Somewhere far out in the Atlantic, a reinforced
American destroyer squadron out on patrol comes under fire. The first few shots are off-target, but as
American crews scramble to their battle stations, the fire becomes much more accurate. The USS Breckinridge takes a direct hit right
on her bow, twisting metal and killing dozens of sailors. The high Atlantic waves pour into her from
the giant hole left behind, and within minutes she begins to sink. In the distant horizon, the attackers are
visible to US Navy spotters. There's the tell-tale puff of multiple large
caliber guns firing simultaneously on several of the enemy vessels. Twenty eight seconds later thirty 1500 pound
shells smash into the American formation. The results are devastating, and hundreds
more American lives are lost in seconds. The destroyers are all but helpless in the
onslaught. Their 4 inch guns can't hope to match the
massive range of the enemy battleships, and the only real hope they have is their torpedoes-
but that means getting closer and braving heavy enemy fire. With few options left, the American ships
turn onto their enemies with grim determination, hoping to make use of their torpedoes. There is no air cover for the destroyer squadron,
most of America's carriers have long ago been sent to the bottom of the Atlantic, and those
that survive are held in reserve in the Pacific in a desperate last stand to hold the Japanese
off the California coast. Likewise, most of America's battleships have
long ago been lost to the major naval engagements of 1942 and 1943. Overwhelmed by a superior enemy with better
planes, ships, and guns- and more of all three of those- the US Navy has been able to do
little but put up enough of a fight to discourage an invasion of the homeland. Until now. As the destroyers steam towards their targets,
ships being lost one by one under the withering enemy fire, the full complement of the enemy
formation at last comes into sight. Rows of battleships supported by several squadrons
of destroyers, and at the rear aircraft carriers for establishing air dominance. Several spotters planes have been launched
and have allowed the enemy to accurately direct the fire of the battleships below onto the
Americans, but the carriers haven't even bothered to launch their torpedo planes- they don't
need to. This last line of American defense in the
Atlantic shatters and breaks in its suicidal attack, the joint British and German task
force, protecting the largest invasion fleet ever assembled by mankind, continues on its
path to the American east coast. In the late 1930s, as Hitler began to ramp
up his ambitions to create a new German Reich, it was clear he had one major problem: the
United States. Taking on France and Britain would be difficult,
though all of his advisors were confident neither nation was prepared for war and could
be defeated. But if the United States were to once more
throw its weight behind the Allies, as it had in World War I, then Hitler's dreams of
conquering Europe could be at serious risk. Russia too would be problematic, but once
his western flank was secure, shifting superior German firepower to the Russian front would
be simple. Hitler's spies assured him that the Red Army
was fundamentally weak- Stalin's great ideological purges and paranoia both had resulted in the
extermination of many of the Red Army's best officers. What remained was a rag-tag force of mostly
conscripts led by officers who's primary qualification wasn't battlefield expertise, but rather loyalty
to Stalin. The United States was the ultimate thorn in
Hitler's side. Even if the nation remained neutral, Hitler's
dream of German superpowerdom only meant that it would eventually be put into direct competition
with the United States, a nation that German observers were quick to point out was well
on its way to becoming the dominant industrial and economic power in the world. Despite the Great Depression having leveled
the US economy, the potential was nonetheless there- its navy alone had grown by almost
100 ships by the time of Germany's invasion of Poland. It was obvious- Germany would either have
to face America today, or defer the conflict to a post-war era, when it had consolidated
power in Europe. However, postponing the conflict meant that
the United States could continue to grow in power while Germany depleted itself in combat,
potentially giving America an insurmountable lead. Better that the US be dealt with now, while
Germany was still strong. But how, exactly? First, American naval might would have to
be neutralized- or at least heavily occupied. A modern industrial power protected on both
sides by vast oceans, the United States enjoyed the best strategic position of any major nation
in human history. It could easily engage in trade with both
the European and Asian world, while being protected from both by the sheer size of the
oceans at either coast. America knew this too, which is why in the
20th century it had begun a sizable investment in its Navy, which now rivaled the legendary
British Royal Navy in might. It had also worked to deter any European expansion
of power into its hemisphere of the world. The United States would tolerate no threat
based in the southern or northern spheres of the American continents. The German navy wasn't big enough to take
on the Americans alone, its navy was more focused on controlling the Baltic sea- and
already faced incredible difficulty in doing so thanks to the British and French navies. What was needed was an ally with a strong
navy of its own, and Japan afforded just such an opportunity. If the United States could be distracted in
the Pacific, not only might it be deterred from joining the European war, but when the
time came to bring the fight to American shores, the US would have to split its fleets between
the Pacific and Atlantic. But Japan would never be able to support an
actual invasion of the American homeland, which is what would be needed to truly neutralize
the threat that the US posed to German dreams of superpowerdom. It simply wouldn't be economic, or realistic,
to ship German troops and equipment all the way to the Pacific where it could be escorted
to the American coast by Japanese ships. Instead, it would have to be an Atlantic power
that aided the German effort, and only one nation had the naval might to challenge, and
destroy, the American navy: Great Britain. But how could Britain be persuaded to join
its bitter enemy in a fight against the United States? Well, if Britain could be defeated quickly
enough, or at least made to suffer heavily, then perhaps Hitler could coerce the British
to view America as an enemy, opposed to its own colonial interests. It was no secret that the American president,
Franklin Roosevelt, and his vice-president, Harry Truman, were both no fans of European
colonialism. Already talks amongst American leadership
echoed a sentiment that if the US were to aid the Allies, it would only do so with the
assurances that many of Britain and France's colonies would be liberated in the post-war
period. With British colonies providing much of its
industrial and economic power, surely England could be convinced that opposing the United
States was in its own best interests. After all, Hitler had no plans to take and
hold the British isles themselves- Britain could be allowed its independence and even
given favorable trading status with the new German reich, in exchange for helping it crush
America. However, even before a naval invasion by a
joint German-British fleet could commence, American industrial power would have to be
pounded into submission. And that was a hell of a challenge considering
New York was 4,000 miles (6400 km) from Berlin. German engineering genius however, could solve
that issue. Enter the Amerikabomber, a massive long range
strategic bomber which could take off from airfields in France and deliver several tons
of bombs to the American east coast. With competition from several different manufacturers,
Hitler's dream of seeing New York city in flames, and Hermann Goring's ambition to “stuff
the mouth of arrogance across the sea” would finally come true. The die was cast, Hitler finally had a plan
to crush America and ensure uncontested German superpowerdom in the age to come. There was just one problem- none of Hitler's
plans were even remotely realistic. First, gaining British cooperation was exceedingly
unlikely at best. Had Hitler actually succeeded in forcing Britain
to surrender before American intervention, perhaps the Royal Navy could have been wrangled
for his effort to destroy American naval might as part of an unconditional surrender. However, the US entry into the war in 1941
all but insured that Britain would continue to resist, and a cross-strait invasion was
still an impossibility for the German army- even without American reinforcements waiting
to greet them on British soil. Secondly, Hitler's dream of a bomber capable
of reaching US soil was pure fantasy. Not only were the engineering challenges of
such a long range bomber incredibly difficult to overcome, and expensive, but German bombers
would be put into the same position that Allied bombers would face themselves later in the
war: forced to attack a heavily defended target with no fighter escorts. The savage mauling American bomber crews faced
over Europe at the hands of the Luftwaffe due to a lack of a long-range fighter made
it clear that Hitler's plan to bomb the United States was destined for disaster even if the
technical challenges were overcome. However, the nail in the coffin for Hitler's
plan to bomb the US came when Portugal lent the use of the Azores to the allies, denying
Germany desperately needed airfields in the Atlantic. The truth is that other than a hazy ambition
to attack the United States at home, Hitler never truly had a plan to invade the US that
was remotely realistic. In a conversation with the Japanese ambassador
in 1942, Hitler admitted that he did not yet know how to defeat the United States. Surely a troubling line of conversation coming
from the wartime ally that dragged Japan into a one-on-one deathmatch with America in the
Pacific. Now you need to go watch Could the US defend
from an invasion of the homeland? Or click this other video instead.
