soc.history.war.world-war-ii

Y'all are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Japs
occupying Midway meant that the IJN would have to defend it. Against
everything from subs to carrier strikes to naval bombardment to night
bombing attacks. Remember there is no fresh water on Midway - none.
IJN will have to run supply ships fairly frequently. As for the B17F's
range, using it as a night bomber would have allowed removal of a lot
of weight and increased the combat radius perhaps enough to
comfortably harass Midway. And the B24D was coming off the line in
1941 and it had better range than the B17F. (Ploesti was 2700 miles,
all told.) Again, stripping off what wouldn't be needed for night
bombing makes sense. There are a couple good checkpoints on the way;
French Frigate Shoals where the Navy had parked a seaplane tender
(converted ODD) and Lisianski Island. Handy place to ditch if one lost
an engine . . . It would be a long mission, 1300 miles, but a way to
hit back.
Remember the Japs did invade the Aleutians - and then started to
wonder why and found that not they did not have a good reason to do
so, it was a real problem to resupply as the USN kept trying to butt
in. (Komandorski Islands battle.)
Walt BJ.