Tag: Chester W Nimitz

For Want of an Oiler: The Fragile State of America’s Afloat Logistics Fleet

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
What’s Going On With Shipping?

Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D. – 

The Navy oiler – a tanker designed to refuel other ships while at sea – shuddered from the hit. Almost immediately, water began to flood into the engine room and at least one of the ship’s rudders was out of service. The damage and flow of water proved challenging for the crew. As the only US Navy fuel ship in the area capable of supporting a carrier strike group came to a stop, the vulnerability of the thin lifeline of American afloat logistics became apparent. How would an entire carrier strike group remain operational without fuel for its planes and escorts? With one stroke, the hitting power of a substantial portion of the U.S. Navy was reduced.

For Want of an Oiler: The Fragile State of America’s Afloat Logistics Fleet

Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombings Were Needless, Said World War II’s Top US Military Leaders

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
“Three-year old Shinichi Tetsutani, burned as he was riding this tricycle when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima, died a painful death that night (Hiroki Kobayashi/National Geographic)”

The anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki present an opportunity to demolish a cornerstone myth of American history — that those twin acts of mass civilian slaughter were necessary to bring about Japan’s surrender, and spare a half-million US soldiers who’d have otherwise died in a military conquest of the empire’s home islands.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombings Were Needless, Said World War II’s Top US Military Leaders