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How hard would it be to take out underground oil-refineries and oil-stocks with bombs and technology used in WWII?
While I remember reading that Germany was using the Fischer Troppsch process as early as 1936. When did the Bergius high-pressure catalyzation process come online?
Virtually none of the output from the Fischer Tropsch plants went into any direct use for the Luftwaffe.
If you want to investigate LUFTWAFFE, you will be quite safe to ignore Fischer Tropsch plants.
NB, this does NOT mean ignoring the FT archive, which contains general material on German synthetic production
of all sorts and despite the name isnt a collection of papers only on the Fischer Tropsch process. Incidentally,
the FT online archive went down for a period of at least 6months (maybe more) quite recently, so anyone
who feels like a hero, have a go at downloading the lot before it vanishes again !
A question you might be able to help me understand is why nobody in the 1920s and 1930s developed engines to run of methanol. ICI considered building a coal to methanol plant in the 1930's. The catalyst is just copper/zink. After all Indianapolis racing has proven the practicality of methanol as a fuel and the early Rolls Royce Schneider trophy engines (R-type) used a methanol based fuel. Also butanol is almost a 1 for 1 drop in replacement for petrol. It could even be produced by fermentation at the time.
6% doesn't sound much, but is about 36kg (79lb) increase for fuel in a P-51D (184USG).
But the fuel burn is the killer. While the P-51D might burn 65GPH on petrol in a normal cruise setting, a Methanol fueled version would be 130GPH or more for the same power setting. Endurance is basically halved.
Forget the Urals, what was within actual strike distance of the Luftwaffe in 1942?
IDK, if I was a Japanese admiral I'd be asking about the intel failure, as the raid was conducted when the USN carriers should have been known to be elsewhere.No, but it made Japanese admirals happy.
I'm kind of under the impression that at dawn is traditional?I would imagine sometime after breakfast but before lunch.
There is perhaps a small window between two and four, but certainly not at four in the afternoon.
Anytime after four and through dinnertime is unacceptable and anytime between bedtime and morning is simply barbaric...
Always a terrible faux pas, one is in no condition to enjoy afternoon tiffin after a dawn attack.I'm kind of under the impression that at dawn is traditional?
Terrible time for an attack - disrupts coffee (or tea), breakfast and especially paper delivery.I'm kind of under the impression that at dawn is traditional?
No modern influencer would advise a dawn attack, it just isn't the done thing if you want to network and project an image.Terrible time for an attack - disrupts coffee (or tea), breakfast and especially paper delivery.
IDK, if I was a Japanese admiral I'd be asking about the intel failure, as the raid was conducted when the USN carriers should have been known to be elsewhere.
Lexington (CV-2): 5 December 1941 sailed from Pearl Harbour. On Dec 7th was located 500 miles southeast of Midway
Saratoga (CV-3): being overhauled at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA
Ranger (CV-4): Atlantic Fleet
Yorktown (CV-5): Atlantic Fleet
Enterpise (CV-6), 28 November 1941 sailed from Pearl Harbour to reinforce Wake Island. On Dec 7th located 215 miles west of Oahu
Wasp (CV-7): Atlantic Fleet
Hornet (CV-8): Atlantic Fleet
Not to mention disturbing those who were healing from Saturday night's debauchery.....and Sunday morning attacks? Breaking the Sabbath is extremely rude.
People today in this world of spy satellites, instant global communication, and massive data processing have a hard time understanding the limitations that existed in 1941. Without a mole in Naval HQ there's no way the US carriers future schedules could have been communicated to Kido Butai before they departed on their radio silent nearly month long voyage to Oahu. The constraints of time, fuel, distance, USN patrol/search ability, and rigid planning set the date and time of the attack cast in concrete.IDK, if I was a Japanese admiral I'd be asking about the intel failure, as the raid was conducted when the USN carriers should have been known to be elsewhere.
Without a mole in Naval HQ there's no way the US carriers future schedules could have been communicated to Kido Butai before they departed on their radio silent nearly month long voyage to Oahu.
It doesn't take a lot of intel to know that at the very best only two USN CVs could possibly be at PH. The rest were publicly known to be either in the Atlantic or under refit in Washington state.You don't think getting intelligence on Pearl Harbour was going to be difficult for the Japanese in the lead up to the attack?
Catching more than 2 carriers in the same place would be a good trick under any circumstances. Even if 4 of them were supposed to be at Pearl harbour. They are carriers, if they want to practice flight operations they need to sail. And given the arrival of new aircraft types, and the general state of the world at the time, I think they would have been under some pressure to drill.It doesn't take a lot of intel to know that at the very best only two USN CVs could possibly be at PH. The rest were publicly known to be either in the Atlantic or under refit in Washington state.
So, Admiral Y, what should we do, cancel Pearl Harbor and send Kido Butai to the Atlantic, or let The Empire run out of fuel in 6 months? Do you think those gaijin yankees will send the rest of their carriers to our doorstep before we run out? What do you say, Admiral?It doesn't take a lot of intel to know that at the very best only two USN CVs could possibly be at PH. The rest were publicly known to be either in the Atlantic or under refit in Washington state.
So, Admiral Y, what should we do, cancel Pearl Harbor and send Kido Butai to the Atlantic, or let The Empire run out of fuel in 6 months? Do you think those gaijin yankees will send the rest of their carriers to our doorstep before we run out? What do you say, Admiral?