The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

• The fight the night before, 13-14 November had beaten both naval forces down.  
• US forces had been beaten to a bloody pulp, as had the Japanese.  Yet despite the beating, the Japanese still held a sig…

The hectic and high stakes month of October 1942 has finally wound down and passed into history.  And with it, the lives of nearly 400 Americans at The Battles of Henderson Field and Santa Cruz and a…

This week Bill and I have a special guest with us, he’s been here before and we always love to have him, he’s the one, the only, my good buddy, Jon Parshall.

This week we are going to take a step back…

This week Bill and I have a special guest with us, he’s been here before and we always love to have him, he’s the one, the only, my good buddy, Jon Parshall.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast as…

This week we would like to welcome back Dave Holland.  Dave is a former United States Marine, owns and runs the facebook and youtube channel called Guadalcanal: Walking a battlefield, a Solomon islan…

On the night of October 11, 1942, the Japanese sent two separate task forces heading in the direction of Guadalcanal.  The first task force was yet another troop/resupply convoy, the second task forc…

This week we will be talking about the early actions that occurred along the Matinikau river.  Now, as opposed to the land battles we have discussed before, Tenaru and Edson’s Ridge which each only h…

This week we would like to welcome back Dave Holland.  Dave is a former United States Marine, owns and runs the facebook and youtube channel called Guadalcanal: Walking a battlefield, a Solomon islan…

The month of August 1942 has had its ups and downs so far as the campaign for Guadalcanal is concerned. The invasion of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Tanambogo and other outlying islands in the area initially…

Prewar US Navy and IJN surface doctrine

• US Navy surface battle doctrine assumed, and planned for any major surface action against an enemy, specifically the Japanese, would be fought in broad daylight…

H-Hour Guadalcanal

• American intel assumed that the bulk of the Japanese were on Guadalcanal, specifically along Lunga Point
• Estimated 5,000 men
• 5th Marines secured the beachhead, 1st Marines passed thr…

A Rush to Action the beginnings of a “plan”

• On July 3, just after WATCHTOWER is approved (but not by the Joint Chiefs) King flies to Frisco to brief Nimitz
• Richmond Kelly Turner was told that 3 CVs wou…

Fleet Admiral Ernest King was Commander-in-Chief Fleet, or COMINCH, during most of World War II, and in 1942 assigned to also serve as Chief of Naval Operations or CNO.  As CNO he managed the Navy St…

• Briefly describe the actions of June 6

• Discuss the attempted salvage and eventual sinking of Yorktown
•     -How does this sinking lay on the future plans for the war

• -Discuss why the perception exists …

• Aboard the Japanese CVs
• What is the morning looking like at this point aboard the CVs?
• What are the Japanese briefed about?
• When do they launch?
• Who is the strike leader?
• Talk about the flight into Midway…

Talking Points:

• Sit Rep late May 1942
• What does the Pacific War look like right now?
• Any major changes?
• Doolittle Raid
• What is the reasoning behind the raid?
• What happens (briefly)
• What effects does the Do…

While the hit and run carrier raids of February and March tested American carrier doctrine to an extent, and the Pearl Harbor raid as well as Indian Ocean raids tested Imperial Navy doctrine also to …

If Seth and I were to define the two main thrusts of our podcast “The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War,” it would be (1) to correct some of the mythology that has emerged over decades, and (2)…

Sit Rep PTO late December 1941-January 1942

• Japanese are on the offensive everywhere
• Philippines are already on the way out
• Wake Island, despite a gallant defense by the Marines has been captured and th…