Guest Post by Ol’ Remus
Tom Ricks says, at Task & Purpose:
The next time we have a big war, I think the Navy will be our armed service that is caught the most flat-footed… there is not a single person wearing a Navy uniform that has experienced a full-on attack by an enemy fleet.
Nor does any other existing Navy have experience with a full-on attack by an enemy fleet, but the point is well taken. The last time the US Navy faced an enemy fleet was 75 years ago in the Pacific. We were taken to the woodshed for a sound thrashing. Then we won.
There’s no mystery why we were kicked around like a rag doll in the first year of the war. The Japanese Navy outclassed us in every respect except anti-aircraft gunnery. They had better ships and more of ’em, better planes piloted by seasoned veterans, superb ship handling, better torpedoes—ours ran deeper than intended, had shorter range and faulty firing pins—and battle tactics tested and tempered in combat.
Continue reading “WHO WILL BE TAKEN TO THE WOODSHED?”
