Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as one of the best visualizations of how overwhelmingly dominant US industrial output was in the Pacific war.
What it is
Military History Visualized charts ship production by the United States and Japan from December 1941 to September 1945. The growing numbers show why Japan, despite a stronger starting navy, could not win a long war.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2020 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec yborg · 2020-01 · on “U.S. Torpedo Troubles During World War II (1998)”
[this video] One of the best visualizations I've come across of just how dominant the US industrial base was in the 1940s under full mobilization.
Recommends DuskStar · 2020-01 · on “U.S. Torpedo Troubles During World War II (1998)”
My understanding is that while the US losing her carriers at Midway would have allowed Japan free reign in the South Pacific for a few months, that was already the case for anywhere that all 6 fleet carriers showed up. Nothing the US had - combined, worldwide - could match those 6. Killing the US carriers at Midway was just to turn it from a 6v3 to a 6v0 - instead it ended up 2v2, but so goes war. Japan invading Hawaii would have caused a famine if they succeeded - it'd be even harder to keep supplied than Midway, but with dozens of times the population. In my opinion Midway marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific, but that turning point was inevitable as long as the US could cred
Recommends hirundo · 2022-11 · on “How the War Was Won”
I had no idea how asymmetrical naval production was in the Pacific theater of WWII until I watched this: [this video] With these numbers the relative merits of the actual warfighters had little effect on the outcome. The war with Japan was won in U.S. shipyards.
Cites onepointsixC · 2021-05 · on “We only ever talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor”
Midway had it's fortunate moments, but IJN didn't have much of a chance from the get go due to the absurd USN ship production: [this video]
Cites GrumpyYoungMan · 2021-07 · on “Night of the Guillotine: The Fall of Robespierre”
Probably Military History Visualized's " Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2 ": [this video] . Go to the 12:30 mark for the the near-final ship totals.
Cites sobellian · 2023-09 · on “SR-71 Blackbird Astro-Nav System (a.k.a. R2-D2) worked by tracking the stars”
This vastly, vastly oversells the stakes of Midway. Japan lost before the war ever began[1]. By the end of the war the US produced 17 fleet carriers, 9 light carriers, and 76 escort carriers. US strength at Midway was 3 fleet carriers. By the end of 1945 the US would still have built several new Navies as well as the atomic bomb. Japan was struggling to finish China on their side of the Pacific, their armed forces would be totally incapable of securing the sea lanes to the US let alone land such a massive invasion force as to sweep across the whole continent. The Japanese war plan was strategically inept from the outset - hit the US really hard, then sue for peace from a position of strength