We know nasty weather had a major impact on military operations in WWII (ie, Halsey's Typhoon) but recent events in Japan got me to wondering if there were any notable earth disturbances during the conflict and whether it or they had any effect on allied or IJN operations. (Of course, this begged the thought-- more suitable to the 'what if' dept.--what impact a major quake would have had on the unraveling of events in the pacific. I imagine there are as many possible scenarios as there are people to think 'em up. Still, an intriguing idea for idle armchair speculation.)
Other than the Typhoon you mention I can recall no other serious natural catastrophes of similar scale.
In addition to the typhoon which caught Halsey, there was another one of major size after the war had ended. In October of '45 the worst disaster in USN history took place on Okinawa (Typhoon Louise), with major loss of ships and material, but not too many men, some but not the huge number that could have died in the other circumstance. If the war hadn't been already "ended", that would have been the staging area for the first part of Operation Downfall, and the harbor and island itself would have been crammed with ships, aircraft, and men. I am not aware of any major earthquakes in the home islands during the war itself however. In the twenties (1923?) Tokyo was leveled by a major quake, and America and the rest of the international community sent massive amounts of relief to the Japanese, including one whole/complete Harley-Davidson manufacturing plant. Motorcycles were the best method of getting around in the devastation. Japan kept making H-D bikes under license until the late thirties, and when they lost their license they simply continued to make a "copy" clear into the war years, this was a 45 cubic inch (750cc) V-twin that was widely used.
I have been looking for this for a while oddly enough. Thanks for the information guys. Yeah like BELASAR said it was not anything major, thats all i know though.
I remember watching a Documentary on if the Japan did not surrender and the Americans launched operation olympus if that was the name I cant really remember and the area where the invasion fleet was to arrive was the same place where a typhoon was suppose to hit.
Here is a link to the story of Typhoon Louise which devastated the island of Okinawa in Oct. of 1945. If the war hadn't ended before this period of time the fleet and all the other equipment and men would have been on that island preparing for the Olympic portion of Operation Downfall. Goto: Typhoons and Hurricanes: Pacific typhoon, October 1945 If this had happened, and the allied attack force had been devastated by another "divine wind", just like the Chinese fleet had been centuries before, I wonder just how much more difficult it would have been to defeat the Japanese?
Over on the B-29 forum, there were some members that were on Okinawa during that typhoon and they indicated that quite a bit of damage was done (to tents and other stuff that wasn't crated or waterproofed). Probably not enough to stop the sailing of the amphib forces and their supplies, but enough to complicate things. As for an earthquake in Japan during WW2, a large one did happen. From the USGS website: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1944_12_07.php Tonankai. Japan 1944 December 07 04:35 UTC Magnitude 8.1 998 deaths. More than 73,000 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged by the earthquake and an additional 3,000 houses were washed away by the tsunami. The quake was felt from northern Honshu to Kyushu. A large tsunami struck the Pacific Coast of Japan from Choshi, Honshu to Tosashimizu, Shikoku. Maximum wave heights of up to 8 m (26 ft) were observed on the east coast of the Kii Peninsula, Honshu. A 0.5-m tsunami was recorded on Attu, Alaska and a small tsunami was recorded at San Diego and Terminal Island, California.
Clint, you are right. a atom bomb free history would have seen even more determination to fight to the last if the Japanese thought history was repeating. I smell a interesting what if!
Here is an interesting photo essay of the major quakes of Japan's time-frame since the Meiji Restortation (it appears), and oddly enough it doesn't list the one posted by "syscom3" for some reason. It does list one in Dec. of 1946 in the same general area however. Wonder why? Goto: Japan's History of Massive Earthquakes - Photo Essays - TIME
I don't have the book at my disposal now (Warrior Queens by David Allen Butler) , but troopship Queen Mary was hit by either a rogue wave or something very similar during a very stormy North Atlantic crossing. She went over to starboard so much that railings on her superstructure were getting dipped. It stated that just a few more degrees, she could not have corrected herself and would have been a total loss at sea. Don't know the figures on that crossing, but if it was anywhere close to her max of 16,000 troops, that could have been one of the worst weather caused disasters.
Mt. Vesuvius erupted in March of 1944: Here is another link: Mount Vesuvius, the Last Volcanic Eruption: The Most Recent Eruption of the Mt. Vesuvius Volcano
