Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "RN Aquila - Guide 338 (NB)" video.

The Axis Powers did not have the resources to take on the UK & the USSR at the same time. They were winning the war the first half of 1941 - but in the 2nd half - they went o war with the Russians and the Americans - after which they were doomed. If they had concentrated on Defeating the British - and not gone to war with the Russians - they could have won and turned the Med into an Axis Lake. Here - only fighting the British - they could have spent more of their resources on their Navies. If they had waited until they had a balanced task force - the Germans would have had some air cover and maybe Bismarck would not have taken a steering hit from an air launched torpedo. Instead - they expended their Capital ships as Commerce Raiders or the threat of Commerce Raiding. .
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@drakron Here's the Wikipedia article on these tests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell#Project_B:_Anti-ship_bombing_demonstration There was a tremendous amount of Politics involved here. The Bomber Mafia in the Army wanted to convince people that they could win a war BY THEMSELVES - by destroying the enemies industry. The thing was - that this was an Offensive Strategy and Congress wanted nothing to do with Attacking Anyone. HOWEVER, they would pay to defend the United States. We had nothing to fear on our borders from Canada and Mexico - and - we had these two large oceans to shield us from Europe and Asia. So - the Navy - was the Senior Service here. We had a joke for an Army - but our Navy wasn't that bad. The Army - had it's Army Air Corps - run by the Bomber Mafia - and since they couldn't get the money to buy B-17's based on Strategic Bombing - they were determined to sell the idea to Congress - as an Anti-Maritime Aircraft that would protect us from enemy ships. This was something that B-17's turned out to be really bad at but it got them the money for the planes. Airpower was extremely important during WWII - but - all the Air Power Advocates in the pre-war years were full of shit. They ALL vastly over claimed what Air Power could do - believing that it could win wars all by itself - something it has NEVER done. The irony here - is that Billy Mitchell was NOT Court Martialed for advocating Air Power - he was Court Martialed for telling the truth - that American Political and Military Leadership - were responsible for the deaths of a lot of people because of their policies. Calling his Superiors "Traitors" - was in fact Insubordination - and that is what he was Court Martialed for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell#Court-martial .
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