[SunkenCiv]

Thanks poconopundit.

Yeah, great idea, largest-ever battleship, was present at some battles but didn’t fire its guns (it sez here) until Leyte Gulf (1944), which is where its sister ship was sunk. Yamato had its armament beefed up, in time to head to Okinawa, but never got there for some reason. :^)

The biggest blunder of WWII, and possibly the biggest military blunder of all time, was Japan’s attack on the US, which brought us lock stock and barrel into the war. It eclipses even Op Barbarossa, and by a large margin.

[Captain Walker]

The biggest blunder of WWII, and possibly the biggest military blunder of all time, was Japan’s attack on the US, which brought us lock stock and barrel into the war.

You may or may not be surprised to know that there was no small number of high-ranking Japanese officers who were telling Yamamoto this very same thing when he first brought up the idea in January 1941.

You would probably be surprised to learn how many American military officers and members of Congress dismissed concerns about the vulnerability of Pearl Harbor for the same reason.

[poconopundit]

Thanks, SunkenCiv. Agree. Oh, did I mentioned there’s an unexpected twist in the movie?

[poconopundit]

It was a huge blunder. Was it a bigger blunder than Operation Barbarossa?

If you consider that Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union ultimately led to Germany’s defeat, then a look at war casualties offers a comparison:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

The Japanese lost 3 million out of a population of 71 million (about 4%)

Germany lost 7 million out a 69 million population (about 10%)

The Soviet Union lost 24 million out of 188 million population (13%)

America lost 419,000 people out of 131 million ( about 0.2%)