soc.history.war.world-war-ii

In article <4875ac8f-69df-4e3e-88d9-e0ade0e6bcd1@h11g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
Dave Wilma wrote:
>What were the USN BB assets in the Pacific by June '42?

Six battleships, operating out of (IIRC) San Diego.

Yes, the old
>Pacific Fleet was still out of action, but I know some units were
>redeployed from the Atlantic.

Three were. One battleship that was in the Pacific was in dockyard
and missed the Pearl Harbor attack. Three Pearl Harbor victims
were not in fact badly damaged, and were in operation again well
before Midway.

That's seven standard-type battleships available, and six operating.
I don't know where number seven was, offhand.

>How many? What was the anticipated use?

I have this suspicion that the use might have been to keep Admiral
Pye out of Nimitz' hair diplomatically. Nimitz refused to deploy
them without adequate air support, and presumably he didn't think
one escort carrier (Long Island) was adequate air support.
In addition, it was easier to keep the battlewagons fueled on
the West Coast.

>Would these have figured in a protracted defense of Midway?
>
There would have been no such thing as a protracted defense of
Midway. The Japanese were incapable of a protracted attack.
Either the Japanese would win, or they'd lose, and the issue
would be resolved long before the battleships could show up.

--
David H. Thornley | If you want my opinion, ask.
david@thornley.net | If you don't, flee.
http://www.thornley.net/~thornley/david/ | O-