Help Inform 88GT About WWII

[thej27]

To see how crazy and smart German weapon designers were check out some of their wunderwaffe(wonder weapons).

Wunderwaffe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Everything from ballistic missle subs, the first MANPADS, night vision, and my personal favorites the highly impractical 1000 ton tank with TWIN 280mm cannons, 128mm anti-tank gun and various other guns and a self propelled 800mm gun. A few of these weapons were actually used.

France actually had better tanks than the Germans at the beginning of the war. Their problem was they passed them out among the infantry divisions instead of concentrating them into armored divisions like the Germans did.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

To see how crazy and smart German weapon designers were check out some of their wunderwaffe(wonder weapons).

Wunderwaffe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

/drool

The first CornerShot?

 

[DragonGunner]

The USS Indianapolis was sunk by a torpedo after the war had ended. The submarine crew had not received the news.

Veterans Day gained it's name after WWII, though it was already a National Holiday. Armistice Day, was set on Nov 11th to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI on Nov 11, 1919.

Pappy Boyington, of TV Show Baa Baa Black Sheep fame, was a real man and receipiant of the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor. He was also an advisor to the TV crew when filming to show.

First sentence total fail, except for the torpedo part, I work with a guy whose Dad is a Indianapolis survivor an is still alive. Recently he came to IN an told his story to a nearby highschool. My friend from work went to hear him speak, because he had never talked about it. My Dad was somewhere out there on DE42 USS Reynolds looking for subs. They got 2 Jap subs an a few planes.

Pappy was shot down by a Japanese plane, then strafed while in the water, he had a bullet through his foot an was picked up by a Jap sub an finished out the war as a POW.

 

[IndyBeerman]

The USS Indianapolis was sunk by a torpedo after the war had ended. The submarine crew had not received the news.

Actually you are wrong, the USS Indianapolis was sunk on July 30th 1945 and the first atomic bomb "Little Boy" was dropped August 6th 1945 on Hiroshima and the second atomic bomb "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki
August 9th 1945.

The US formally requested Japan to surrender in the Potsdam Declaration July 26th 1945 and they refused to, setting up the events that led to the sinking of thr USS Indianapolis.

Actually, the USS Indianapolis, was sunk, AFTER delivering the parts, to the bomb, and was on the way back to Pearl..... the mission, was so TOP SECRET, when they were hit, nobody, paid any attention to the distress call .....

The USS Indianapolis was not returning to Pearl Harbor, they left [FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]island of Tinian and was en-route [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]to join the battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf which I believe was part of a planned invasion force of Japan.


The US Naval command refused a destroyer escort and the rest we know.


Also here's a little know fact, the USS Indianapolis set a speed record for a surface warship from San Fransisco to Pearl Harbor that still stands today.

Also the USS Indianapolis served as Presidents Eisenhower's Presidential ship before WWII.
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[Stschil]

Sorry for the gaff on the Indianapolis. My brain was mixing schtuff up.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Here's something about the Pearl Harbor attack, not all the battleships was sunk on "Battleship Row"

The USS Nevada actually got enough steam to move from it's berth and took several bomb and torpedo hits while trying to make it to the channel, fearing that they would be sunk in the channel it was beached to prevent it.

I think the USS Nevada was the only battleship to reenter the war from the Pearl Harbor attack.

Now a little part of my family history, my grandfather was a crew member on the USS Nevada and after Pearl Harbor turned down a chance to join the USS Indianapolis's crew (because he was a Hoosier Native).

 

[Rayne]

Here's a cool link about how the US captured German technology and brought it to the US, and mainly to Indiana to be dissected to learn their techniques. Watch especially at about 3:10. Those bullits whizzing by caused the local LE gun range to be shut down. Here's a link to the article about that. Whizzing YouTube bullet shuts down firing range | range, firing, bullet - TribTown.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAqE-69g4yA

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Four battleships were sunk, of which two were returned to service. Four others were damaged.

 

[jeremy]

[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]
Also the USS Indianapolis served as Presidents Eisenhower's Presidential ship before WWII.
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Just Curiosity here...

