We have to note something here:  If the battleships had been warned, what would happen?  If they got underway and left the harbor and been attacked with similar results OUTSIDE the harbor, they woul;d have been sunk in deep water and never recovered except as scrip.  We would have shot down more Japanese planes, but that is of no real consequence.  What happened is probably about the best result that could have occurred.  The ships were mostly recovered and made even better eventually.  Also,  this attack by aircraft carriers instantly turned the US Navy into a submarine/aircraft carrier force and made the effectiveness of carriers obviously much more dangerous than any battleship force could possibly be in the huge Pacific Ocean.  Bad way to get educated, but nobody could possibly argue against such power.  Shortened the war a lot.

My grandfather Richard Armstrong was on the U.S.S. Hornet battle of Santa Cruz. Survived. Adopted my mother and two brothers soon after WWII. Real men in those days.

I think that the PTO has not been given the same coverage as the ETO and this podcast is helping to redress that problem. I have read several books on the PTO and this podcast will likely fill in some blank spots those books did not cover. I hope your subscriber count increases as the quality of your content is very high.

I am 76 years old.  Recently found my daddy's records.  He enlisted in 1932, USMC, New Orleans.  He retired 1952, Camp Lejeune.  Twenty years of records; almost 100 pages
I knew he had been at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Palmyra, and Okinawa.  I never knew he was at Peleliu.  He received a letter of commendation and ribbon from  General Roy Geiger for meritorious bravery.  
I was so excited to find your podcast.  Thank you...Semper Fi.

Outstanding show.  Very well presented.  Don’t be “a fear’d” to turn the show into two hour episodes either.  Don’t know what you base your present time limitations on, but I’m sure there are plenty of us who would love to hear a multi-hour presentation.

An excellent series, thank you for all your hard work and effort.  I'm an Irish man living in Ireland who has always been intrigued by ww2 in the Pacific.  The sheer enormity of all aspects of the theatre, distances, numbers of men, ships, planes, supply tonnages, just everything is almost incomprehensible.

Coming back here in 2026 to revisit the earliest episodes.

It’s May 2025, stepping back to re listen to episode 101. The Magic was there from the beginning. Nice to hear the conversation that hooked me for the duration.

I’ve listened to many episodes but not in any order. After the season 4 ending Q&A I decided to start from the beginning. I just wanted to say that this is really a superior show. I’m an old retired Army Master Sergeant and field artillery was my MOS, so natural drawn to land battles. But this series is the absolute best! Thank you for your efforts.

My dad was a new Navy pilot who witnessed the battle (he hadn't been assigned to a squadron yet, so by his description he was a bystander). He always said that Kermit Tyler wasn't to blame. He did feel that the report of a submarine attacked by USS Ward should've triggered an alert. in his words: "if you're going to have ships and planes patrolling, you should also trust the information those patrols provide." IMO, it would've made the job of the attackers much harder had there been anti-aircraft batteries manned and ready, and aircraft in the air with more at the ready.

Going back to rewatch the whole series.
This episode is a great start to a wonderful discussion about history

So good to go back to where it all began! These podcasts have got better and better over the last year but to listen again from the beginning 👌🏻

Great show. Longer, lengthier discussions will not hurt my feelings at all. U guys rock.

Thank you Seth and Captain Todi  for the great discussion. You two are leaving us a legacy.

What kills me is this......MacArthur got off scot free whereas Kimmel and Short were hung out to dry for exactly the same offense. Which was not acting on the war warning message. In fact, MacArthur was even further at fault as he had advanced warning after the Japanese attached Pearl.

Excellent analysis of adversary vs enemy

Came across your channel through watching some videos with Jon Parshall in them and wow....just wow, the level of detail and knowledge you guys have is unbelievable.  I'm in the military and work in logistics, "...Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics..."  I'd love to hear you do a podcast just on the logistical aspects of the PTO.  The setup of the forward basing, the start of the replenishment at sea and so forth.  What the Navy and supply ships were able to accomplish is just incredible.

Who else is back for their second play through?

Your comments about the P-40s would not have been all that effective (against zeros)  if they were warned has some credence.  However, the loaded Kates ( that did all the damage ) would have been juicy targets.    Also, on the 3rd wave- I have read that the dry docks were also spared and they would have been excellent targets hindering ship repair capabilities.   good discussion!

Nice discussion, I came across your channel this week when digging into all things Midway and I'm enjoying the insights. 10's of millions of US citizens were "all in" turning the US Navy into the unstoppable force it was in '45 in less than a 1/2 dozen years.