effects of a Japanese Midway

The battle of midway fought between the US and Imperial Japanese navies from the 4th to 7th of June 1942 has rightfully gone down in history as one of the greatest naval battles in history. Some even claim Midway as the most pivotal battle in history. The tale of how the United States Navy, fresh from defeat at Pearl Harbor and the Coral sea, managed to break the Japanese naval code and ambush the four best carriers in the IJN, sending all of them to the bottom for the loss of only the previously damaged carrier Yorktown. It was the beginning of the end for Japan. Rising losses in men, ships and aircraft soon overran the empires limited abilities to replace. Leading to increasingly inexperienced and untested men facing off against the excellent USN. Three years after the battle Imperial Japan surrendered to the US aboard the battleship Missouri. Ending the most devastating war in human history.

But did it have to be like this? There are many ways Japan could have turned Midway into just another in a string of victories over the Americans. The Japanese carriers could have found the Americans first, they could have had more fighters aboard to beat off the American attacks. The list goes on and on. The US as well could have done things differently, or been far less lucky. They might not have broken Japans codes, could have been caught in a storm. Yorktown, already damaged could well have suffered some catastrophe. The list goes on and on.

How it happened is not important however (lets say Japans codes were not broken and the Yorktown was unfit to see action leading to the smaller carrier Wasp being substituted for her) but what is important however is that somehow Japan pulls a victory out of Midway. Sinking all three American carriers and a fair portion of their surface escort. Say two cruisers and a quartet of destroyers. Japanese losses meanwhile are very light. Say zero carriers or cruisers lost and a pair of destroyers being the only casualties on the Imperial side. This leaves the USN with only one real carrier in the Pacific and shattered morale. Japan meanwhile is buoyed by their success however and prepares for further operations against the USA.

What next for Japan? Well for starters it is very likely that a victorious IJN would intend to continue its ultimate plan of invading Hawaii, Fiji and Samoa. Fiji and Samoa would likely be quite easy targets. The British, which owned them, had not heavily defended the islands before the war. There was none of the airfields, fortifications or troops that Hawaii held. Plus both islands lacked the massive naval bases that Pearl Harbor did. The islands would probably fall easily to Japanese troops.

Hawaii was a totally different story however. Even before the Japanese attacks the island held extensive defenses. Following the attack however it could be said that Hawaii had become an american redoubt in the pacific. The island bristled with AA guns, Anti-ship guns, machine gun pillboxes and flame thrower pill boxes. The island was defended by a very capable series of airfields, each with at least a squadron of fighters. That was not mentioning the troops stationed in the island. Hawaii would be a very tough nut to crack. 

But could they do it? Assuming that they could take out the garrison at Midway and establish a real blockade of the Hawaiian islands then yes. Probably they could over time take the islands. Afterall the islands already needed regular shipments of food to feed its population. If those shipments were suddenly stopped then perhaps the people would surrender to stop their suffering. Not that it would work but perhaps they could be convinced to...

Following the theoretical capture of Hawaii then Japan would move onto the second part of their war plans. That of negotiating with the United States for an end of the war. You see Japanese planners had never meant for a long war with the US. Rather they planned to quickly destroy the American fleet and take Hawaii. Unable to continue to fight it was hoped that America would give up and end the war. But would the USA have been willing to end the war after receiving such a brutal beating? 

Following a loss at Midway the United States Navy would be left with just two carriers (The badly damaged Yorktown and the Saratoga) neither of these ships would be likely to be deployed on independent missions. Or even leave the dock for some months. Furthermore the Yorktown would likely still be at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese began their blockade. Thus bringing US carrier strength down to a single carrier. It would be most of a year before new carriers of the Essex class would arrive to turn the tide. By that time Japan would likely hold a total of at least eight carriers, probably more. It would still take some time before the US would be able to achieve parity with Japan, let alone superiority. 

Furthermore by this time the morale of the American troops stationed in the Pacific would be very low. Japan would be viewed as nearly invincible, unbeatable and dominant. Any troops stationed in Hawaii, with no possibility of support or relief, would likely lead to a very dispirited and halfhearted defense of the islands.  

