Oil.

This is coolbert:

Yet again as extracted from the outstanding Internet web site isegoria.net with commentary:

Admiral Halsey as was noted in the previous blog entry American submarine warfare in the Pacific Theater absolutely vital to victory.

"Unrestricted Submarine Warfare"

Oil as perhaps the number one commodity as essential to modern warfare the Japanese falling far short of their necessary needs. Exceedingly so in fact!! All thanks to American attrition submarine warfare!!

"The judgment of Navy leaders was validated by post-war government assessments. As noted in the US Strategic Bombing Survey [USBS], the impact of the submarine attrition warfare was strategic in effect"

"Instead of the 28,500,000 barrels of oil its leaders expected to import from the Southern Zone [Dutch East Indies] in 1944, it imported only 4,975,000 barrels. In 1945 its imports were confined to the few thousand barrels brought in during January and February by single tankers that succeeded in running the blockade…."

AT LEAST BY EARLY 1945 THE AMERICAN PACIFIC SUBMARINE FORCE HAD MORE OR LESS RUN OUT OF JAPANESE TARGETS TO SHOOT AT!

It is worth mentioning too that at the time of Pearl Harbor [7 December 1941] the Japanese stockpiled supply of oil was equal to two years of domestic consumption. It is not like the Japanese were TOTALLY OUT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCT!

The American submarine force and elite, consisting of the most adept and highly trained personnel and commanders and continues to be so even seventy years later!!

And thanks again isegoria.net.

coolbert.