You could be right there, I agree.

The thing is if you look alot of history books they'll have alot of battles such as Stalingrad, Normandy, ect, but then on that list you'll most always have the Battle of the Atlantic. The same goes for the History channel when they show battles. So I don't know if technically it can be consider a battle, most historians seem to think so, or maybe its more convienient to lump it as a whole. Maybe they consider it sort of like a running battle.

I'm sure there was an incident in there somewhere where all those years of going back and forth came to a head although its not pronounced or well know. But I do think you're somewhat right, in this context maybe it does cheat the concept of what a battle is.

I know i'm going to take a lot of flak from this, but I think Pearl harbor was the most important.
First of all it put America 100% behind the war.

Second, and most importantly, by damaging or destroying virtually all of our battleships in the Pacific, it forced us to change our entire strategy and idea of naval warfare. We were forced to rely on carriers and their planes. I believe that if we had fought the Japanese with the pre-war mindset of battleships being the center of naval warfare, we would have been defeated by the Japanese predominantly carrier-based fleets.

Originally Posted by Six

I know i'm going to take a lot of flak from this, but I think Pearl harbor was the most important.

Why would your opinion need to be criticized? I think you have a valid reason for choosing Pearl Harbor. My pick would be something different, but I can also understand your choice.

Thanks,
I guess I'm just being paranoid.

Originally Posted by gladius

The thing is if you look alot of history books they'll have alot of battles such as Stalingrad, Normandy, ect, but then on that list you'll most always have the Battle of the Atlantic. .

If we look past the fact that "Battle of the Atlantic" breaks the normal rules for the term "Battle", then OF COURSE its easily one of the most important naval battles in history. Quite likely, THE most important.

I know exactly what you mean about History Books and programs. Its generally an accepted term.

If we include the "Battle of the Atlantic" then we must include the "Battle of the Pacific", which IMHO is more important.

Seems to me that the "Battle of the Atlantic" was more like a campaign.

Originally Posted by Six

If we include the "Battle of the Atlantic" then we must include the "Battle of the Pacific", which IMHO is more important.

I'd disagree with you on that particular point simply because Germany was far more dangerous than Japan. But I'd have to say that my disagreeing is irrelevant since neither "Battle of the Atlantic" nor "Battle of the Pacific" ought to qualify.

I think the war in the Pacific was more important than that of the Atlantic because the "Battle of the Atlantic was only half of the war against Germany. The war against japan was in itself, Marines included, a Naval war.

My main point: The comparison is irrelevant for this thread since neither naval campaign can reasonably qualify as a single "battle".

Agreed.