I just re-watched the movie "The Final Countdown", the 1980 film about a modern day aircraft carrier transported back in time to just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and it made me think about a few "what ifs". What if the "time storm" or whatever it was that transported them back in time did not return them to present day immediately and they were able to intercept the Japanese fleet heading toward Pearl Harbor. That one ship and its aircraft would have easily had the ability to sink all or virtually all of the Japanese fleet. Even if immediately after that success the ship had returned to current time, how would history have changed? The Japanese leadership would have been devastated, and likely would have not dared to continue their advancement upon the Phillipines or other American holdings. America would not have suffered any losses at Pearl Harbor and most assuredly would not have entered WWII at that time. The desire for NOT entering a European war was very strong in the USA, and most likely we would have stayed neutral. Without our support the UK would eventually surrender to the Germans or be taken by force by the Germans, and the Soviets, even if they alone could have held the Germans from fully conquering their nation would not have the resources to threaten Germany itself or its forces. Where woud the world have gone from there?
And if the Nimitz was never pulled back to current time, it would have had to return to Pearl Harbor after destroying the Japanese fleet for aviation fuel, and other supplies. The USA would lack the ability to provide modern spare parts, and what would likely have happened would be a multi years long reverse engineering of the jets and modern equipment making the USA unlikely to be challenged by any foreign power, but would exist in a world where the Nazis controlled Europe, possibly parts of Africa as well, and Japan would dominate the Pacific theater. After losing their fleet to destruction which they could not possibly understand, Japan likely would have focused on seizing the oil fields of Indonesia and continuing their advances in China, but could easily have avoided threatening American interests elsewhere in the Pacific.
Interesting possibilities to imagine. Stopping the Pearl Harbor attack might well prove worse in the long run than what actually happened.
And if the Nimitz was never pulled back to current time, it would have had to return to Pearl Harbor after destroying the Japanese fleet for aviation fuel, and other supplies. The USA would lack the ability to provide modern spare parts, and what would likely have happened would be a multi years long reverse engineering of the jets and modern equipment making the USA unlikely to be challenged by any foreign power, but would exist in a world where the Nazis controlled Europe, possibly parts of Africa as well, and Japan would dominate the Pacific theater. After losing their fleet to destruction which they could not possibly understand, Japan likely would have focused on seizing the oil fields of Indonesia and continuing their advances in China, but could easily have avoided threatening American interests elsewhere in the Pacific.
Interesting possibilities to imagine. Stopping the Pearl Harbor attack might well prove worse in the long run than what actually happened.