But would even the loss of Hawaii lead to the US considering any peace proposals? That is not something that is so easy to anticipate. Afterall Americans are stubborn people that often choose to ignore facts staring them in the face. Thus it is possible that the US might stay in the war and wait until new carriers were launched to defeat the IJN. If this was the case then the Japanese would loose. They could not destroy every American carrier with no losses. And it would be far easier for the US to replace losses than for Japan. Even though the US would likely win the war would likely drag on until at least 1946, probably 47. The Japanese would have ample time to fortify and defend their island possessions. Thus racking up American casualties as they attempted to take back the islands. 

That is to say nothing of the death toll in China with a Japan defeated in 46 or 47. Even in our time line Japan still killed nearly four million, even more would likely die by the time the US won. And who knows who would emerge victorious from the raging Chinese civil war?

Most extreme practical joke ever.

Recently YouTube has become filled with videos of people playing practical jokes upon one another. Some are amazing. Others, well lets say they have a hilarity deficiency and that the posters need to try harder next time.The one thing these videos all have in common is that they are recent. Posted within the twelve or so years. So that must mean that the idea of a practical joke is quite modern right? Or, judging from the amount, a field dominated by Americans who post more videos than any other nationality. However a little bit of internet research brings up a very different story. First off practical jokes have been around far, far longer than the new millennium. Most likely for as long as man has possessed the things necessary to make a scary mask. And secondly the United States, even with its large population of restless teens, cannot compete with, nor even compete in the same ballpark as the British.

Most practical jokes involve a few people, perhaps an entire family. They are also quite often spur of the moment events. Carried out when someone saw an opurtunity. However compared to the amount of people, planning, preparation and just plain old balls it took to pull off the great Tottenham caper you shall soon see why Britain is in a field all its own when it comes to practical jokes.

It was 1809. The Napoleonic wars were in full swing. London, the largest city on the planet, was abuzz with soldiers, sailors, tailors, Nobility, clergy and other assorted professions. Among them the peculiar breed of person known as an author. In fact London had quite a few authors. So many that they could meet one another at various coffee houses and cafes scattered throughout the city.

On the day in question two authors by the names of Theodore Hook and Samuel Beazley where in just such a establishment when the two struck up a bet. Hook bet his friend that in one weeks time he could make any house in the city (And there were alot of them) the most talked about residence in the entire city of London. Beazley accepted and the house chosen was 54 Berners street, inhabited by the widow Mrs Tottenham. The house worked well because across the street was another abode which was for rent. Meaning Hook and Beazley could watch as it all came together. 

By the 27th of November it had all come together and the two authors sat by the window of their rented house as a chimney sweep came to Mrs Tottenhams door. He said that he was ready to sweep her chimneys as she had wrote about (Sweeping chimneys being the primary occupation of the chimney sweep at this time) he said that he could get right to work as soon as he was shown the chimneys. A confused Mrs Tottenham told the man that she had never written about requiring a sweep and sent him along on his way. She had no sooner closed the door as a further twelve sweeps arrived wanting to know why so many had been called. Soon after several coal delivery men arrived with wagons of coal. Since she had not ordered either sweeps or coal they were all turned away as well.

Now thoroughly confused Mrs Tottenham sat down and began to ready. Several minutes later there was another rap upon the door. Now feeling a mixture of trepidation and indignation she answered the door. She found waiting for her several wagons full of furniture, delivery boys bearing a coffin meant for her and several wedding cakes and twenty five hundred tarts (raspberry, the best kind) again she said that she had not ordered any such things, especially the coffin, and sent them on their way.

Over the afternoon other arrived. Doctors, lawyers, priests, wig makers, cooks, and various salesmen. All plying very large quantities of their wares stating Mrs Tottenham had placed orders with them. Soon the street became filled with people all trying to find 54 Berners street. Towards midday twelve grand pianos and chamber organ arrived. Greatly contributing to the general clutter of the street.  

As the day wore on several important dignitaries began arriving. Men such as the Mayor of London, chairman of the honorable British East India company, and the Governor of the Bank of England. All calling on Mrs Tottenham stating that she had asked them there. At one point even the Duke of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury arrived wishing to call on the now thoroughly frazzled Mrs Tottenham.

By evening the streets had become impassable. With coffins, cakes, pianos, Dukes and tarts making it impossible to make your way along the thoroughfare. From the window of the house they had rented Hooks and Beazley spent considerably time on the floor laughing. When the day was over the two parted company, Beazley supposedly paying his friend a Guinea. 

