address the situation when the fleet was rebuilt and the IJN had more territory occupied than it could effectively defend.
- You're both ignoring the fact that most of the naval battles in the Pacific were fought between surface vessels
