Posted on 01/12/2013 5:52:15 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Please make me a plan to have more eggs. I am told that 67,000 tons of oats or barley out of the millions of tons produced on the farms would suffice to restore the ration of all the garden hens, and this would make a large difference to the number of eggs produced. When you have done so well in other directions it seems a pity to have this large and obvious failure.
Winston S. Churchill, The Hinge of Fate
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jan1943/f12jan43.htm
Red Army Shatters Hungarian Defenses
Tuesday, January 12, 1943 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... The Soviet Voronezh Front (General Golikov) and Bryansk Front (General Reiter) attack the Hungarian 2nd Army and the German 2nd Army, respectively. The Hungarian defenses are quickly shattered. Soviet forces breaking through drive toward Kharkov. To the south, Army Group Don (Field Marshal Manstein) is also being pressured by Soviet attacks aimed at reaching Rostov and cutting off German Army Group A in the Caucasus. The Soviet breakthrough to the north represents a threat to the position of Manstein’s army group.
In the Aleutian Islands... Amchitka Island is occupied by a small US force led by General Jones. The destroyer Warden is lost in an accident.
In New Guinea... Australian infantry and tanks attack Japanese positions north and west of Gona.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
January 12th, 1943
UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeping trawler HMS Prophet commissioned.
ASW trawler HMS Kingston Jacinth mined and sunk off Portsmouth. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: U-342 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: The attack on Stalingrad is extended with assaults on the Hungarian and German Second Armies.
LIBYA: General Leclerc’s Fighting (Free) French army captures the Fezzan from the Italians.
PACIFIC: Submarine U.S.S. Guardfish (SS-217), patrolling the waters of the Bismarck Archipelago on her third patrol, fires three torpedoes during a night underwater radar attack. One torpedo finds the mark and destroys the ex-DD Shimakaze, now re-named patrol boat P 1 (1215T). She sinks about 10 miles southwest of the Tingwon Islands near New Hanover in position 02°51’S, 149°43’E. (Chris Sauder)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: 2nd Btn 27th Infantry takes over from Third Btn 27th Infantry (25th Division) on the hind legs of the US attack on the Galloping Horse on Guadalcanal and begins an attack gaining little ground.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Amchitka Island is occupied by a small American force under General Jones.
The AMULET FORCE consisted of 2,000 men under command of Brigadier General Lloyd E. Jones. The invasion was covered by the USN’s Task Group 8.6 (TG 8.6) consisting of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), light cruisers USS Detroit (CL-8) and USS Raleigh (CL-7) and four destroyers, which patrolled off Amchitka and Kiska Islands. The transport group consisted of the transports USS Arthur Middleton (AP-55), US Army Transport Delarof, and SS Lakona; the cargo ship USS Vega (AK-17); and the destroyers USS Dewey (DD-349), USS Gillespie (DD-609), USS Kalk (DD-611) and USS Worden (DD-352).
There is no enemy opposition but a fierce storm hits and continues for two weeks. The transport USS Arthur Middleton, manned by a US Coast Guard crew, runs aground as it rescues 175 sailors from the destroyer USS Worden.
On 12 January, USS Worden was guarding the transport USS Arthur Middleton as that transport put the preliminary Army security unit on the shores of Constantine Harbor Amchitka Island. The destroyer manoeuvred into the rock-edged harbour and stayed there until the last men had landed and then turned to the ticklish business of clearing the harbour.
A strong current, however, swept USS Worden onto a pinnacle that tore into her hull beneath her engine room and caused a complete loss of power. USS Dewey passed a towline to her stricken sister and attempted to tow her free, but the cable parted, and the heavy seas began moving USS Worden totally without power inexorably toward the rocky shore. The destroyer then broached and began breaking up in the surf; Commander William G. Pogue, the stricken destroyer’s commanding officer, ordered abandon ship, and, as he was directing that effort, was swept overboard into the wintry seas by a heavy wave that broke over the ship.
Commander Pogue was among the fortunate ones, however, because he was hauled, unconscious, out of the sea. Fourteen of his crew drowned. USS Worden, herself, was a total loss. (Jack McKillop & Paul Holland)
U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Pope launched.
Destroyer escorts USS Brackett, Donaldson, Mitchell and Reynolds laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
Since they usually announce the loss of the previous carrier right after they’ve lost a new one, I don’t trust that Roosevelt fellow about the timing of the announcement of the loss of the Hornet. Wonder what he is hiding now.
In 1942 the US lost five carriers (Langley, Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp and Hornet) in just eight months.
That left only the old Saratoga (1927) and Enterprise (1938) in the Pacific, plus Ranger (1934) in the Atlantic.
Finally, on December 31, 1942 the first Essex large fleet carrier was commissioned, and 1943 will see six more (a new Lexington, Yorktown, Bunker Hill, Intrepid, Wasp and Hornet), which was still only two more than total US Navy's carriers on December 7, 1941.
In 1944 & 1945 another six large fleet carriers were added (none sunk) making sixteen fleet carriers, plus 10 light carriers (CVLs) and maybe 50 "jeep carriers".
Today the US Navy has ten active nuclear carriers plus another ten "big deck" amphibious assault ships.
It'll be interesting (read frightening) to lean how many of these get "sunk" going over our current "fiscal cliff".
So how much could President Roosevelt be trusted?
When it came to the US Navy, he was pretty solid, imho.
$210 billion in 1942 is equivalent to about $20 trillion in today's economy.
And that was the amount necessary for total war to save the world from Axis powers.
Today's national debt is paying for what, exactly?
The inflation calculator I used converted 1942 210B dollars to 2011 dollars, it came up with a figure of $2.7T. I think you are off a factor of 10.
You are correct, of course, in measuring dollar inflation.
But there are several other methods of comparing historical dollars to today's,
To see all seven results, enter the initial year (1942) the initial amount (210) and the desired year (2012).
When you click "calculate", the next screen tells you the results range from $2.4 trillion to $19.6 trillion.
Next click on the link which says, "see results in table format", a new screen will come up, and there you will see all seven possible results.
Of course, we might debate which of the seven is the most appropriate measure, and my argument is that especially for national debt, the best comparison is debt versus GDP.
In this particular example, 1942 GDP was circa $163 billion, with debt projected at $210 billion.
That is national debt 29% higher than 1942's annual GDP.
Today's GDP is around $15.5 trillion with Obama's national debt projected at $20 trillion in 2016.
$20 trillion is also 29% higher than current annual GDP.
In short: today we are running up national debt just as high compared to GDP as President Roosevelt ran to pay for total World War against the Axis Powers.
Indeed, some argue that Democrats today are paying for another "total war", but this time against the America of our Founders, our Constitution and those traditional values which built the nation.
What else could "fundamentally transform America" mean?
Top 10 of Barack Obama Quotes of Change
I'd say that's a pretty good answer to my question in post #9 above.
Payoffs to Barry's supporters.
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