The next day 54 Berners was indeed the most talked about house in all of London. And no one knew who had done it. It was only later that Hook would admit being responsible. He even explained how he had pulled it off. He had written a total of around four thousand letters to various businesses, dignitaries and performers. All in Mrs Tottenhams name requesting that these people appear at her house. He seems to have been very convincing judging from the results. The newspapers were filled with accounts and comics of the day and for weeks all anyone could talk about was 54 Berners.

So then. Try to top this joke people.

SW: Super Star Destroyers, a potential use?

The Executor has a length of 19 kilomters. Well over ten times the length of a normal Imperator class star destroyer. By far the largest ship in all of Star Wars, excluding the death stars which were battlestations. there is never anything as large as them shown in the whole of the movies. And yet it does not carry larger weapons than the smaller ships, simply many more of them. Thus the Executor is simply a normal star destroyer, but at a much larger scale. Therefore it is safe to assume that the ship is not meant to battle other ships of her size, if they exist.

Some have put out the idea that the ship was built as a instrument of fear to cower entire planets in line. But this is just stupid. I mean why send just one massive ship into a star system when an entire fleet of dozens of kilometer and a half regular star destroyers could be built instead. And furthermore even if you assume that the ship was built to terrorize the galaxy she is ultimately just one ship. And there are many millions of worlds in the galaxy. You would never be able to put down every revolt. Meaning you would send regular star destroyers anyway.

But what if the Executor had another function? One that would justify the ships tremendous size? 

For starters the ship is plenty large enough to host a rather large army aboard. Perhaps she could be a planetary assault ship? But then if she was built for planetary invasion why does Darth Vader make her his flagship? And why is she commanding the Imperial fleet at the battle of Endor if her holds are loaded with troops?

Then some think she might be a carrier intended for fleet defense. And that makes a certain amount of sense. Until you consider that you never see the numbers of fighter around the ship that would justify it. She should be able to carry several thousand TIE fighters, but when you consider that a normal star destroyer already carries seventy fighter, more than enough to cover itself and a fair sizedsquadron it begins to loose credibility.

And that is pretty much it for the ship. She is not meant as an instrument of fear (Any more than any other warship) nor is she meant as a planetary assault ship. Ditto for being a carrier. But then why build the ship? Well the simple answer is that George Lucas wanted Darth Vader to have a distinctive ship for the Empire Strikes Back, and wanted it to be more terrifying than any ship shown before. But what about the in universe explanation?  Well I think I have an idea for that. And it involves communications. 

You see in Star Wars there exists a think called the halo net which acts like the internet in our world. You repeatedly see characters use small handheld devices to speak to others on distant planets. You see it most notably in the Empire Strikes Back, phantom menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. In order to communicate over such distances there exist Hyperspace relay stations which take signals and beam them through hyperspace to other stations. These stations form a vast network and allow near instantaneous communications through much of the core regions of the galaxy.

However the farther from the core you get the less dense the number of relay stations. And less and less systems are tied to the galactic communications network. Imperial garrisons become more and more isolated from eachother. Unable to call for help in the event of a mass uprising. And it becomes more difficult for the empire to govern as there developed a lag in communication. This is especially true of systems like Tatoonine which appears largely free of any sort of Imperial occupation force.

The amount of hyper relays you would need to build to connect the whole galaxy would be to expensive for even the empire. So what is to  be done? Well what if the Executors are built so massive because they hold a full size hyper relay to allow someone like a Grand Admiral to communicate with the rest of the galaxy? The executor of course!

Think about it for a minute. With a ship that size fitting a few reactors and power feeds should still leave plenty of room for a huge crew and massive amounts of starfighters. Plus in the movies there is plenty of evidence for this. When the Imperial fleet is chasing the Millennium falcon through the Hoth system asteroid belt the ship must leave the belt in order to get a clear transmission. We know for a fact that Hoth is really isolated (Hence no hyper relay stations) and that the Emperor rarely leaves Corusant, meaning that is probably where he is.

The ship then leaves the belt and Darth Vader has a chat with his master before the ship departs for Bespin with the rest of the fleet. In no other scene do you see something like this happen (Though in the phantom menace transmissions are recieved from Naboo, meaning some hyper relay must be in the system) meaning the ship must have a hyper relay.

A truly unfortunate name. The story of the Porters

David Dixon Porter was an American naval officer serving on the side of Union forces during the American civil war. Before that his father, also David Porter, had been an officer in the navy during the war of 1812. The US navy in its wisdom decided to honor these two distinguished members of their ranks with the naming of a brand new torpedo boat after them.

