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Replaced stub with draft entry. I'll tidy up details shortly - add links, check spelling, etc. Tannin 12:38 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)

Done. (At least for now). Tannin 13:34 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)

Just wondering, why does it say US had 2 large carriers and 3 cruisers? wouldn't it be better to write "2 large carriers and their escort"? because the cruisers didnt do anything, and generally they were used as escorts (at least in that time, when it was generally a defensive strategy to use carriers protected by anti-air destroyers/cruisers)... just a though. ugen64 01:47, Oct 7, 2003 (UTC)

The convention when referring to larger naval task forces of the era is to name the aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers and to talk about the smaller ships in more general terms. That is simply a function of numbers, as the sheer number of smaller ships would overwhelm virtually any account with a massive amount of detail. David Newton 00:50, 9 Nov 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Invasion of Australia

There was never "a reasonable probability that northern Australia would be invaded"; IJA had neither the manpower nor the shipping for it. IJA could not have successfully occupied Hawaii.

    See Wilmott and Barhart.
         --K D Faber

It depends whether "invaded" means "occupied" or "attacked by ground forces". Hawaii was a fortress compared to northern Australia in mid-1942. The Northern Territory had been at serious risk of some kind of surface attack since February, following the air raids on Darwin, February 19, 1942. The Battle of the Java Sea had all but destroyed Allied naval power in the eastern Indian Ocean and Arafura Sea; apart from subs, the main offensive presence was the obsolete cruiser HMAS Adelaide (1918). There were virtually no operational combat aircraft to the north west of a line between Perth and the tip of Cape York. Grant65 (Talk) 12:45, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

Saburo Sakai, a Japanese aviator who fought in this theater during most of 1942 (April - August) describes it as a hard-fought campaign the whole way through. (Any aircraft in New Guinea could have been redeployed back to Australia in the event of a Japanese victory). The only way this would even be plausible is if Japan launched an invasion in lieu of the Midway Operation, which they were already committed to by May 1942. Even if you grant the Japanese overwhelming victories at both Coral Sea/Port Morseby and Midway, Japan would still only have a slight edge over Allied naval forces, and certainly would lack the decisive air, land, and seapower (let alone logistics) necessary to launch an invasion. Read the CombinedFleet article on the Hawaiian invasion and then remember that Eastern Australia alone is as big as the Eastern Front or the China Theater with a somewhat sizeable population. In short, the Japanese may have talked about it, but any serious study would have shown it was utterly impractical. Palm_Dogg 03:43, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] the current version is empty...due to last edit by Tommy515

Its pretty disturbing how often this article is being vandalised. Jeez Tommy515, if you want to say how great ur "mum" is say it elsewhere. Anyhow thanks to EricR for reverting it back. (Yamam 09:38, 17 February 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Clear one edit

I rewrote this:

" the Allies had lost a dozen battleships and carriers, and had been unable"

It's far from clear how many of each were sunk; specify. Also, attribute the famous quote, "scratch one flattop", or take it out. OK?

I also deleted this:

"a very close-fought encounter where an additional carrier might have tipped the balance."

It's far from clear this is so. Trekphiler 12:15 & 12:21, 19 November 2006 (UTC)