Admiral: “We didn’t have sufficient intelligence to commit more forces”

Alternate History | 10/27/12

[pabianice]

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 10, 1942 –

Following the disaster at Midway Island last week, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, spoke today with reporters to answer questions about the U.S. defeat.

“We thought the Japanese might be moving on Midway,” Nimitz said, “But our intelligence was incomplete and the president and top officers decided not to risk too many of our forces in investigating what might have been a dangerous situation about which we knew too little.”

Nimitz explained that although some analysts urged the president to send three aircraft carriers and escort ships to scout for the Jap fleet near the Midway Atoll, the White House decided not to risk a larger force in a gambit.

In addition to the loss of USS Yorktown with all 3,522 hands, the U.S. Pacific Fleet also lost 96 aircraft and aircrew numbering 286. Since Midway was then overrun by the Japanese, it is believed that 2,370 men were killed and an unknown number taken prisoner. Aggravating the loss was the absence of any SBD dive-bombers aboard Yorktown. The decision had been made to send only pursuit F-4F aircraft in the belief that there would not be an opportunity to close enough to bomb the four or five Jap carriers believed to be bearing-down on Midway.

“Rumors that we did not send enough ships to this conflict are untrue and serve only to help the enemy,” noted White House spokesman Ronald Axelrod. “We acted based upon incomplete and questionable intelligence. In war you don’t send troops to possible battle unless you know more about the situation.”

In the wake of the Midway disaster, it is believed that the Japanese are now massing troops and ships for an invasion of Hawaii and the West Coast. With USS Hornet expected to be tied-up for repairs until September, there remains only USS Enterprise to protect against the Jap fleet’s known five front-line carriers and twelve escort carriers.

“People in Hawaii and the West Coast can best now prepare for a possible Japanese incursion,” said Nimitz. “We will continue to make our best preparations for the coming months.”

The White House refused to respond to questions from the press and instead asked reporters for patience until more after-action intelligence could be gathered and analyzed.

[grey_whiskers]

Admiral: “We didn’t have sufficient intelligence to commit more forces”

You can say *that* again!

NO cheers, unfortunately.

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. Yes, this is good satire.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The oil fields of Indonesia were Japan’s primary target. Their fighting ships would go nowhere without this supply. The Dutch and Brits largely destroyed the prompt availability as Japan closed in. They would have lost the war eventually and they probably knew it.