WWII - I could have saved mass American lives in the Pacific

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FuzzyDunlop

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2008
3,261
12
81
one simple idea that could have saved mass American lives in the Pacific: don't invade any islands, just keep dropping a-bombs until Japan surrenders or is turned into glass

They had to attack multiple islands that held air strips in order to get the american bombers close enough to japan. Bombers in WWII had very short ranges. Also attacking these islands that held air strips prevented Japanese planes from taking off and shooting down the bombers.

And what duestroop said regarding timing of the readiness of Fatman.
 

tynopik

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2004
5,245
500
126
They had to attack multiple islands that held air strips in order to get the american bombers close enough to japan. Bombers in WWII had very short ranges.

The B-29 had a 1,600-mile combat radius, which I wouldn't characterize as 'very short'

Enola Gay launched from Tinian which was captured in August 1944. Many costly island assaults happened after that


Also attacking these islands that held air strips prevented Japanese planes from taking off and shooting down the bombers.

as if the fighters couldn't be based in Japan itself

And what duestroop said regarding timing of the readiness of Fatman.

Yes it would have delayed the end of the war some, but it's hard to argue that a few months wait wouldn't be worth missing out on iwo jima, okinawa, et al

a legitimate argument is that they couldn't be sure the bomb would work, and if they put the war on hold only to find it a failure, that would have been even more costly

but this argument is looking back with 20/20 hindsight. Given that we know the bomb would indeed work, holding off on some of those island assaults would have been the prudent course.
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,829
184
106
For Normandy, the plan was to use mass rocket attacks on the beaches to create craters for the troops to use as shelter from enemy gunfire. The Brits pulled it off in their sectors. The Americans launched the rockets from too far out at sea, so the rockets fell in the ocean, doing no good. This plus other troop preservation measures that the Brits executed correctly and the Americans botched led to a ridiculous disparity in casualty rates between the Brits and Americans at Normandy.

With full hindsight, Americans should have all landed at Utah which wasn't actually the real/planned Utah. Less than 100 casualties? Could have spent the time/resources taking Omaha from the front just driving inland or taking it from behind.
 

ronbo613

Golden Member
Jan 9, 2010
1,237
45
91
Hmm... that's not really true either. Tactics, sure. But overall strategy is usually determined by civilian leadership. (For better or worse.)

I'd also contend that if you spend some time looking through the personal libraries of generals and admirals, you'd probably find a lot of books by civilian authors that nonetheless inform their decision-making.

I am speaking from my military experience, but I'm sure you'll find a way to discredit that as well, so I will take my leave from this conversation.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
a B25 payload is 1,200 lb. a B-24 payload is 8,000 lb, depending if its pine or hardwood thats not a lot of logs per plane. pretty sure you would want hardwood to for more bullet stopping power. but strapping logs on a bomber is stupid, it would totally wreck the airflow and if you got into turbulence the log bouncing would be a nightmare.

Yup, the bomb-bay was equipped with racks the bombs were hung from, no possible way to convert that to carry logs and as you said big logs are heavy as heck, to be of usable size only 4-5 per plane and as already mentioned to stay safe from ground AA fire and with the wind sending them tumbling in any direction after release this idea SUCKS..
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Maybe if America got into the war years earlier before it got out of control...things might of been different.
Not possible, the German "blitzkrieg" style of warfare caught everyone by surprise, every army crumbled in it's wake and the Brits needed the Miracle of Dunkirk to save hundreds of thousands of men. Even then they lost enormous amounts of equipment that took years to manufacture replacements for. The US army was not large enough or well-equipped enough to change the outcome in the early years. Add to that the horrific toll the U-boats were taking early in the war and 50% of what you were trying to send over wound wind up on the bottom of the Atlantic.
 

Griffinhart

Golden Member
Dec 7, 2004
1,130
1
76
The OP is a fucking moron. The only thing that would have helped is if we would have dropped thousands of sharks with lasers on their heads...oh...and giant floating mega-tanks with pulse cannons and BFG's...
They only had access to ill-tempered sea bass.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,904
12,374
126
www.anyf.ca
Didn't they have those metal X's? I don't think they were very effective though.

Flame throwers are what they needed. Light em up boys! The enemy would drop logs of their own.
 

Griffinhart

Golden Member
Dec 7, 2004
1,130
1
76
Dropping logs instead of bombs? Well, assuming the logs were 2 feet in diameter (still not much cover) a single 5 foot log of Red Maple (The most common wood in theUS) you can figure roughly 900 pounds per log. Long distance runs with a B-17 could handle about 4500 pounds of payload. Most bombing in the Pacific, however, was delivered by small planes (maybe two logs if lucky) and from ship artillery, it's not very practical. Nor can you guarantee them to land right. And in the end, you have a beach full of obstacles that landing craft and support equipment would need to deal with just to get to the beaches.
 

Griffinhart

Golden Member
Dec 7, 2004
1,130
1
76
Didn't they have those metal X's? I don't think they were very effective though.

Flame throwers are what they needed. Light em up boys! The enemy would drop logs of their own.
The things you are thinking about were obstacles place to defend the beaches. They were typically placed at the low water mark and were designed to tear the bottom out of landing craft.
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
The OP is a fucking moron. The only thing that would have helped is if we would have dropped thousands of sharks with lasers on their heads...oh...and giant floating mega-tanks with pulse cannons and BFG's...

Or taken Topeka. OP is a military genius.

 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,128
5,657
126
They should have dropped some Ninjas off a sub, kidnapped the Emperor, sail him back to Washington DC, and forced him to Surrender.

 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
69,525
27,826
136
They should have dropped some Ninjas off a sub, kidnapped the Emperor, sail him back to Washington DC, and forced him to Surrender.

Use the eagles to grab the Emperor and drop him in the volcano. Home by second breakfast.
 

OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
Where would you get logs 5,000 miles into the Pacific?

I get your point its just that there are logistics issues and it only took you 70 years after the fact to realize a solution where they didn't have nearly that much time to prepare an invasion..

Also logs would have impeded the armor that would eventually need to land on the beach.
 
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