The USS David Porter, Torpedo Boat Number 6, was completed in 1896, and five years later was commissioned into the United States navy. She was small and poorly armed. Carrying only a few torpedoes. It was with one of these weapons that the Porter almost sank the Armored Cruiser New York while on  routine harbor duty.

Fortunately the torpedo missed the New York and instead ran out of power and sank. The ships captain was severely reprimanded for his efforts, but beyond that nothing else came of it. Future ships named Porter would consider her career quite lucky in comparison to theirs.

The second ship to be named USS David porter (DD59) was a ship of the Tucker class. Commissioned in 1916 she saw some service during the great war but was scrapped soon afterwards in compliance with the 1921 Washington Naval Treaty. By far she was the luckiest of the bunch.

The Third Porter (DD 356) was where things really got going. She was a flotilla leader of the Porter class. She was more a light cruiser than a destroyer with her eight five inch guns in four twin turrets. She was one of seven ships in her class. Seven of them would survive the war.

Upon the outbreak of war the Porter was stationed in Pearl Harbor Hawaii. However when the Japanese attacked she was at sea with the carrier fleet (The Japanese target) and so escaped damage or loss (A rare streak of luck) 

After the attack she was deployed with the ships of Task Force 16 after serving some months in convoy duty. It was with the task force that she fought in the battle of the Santa Cruz islands where she protected the carriers Enterprise and Hornet from waves of Japanese bombers.

When a Avenger torpedo bomber went down the Porter maneuvered to save the crew. Only for the torpedo from the downed aircraft to sink the ship. The survivors were rescued by the USS Shaw, a survivor of Pearl Harbor.

After the heroic loss of the ship the USN commissioned a brand new ship of the Fletcher class to serve as the next Porter. The DD 579 was commissioned in 1942 and immediately got herself into trouble when while on maneuvers with the home fleet she accidentally fired a torpedo spread at the battleship USS Iowa. A ship which at that moment was carrying President Roosevelt, the secretary of state, and many of the top military leaders of the US armed forces. The Iowa saw the torpedoes coming and avoided them, saving the lives of many people.

Porter was ordered to the docks where her entire crew was arrested and interrogated as part of an investigation to see whether or not the torpedo launch was an accident, or an assassination attempt. The investigators found nothing and the Porter, minus her captain, was sent to Alaska to assist in the repulsion of the Japanese invasion force, and lay low for a little bit. While on station the Porter gave fire support to ground forces, using her guns to hit Japanese positions inland.

During one such exercise the ship got her directions mixed up and wound up firing at the army command center and setting it on fire. The smoke had not yet cleared by the time the Porter received orders to  head to the Philippines.

It was during heavy fighting around the island of Okinawa that the Porter would see her last action. The ship was serving as an anti-aircraft battery shooting down waves of Japanese Kamikaze planes attempting to disrupt the US marine landings. 

A Kate Torpedo bomber made a run for the Porter, only for accurate fire from the ship to bring the plane down. However the Kate continued on its trajectory for the ship, now more torpedo than missile, and impacted against the ships hull. Tearing a great gash in the side of the ship and causing her to sink. 

The US would commission yet another Porter, also of the Fletcher class. The DD 800 saw limited service during the war before she was placed into mothballs. She was brought out of retirement briefly during the Korean war where she was used for AA duties. And then back into storage she went until she was scrapped in 1974. Out of 30 years the ship would spend only four in active service as a ship of the US navy.

The fifth and most recent ship to be named Porter is the DDG 78, a ship of the Arleigh Burke class she is most well known for colliding with the Japanese merchant ship the Otowasan in 2012. The accident left the ship with a new captain and large sent in her hull. She is still in service and heaven help those who

Following the end of the first world war large numbers of Australian and British veterans moved to western Australia and took up farming in isolated communities inland from the large cities.

When the price of wheat rose rapidly during the late twenties many of these farmers began to increase the amount of the grain they planted. With the onset of the great depression in 1929 many of the farmers were then promised heavy government subsidies if they continued to grow wheat. And so for the next few years the farmers planted, farmed and harvested wheat which no one bought and with no government money to show for their efforts.

You may be asking where the Emu come into our little story. In fact some of you may be wondering just what an Emu is. Well I can tell you both. The Emu is a large flightless bird native to Australia. These birds migrate inland from the coast for breeding season during the summer. Just when the wheat crop is ready to be harvested.

