Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've never met Dr. Alan Zimm in person and have no personal relationship with him, but I know him by reputation as a very highly qualified operations analyst who has spent decades analyzing current-day U.S. Navy operations using the latest knowledge and techniques. Now he has directed his analytical talents and tools to one of the most discussed but little-analyzed major naval operations of history, the Pearl Harbor raid that came to its shocking climax on 7 December 1941. He has done so while being careful to explain his work in terms it will not take a background in naval analysis to understand or enjoy.
The chapters are: 1. Strategic and Operational Setting; 2. Targets, Weapons, and Weapon-Target Pairings; 3. Wargames (i.e., those the Japanese conducted prior to the attack); 4. Planning the Attack; 5. Pre-Attack: Training, Rehearsals, Briefings and Contingency Planning; 6. Execution of the Attack; 7. Assessment of the Attack; 8. Battle Damage Assessment; 9. What Might Have Been: Alerted Pearl Harbor Defenses; 10. Assessing the Folklore; 11. The Fifth Midget Submarine: A Cautionary Tale; 12. Reassessing the Participants; 13. Summary and Conclusions. Appendices provide a tabulation of the second-wave dive bomber attacks; abbreviations, acronyms, and Japanese terms; and ships in Pearl Harbor and Vicinity, as well as a counterfactual scenario for a "perfect attack."
As he emphasizes, Zimm is not an historian, but he provides necessary historical background and he handles it deftly and crisply. He is meticulous about providing source citations for those who want to follow up on any of his historical points. While Zimm's focus is on the Pearl Harbor raid, he goes far beyond that in assessing Japanese forces and thinking, providing a very factual and well-documented analysis of the navy's capabilities and limitations.
Zimm's thorough knowledge not only of naval operations today but historically shows very clearly in his explanation of points such as how and why the Japanese would have conducted their wargaming as they did, the structure and limitations of the planning on both sides, and the effects of material, personnel and environmental factors. As an operations analyst he has a great deal of experience in reconstructing a coherent and consistent picture of a complicated operation on the basis of individual fragmentary reports, and he applies that skill well here. Thus Zimm is able to clarify many things that historians without such a background have missed or misinterpreted, bringing the whole complex operation into clear focus in a way that no one ever has before. Following this, he moves on to analyses of a variety of theories that have been advanced, and of a broad range of "what ifs," efficiently disposing of many myths and outlining the range of possible outcomes of the operation.
Appropriate to an analysis, the book has 20 clear charts and diagrams executed by Matt Baughman. There are also many photos, most chosen to illustrate particular analytical points.
This is not the book for someone looking for the human drama of the Pearl Harbor attack, but like Brian McCue's U Boats in the Bay of Biscay: An Essay in Operations Analysis, it is a striking illustration of the power of operations analysis to vividly illuminate a complex historical event. It also serves as a fine introduction to how to analyze operations, whether to clarify history or to serve as material for improving current operations.
The book works very well as a Kindle e-publication.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, DeceptionsThe December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor has been portrayed by historians as a dazzling success, "brilliantly conceived and meticulously planned."With most American historians concentrating on command errors and the story of participants' experiences, the Japanese attack operation has never been subjected to a comprehensive critical analysis of the military side of the operation.
This book presents a detailed evaluation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the operational and tactical level.It examines such questions as: Was the strategy underlying the attack sound? Were there flaws in planning or execution?How did Japanese military culture influence the planning? How risky was the attack?What did the Japanese expect to achieve, balanced against what they did achieve?Were there Japanese blunders?What were their consequences?What might have been the results if the attack had not benefited from the mistakes of the American commanders?
The book also addresses the body of folklore about the attack, supporting or challenging many contentious issues such as the skill level of the Japanese aircrew, whether midget submarines torpedoed Oklahoma and Arizona, as has been recently claimed, whether the Japanese ever really considered launching a third wave attack, and the consequences of a "3rd wave" attack against the Naval Shipyard and the fuel storage tanks if it had been executed.
In addition, the analysis has detected for the first time a body of deceptions that a prominent Japanese participant in the attack placed into the historical record, most likely to conceal his blunders and enhance his reputation.
The centerpiece of the book is an analysis using modern Operations Research methods and computer simulations, as well as combat models developed between 1922 and 1946 at the U.S. Naval War College.The analysis puts a new light on the strategy and tactics employed by Yamamoto to open the Pacific War, and a dramatically different appraisal of the effectiveness of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
Dr. Alan D. Zimm is a member of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he heads a section in the Aviation Systems and Advanced Concepts Group.He is a former officer in the US Navy, completing his service as a Commander, and holds degrees in Physics, Operations Research, and Public Administration with a concentration on Policy Analysis and Strategic Planning.
REVIEWS
"...proves an engrossing study, particularly for those considering themselves well-read on the topic.... it is even more interesting for those with ample knowledge of events in World War II's Pacific Theater of Operations leading up to, on, and following December 7, 1941. For a variety of reasons, including the provocative nature of many of Zimm's fact-built arguments, this reviewer does not hesitate to recommend ..."Globe at War, 7/10/2011
"...very thorough ...as an analysis of the raid from the Japanese point of reference it is very intriguing and goes far to display the old axiom "every plan changes (or falls apart) once the enemy is encountered".IPMS,July 31, 2011
Get 34% OFF
Click here for more information about The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions
