Why didn't Japan send an invasion fleet after attacking Pearl Harbor?

by Imperium_Dragon
kieslowskifan

John Parshall, one of the authors of Shattered Sword (one of the major texts on the Battle of Midway), published an article on his website . The long and the short of it is that Japan simply did not have the shipping resources to take the islands, despite the strategic benefit they would have accrued. The American garrison was much too large for the Japanese amphibious forces to actually take the islands. Attacking Hawaii would have meant abandoning any drive on the SE Asia, which was the whole rationale for the Japanese air raid in the first place: to prevent the US fleet from interfering in Japan's Southern drive.

DBHT14

It was HILARIOUSLY beyond the capacity of either the IJN to land and supply sufficient troops, or to keep them reinforced.

Nor is it certain that with the motivating factors and prepared positions of the defenders that the IJA could have taken the islands.

It is doubtful they could even have taken Midway had that battle advanced to the landing stage.

Would point to two of my previous answers on the subject.

Other Targets

Previous Answer with IJN concurrent goals and operations examined