"The major reason for the submarine failure of 1942 was not mechanical, physical, or psychological. It was, to put it simply, a failure of imagination on the highest levels by King, Edwards, Nimitz, Hart, Wilkes, Withers, English, Lockwood, Christie, and Fife. All these men failed to set up a broad, unified strategy for Pacific submarines aimed at a single specific goal: interdicting Japanese shipping services in the most efficient and telling manner. The lessons of the German U-boat campaigns against Britain in World Wars I and II- the later in progress almost on Washington's doorstep- had apparently not yet sunk home. The military and maritime theories of Clausewicz and Mahan were ignored. The U.S. submarine force was divided and shunted about willy-nilly on missions for which it was not suited, while the bulk of Japanese shipping sailed unmolested in Empire waters and through the bottleneck in Luzon Strait."
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Military leaders from the United StatesUnited States Navy peoplePeople from TexasUnited States Naval Academy alumniChiefs of Naval Operations (United States)
Original Language: English
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Sources
Clay Blair, Jr., Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, p. 361-362
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chester_W._Nimitz
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Chester W. Nimitz
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