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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Croesus" data-source="post: 5564063" data-attributes="member: 35019">/Threadjack onI would argue that he was a fairly mediocre strategist well out of his depth. -He pushed for the Pearl Harbor attack, which united the US public in a way simply invading the Philippines would not have. -He approved the appointment of Admiral Nagumo to head Kido Butai (the Carrier Strike Force), an officer totally unsuited to that role.-He approved diverting two carriers (and only two carriers) to support the invasion of Port Morseby, which resulted in two fewer carriers for Midway. -He approved the Midway plan which scattered his remaining carrier resources, leaving Nagumo with a weakened Kido Butai unable to stand up to the unexpected appearance of US carriers. And gave Nagumo two conflcting objectives (subdue Midway airpower, find and sink US carriers), which contributed directly to losing four Japanese fleet carriers. And keeping the main battle fleet so far back it couldn't possibly affect the outcome of the battle. -He was the one who fed Japanese naval and air forces piecemeal into the battle for Guadalcanal, resulting in attrition the Japanese simply could not afford.All that said, he was an inspirational figure and his loss seriously affected Japanese Navy morale. But his reputation far exceeds his actual performance, IMO./Threadjack off</blockquote>