Pearl Harbor was key to Pacific operations. Had the Navy been required to
operate from a continental port, the logistics would have been infinitely more
challenging, but not insurmountable. Just as grievous, the Pacific Fleet,
when fighting in the South Pacific, would have had the Japanese in their rear,
not a promising scenario. Basically, the war in the Pacific would have meant
taking back Hawaii first, and then moving westward. Not a pretty thought.