How can this be?!
Ike was not POTUS till after WWII therefore the Indy could not be his Presidential Ship...

 

[IndyBeerman]

Four battleships were sunk, of which two were returned to service. Four others were damaged.

I stand corrected, I just got off the phone a little bit ago with my uncle who also was in the navy and he corrected me with this info:

USS Maryland
USS Nevada
USS Pennsylvania (was in dry dock)
USS Tennessee

All 4 above was repaired and returned to service.

The USS Oklahoma was raised but not repaired
The USS California and USS West Virgina was scraped.

And the USS Arizona remains there as we all know as a monument to
those who lost their life there that day.

 

[IndyBeerman]

USS Indianapolis steaming out from under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco.

She was a majestic looking lady, 1932-1945

 

[jeremy]

All things USS Indy...
http://www.ussindianapolis.org/

 

[jedi]

Some vintage WW II videos used by the US to introduce new recruits to the weapons they will be using.

WWII Infantry Weapons and Their Effects | War Movies, Military Videos, Rare Battle Footage | Real Military Videos

 

[DragonGunner]

Causes of America Entering the Conflict.

Most see the Attack of Pearl Harbor as the reason that the US entered the war. However, the Japanese, many will say, were forced into making that decision.

As Japan carried out the war in Asia, American and British interests became concerned that Japan would eventually topple all of Asia, China included (and this very well couldve happened). The US began issuing military equipment contracts to, then friendly, China.
The US also ended supplying Japan with technical equipment and oil. This would effectively bring the Japanese war machine to a halt(c 1940/41).

With the lose of American oil, Japan looked to the Dutch East Indies holdings (oil) to continue it campaign. The Japanese believed that if they attempted to take European controlled portions of Asia, the US Pacific Fleet would hinder their objects. So Japan believed that they would have to cripple the US Fleet to such an extent, that US involvement would be so hindered, that by the time the US did attempt a military response, Japan would be well in control. And then we hay Dec 7, 1941.

Most see the Attack of Pearl Harbor as the reason that the US entered the war. However, the Japanese, many will say, were forced into making that decision.

I'm not one of those that will ever say that..true we stopped shipments to them, because of THEIR war on others, they had also signed on with Hitler's Germany. Not disagreeing with you that THEY in THEIR eyes had to to take more control. But THEY forced the issue an war, WE didn't make them.

On another note, although the atomic bomb killed tens of thousands, we were having the same success fire bombing their cities, 100,000 killed in one night in Tokyo, an about the same number killed also in Germany....guess the difference was one bomb an the new kind of terror that faced Japan to finally make them surrender.

 

[MTC]

Agree on the point that saying the Japanese were forced to attack Pearl Harbor implies it was somehow America's (or the western allies') fault. It was a calculated decision by top Japanese miltary leaders. Japan's goal was to establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, by conquest or otherwise, though one is hard-pressed to see how it could be carried out as they had envisioned it without military conquest. Top leaders who held sway in government reckoned that the U.S. would go to war, if not for the Dutch East Indies area, then definitely over the Philippines, which was one of the next targets and, in any case, would have to be taken on the way there as it sat more or less smack in the middle of what was to be the new Japanese Empire. This being the case, the decision was made to split their forces into two groups. One to cripple the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, the other to conquer the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, and beyond.
(see Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere)

As far as causes of America entering the conflict, it can be boiled down to:
- Dec 7th, 1941 Japan attacks U.S. at Pearl Harbor
- Dec 8th, 1941 U.S. declares war on Japan
- Dec 11th, 1941 Germany and Italy declare war on United States (see Tripartite Pact)
- Dec 11th, 1941 United States declares war on Germany and Italy

Of course there is so much more in the way of background and how the stage was set for such monumental events. Depending on the scope of the question and one's views or perspective, separating the objective from the subjective can sometimes be difficult, yet is necessary to gain a better understanding of events. As one poster already alluded to, such a broad topic, with background history and details in all subcategories, cannot be fully covered in one single source (although you can get close).

It is best to direct the student toward further reading and research and let them decide for themselves how far and in which areas they wish to go to find the answers to their questions.