Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "Guadalcanal Campaign - The Battle of Tassafaronga: (IJN 4(?) : 3 USN)" video.

Before he war - the US Navy had practiced Daylight Gunnery. The Japanese Navy had practiced Night Combat. For most of the war - aircraft - dominated the day - so much of the Naval Surface Combat that took place - took place at night. Night Naval Combat in WWII was an ideal environment for torpedoes. The Japanese Navy had - head and shoulders above EVERYONE ELSE the absolute best torpedoes in the world. The American Navy - had the worst (that I'm aware of). Japanese Night Vision was Excellent. American Radar got better - but - most of it's Command Level had no idea how to use it. Japan had been at war with China since 1937. They also understood that, they being an Island Nation, needed an excellent Navy to protect it and exert power outwards. The Americans had been heavily influenced in their actions by Isolationist sentiments and until 1940 neglected it's armed forces because of the Depression (though the Navy fared better than the Army). During the early days of WWII the Germans and Japanese Armed Forces were better prepared for war than the Allies. The Americans were utterly unprepared for war and spent most of 1942 paying for it as they learned things their enemies already knew how to do. While the Americans had people who knew what they were doing - much of that was often undone by bureaucratic military procedures that put ignorant, incompetent people in command. Ultimately though - the Americans did learn and their incompetents were replaced. The thing about the Guadalcanal Campaign is that over all - the Japanese and Americans took about equal losses but - the Americans could replace those losses - and the Japanese couldn't. .
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