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Obras de Hector C. Bywater

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Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Nombre legal
Bywater, Hector Charles
Fecha de nacimiento
1884-10-21
Fecha de fallecimiento
1940-08-17
Género
male
Nacionalidad
UK
Lugar de nacimiento
London, England, UK
Lugar de fallecimiento
London, England, UK

Miembros

Reseñas

A Searchlight on the Navy by Hector C. Bywater is an examination of naval strengths and goals of the world powers in the interwar period. Bywater (1884-1940) was a British journalist, military author, and spy primarily focused on naval affairs. His 1925 work The Great Pacific War correctly predicted many of the actions that the Japanese and Americans took during WWII; indeed, it was later revealed that many military leaders had used it as a resource in their strategic planning.

A Searchlight on the Navy was originally written in 1934 as the world was building up for another conflict. The London Naval Treaty of 1934 set to limit submarine and naval shipbuilding. Previously, the Washington Treaty worked to limit navies sizes and type of ships. This wasn't just a military decision. Capital ships were expensive and that burden was placed on the country's' taxpayers. European countries were already drained economically by WWI and limiting naval build up by all countries would allow money to be put to better use. The United States, although having two large coastlines, did not see a reason for a large navy. No country was close enough to present a threat. However, Japanese expansion in the Pacific did present a hindrance for trade and influence.

It seems many of the pre-war ideas remained in place during the interwar years. Britain with the largest navy wanted to hold its place of power to ensure the free flow of goods throughout the empire. America was criticized by Britain for building a merchant fleet instead of relying on British ships. Japan was looking to spread its influence in the Pacific. Italy and France were locked in their own arms race. France still feared Germany. Germany began expanding its military beyond pocket battleships.

Bywater gives a detailed account of ships, armament, and advancements in the interwar period. Naval limitations were a complex issue with each party wanting their own goals and ships that best served their interests. Technologies were changing from guns sizes to the introduction of aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers provided an interesting discussion as to their role in the navy. Were they part of the naval fleet or mobile airfield that should be covered by another treaty.

Naval limitations seemed to be a subject more complex than nuclear arms reduction talks of the Cold War. Complicated not only by the type and number of ship, but also the number of countries involved. With the Second World War half a decade away, the promise of naval reductions seemed doomed. Although less than two decades previous, Europe experienced a devastating war, it did not seem willing to prevent the next war. Japan still riding high from its victory over Russia and its current expansion into Asia saw little to stop its rise to power. Bywater gives a British look at the moment between two world wars.


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Denunciada
evil_cyclist | Mar 16, 2020 |
Originally published in 1925 and recently reprinted in paperback, The Great Pacific War is an “alternate history”, describing a war between the USA and Japan in 1931-1933.


Author Hector Bywater was no Tom Clancy; the characters and events are pretty colorless. Bywater chose not to use any actual people in his narrative, which further detracts from any life the story might have had.


Although hailed after the fact as prophetic, Bywater’s scenario is not much more than a fictionalization of War Plan Orange, which had been around for some time and was presumably not very secret. There has to be a reason for the war, and Bywater hypothesizes a competent Chinese government coming to power, with US commercial interests competing with Japan for Chinese resources. Japan is undergoing a labor and political crisis at home, with the government turning to a foreign war as a way to rekindle patriotism. Although the identification of China as the source of conflict is interesting, it’s difficult to imagine any Japanese government going to war with a United States undistracted by other conflicts. Further, Bywater’s Japanese never express a coherent plan for the war – what exactly are they going to do after starting it?


The war starts with the suicide explosion of a Japanese freighter in the Culebra Cut, blocking the Panama Canal. The IJN annihilates the US Asiatic Fleet and seizes the Philippines and Guam (although Guam holds out for a while). Interestingly, especially for the times, the Japanese are portrayed as clever and innovative while the US response is ponderous. Japan bombs the US Pacific Coast and Dutch Harbor (by assembling seaplanes carried to the area on ships); Japanese submarines ambush the US Atlantic Fleet passing through the Straits of Magellan; Japan arms a number of merchant cruisers to attack US shipping in the Atlantic, and Nisei in Hawaii revolt with weapons snuck into the islands. Eventually, however, the USN gets its act together, seizes an advanced base at Truk, and defeats the IJN in a grand big-gun battle off Yap.


Bywater’s predictions for naval strategy and tactics are a little dubious in hindsight, but do accord with some of the military fears and hopes of the time. The US was always worried about an attack on the Panama Canal. It’s pretty unlikely that anybody would be able to assembly a force of flying boats on the high seas (especially the Bering Sea), but it seems that was an actual fear; at one point the was apparently a real concern that the Nazis would sail a fleet of freighters into Hudson Bay, haul seaplane parts out of the holds, put them together, and fly off to bomb Duluth. The Japanese actually did stage an attack on Pearl Harbor with flying boats based out of French Frigate Shoals, and there was supposedly a plan to refuel flying boats from submarines off Mexico, fly them to Texas, bomb oil fields, continue to the Caribbean, refuel from U-boats, and head for Germany. I suppose the armchair theorists of the time didn’t understand exactly how difficult it is to operate seaplanes from the open ocean, as opposed to sheltered anchorages.


The capabilities of aircraft and submarines are both over- and underestimated. According to the doctrines of the time, both operate as fleet auxiliaries (with a few exceptions like the Straits of Magellan ambush). Submarines scout ahead of the fleet; aircraft carriers travel with the battleships and naval aircraft primarily serve to spot gunfire or as scouts. However, on the few occasions when aircraft operate directly against vessels or land installations, they are very effective (admittedly, Bywater’s airplanes make extensive use of gas bombs). In anime/manga style, the Japanese construct immense “battleship-submarines”, heavily armored (to the extent that they are impervious to destroyer gunfire) and with twin 8” guns. The US builds an entire fleet of “dummy battleships” on merchant vessel hulls, which cruise around to deceive Japanese scouting aircraft (on reflection, that might not be as far-fetched as it sounds; while putting a dummy battleship topside on a merchant vessel while still keeping it seaworthy seems unlikely, air observers from both sides were notoriously bad at correctly identifying naval vessels). The Japanese are chivalrous in their treatment of POWs (again, not too far-fetched; the Japanese had been quite correct with Russian, German, and Austrian prisoners during the Russo-Japanese war and WWI; the attitude was just starting to harden in the 1920s when Bywater was writing). And, in a final unlikely event, the Japanese convert their Washington Treaty aircraft carriers Kaga and Akagi back to a battleship and battlecruiser in the middle of the war.


If this was re-written by Harry Turtledove, it would probably be pretty interesting. Bywater did do his research; I checked my 1924 Jane’s Fighting Ships and all the vessels mentioned in the book are either real or reasonable extrapolations. However, the dull writing style makes The Great Pacific War only of historical interest.
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½
 
Denunciada
setnahkt | otra reseña | Dec 1, 2017 |
A work of Alternate History, by its date of publication, it's designed to be an illustration of what might have happened if the Washington Treaties hadn't cooled down the USA-Japan naval race. The scenario centres on the defence of Guam against the Japanese, a locale not often visited, and full of interest, as it indicates a Pacific War not distorted by the need to free the Philippines. There is little idea of the actual mechanics of naval war in the age of the Dreadnought, but its innocence is charming. The battleship freaks among naval buffs will find this book intriguing, and the naval wargamers will find very interesting indeed.… (más)
½
 
Denunciada
DinadansFriend | otra reseña | May 3, 2015 |

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Miembros
112
Popularidad
#174,306
Valoración
½ 3.6
Reseñas
3
ISBNs
7

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