Well in 1932 over twenty thousand of these birds made the journey. And right smack dab in the middle of their path was the lush fields of wheat planted and all ready to be harvested by the farmers.

The Emu being birds and not people they did the inconsiderate thing and trampled all over the farmers crops. The farmers were understandably incensed at the behavior of the birds and demanded that the government take some action to solve the problem. A few men even went to the territorial governor and asked that machine guns be put at their disposal to fight the birds. The governor, knowing the effectiveness of machine guns in the first world war agreed and several thousand rounds of ammunition and a few lewis machine guns were put at the disposal of the ex soldiers.

What then followed was a month of utter hilarity in which several men were wounded due to friendly fire, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition were expended across most of western Australia. And not a single Emu was confirmed killed. Thats right your ears did not deceive you, not one of the big birds was killed despite major effort on the part of hundreds of men.

Starting in the fifties the United States and the Soviet Union became involved in a great race to land the first man on the moon. The two great superpowers both committed vast sums of money on their programs, huge efforts, and the pride of their nation were similarly devoted to the race. When the United States won the race with Apollo eleven no one thought it would be the end. Surely a new race would begin to settle the moon. Or perhaps the next race would be one for the first manned mission to mars? No one thought that Apollo was the end of the race. Not when the government and science fiction authors had spent a decade or more telling how the solar system would soon be opened up to mankind.

      

Yet that is what happened. Following the end of Apollo NASA`s budget was cut and all realistic thought of further manned exploration ceased as the space race rapidly wound down. Having accomplished their aim of putting a man on the moon the USA did not want to put further money into the project. And the Soviet Union, humiliated by their inability to win the race to the moon were not at all keen at the idea of kicking of yet another costly race to put men temporarily onto another world. Not when the same funds could be put into the production of tanks, airplanes, submarines and ICBMs.

Since then space agencies have turned their efforts elsewhere. Now the only manned missions to space are near orbital missions to space stations such as the International Space Station. And the only way scientists explore the solar system is through the use of unmanned probes. While no doubt these missions have greatly expanded our knowledge of space they do lack the appeal of manned missions. 

But why in the forty or so years since the end of the space race has no further missions such as Apollo been launched? Well a simple answer is cost. It is incredibly expensive to send something as heavy as a manned spacecraft into orbit. Several thousand dollars per kilo. Thus for any further progress to be made in space we need to bring the cost down significantly. And that I believe is how the next space race will develop. 

In the following posts I intend to write a history of the future of space travel. Starting with the race to establish cheap earth to orbit vehicles. 

Sail sighted.

"sail sighted off the port bow!"

"sail off the port bow!"

"Mister Roberts?"

"Yes captain?"

"Do you have an identity for the sail?'

"Mister Biggs says it is definitely a ship, but that's all that he can make out at this distance."

"Does she have much of a press of canvas?"

"Only rigged for light airs sir. Nothing more, looks like she is in no hurry."

"To which direction is she headed mister Roberts?"

"To the east sir. To the east."

"Mister Roberts I am coming up!"

"Are you sure that is wise sir?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing sir! I was only curious if the crows nest was the place a captain would be most needed."

"You let me worry about where I shall be of the most use. You content yourself with doing your job."
"Yes captain."

"Mister Roberts?"

"Yes captain?"

"Move out of the way please."

"Right away sir!"

>>>

"Mister Biggs?"

"Yes Cap`tn?''

"Use my glass and tell me what you can make out of the sail."

"oh no sir! I could not use such a fine glass as yours sir!"

"Come now mister Biggs your eyes are very much superior to my own. As is my glass superior to yours. By mating them together I feel we shall greatly increase the clarity with which you can determine the identity of the ship."

"Yes sir."

"Come now mister Biggs you are not required to treat my glass as a sacred object!"

"Yes sir!"

>>>

"What do you see mister Biggs? Can you determine the ships identity?"

"Mister Biggs the captain had asked you a question and it will not do for you to leave him unanswered"

"Nosir it would not."

"Well then are you going to answer the captain?"

"I am sir."

"Then do it for all love!"
"I can make out the ship sir. She looks to be only a small trader. Most likely one of ours rather than a Frenchman. Riding low in the water she is to."

"And she is heading to the east?"

"Yes captain that she is."

"Well then nothing we can do but move on then is there. Hope for richer pickings on our next stop."

"Yes sir!"

"Carry on then the both of you."

"Yes sir!"