Board Thread:Timeline Discussions/@comment-5709784-20130513183539

For one, we must determine what "successful" means. In OTL all battleships were damaged or destroyed but the subs and carriers were safe. Let's say all the carriers, all the subs, all the planes, airfields, ships, and material (fuel etc) were completely destroyed.

America would respond by bringing a fleet around to try to protect Hawaii from invasion. In OTL no such invasion force existed, however, if the Japanese pressed their luck and were able to also raid the island for supplies using marines from the fleet, they could stick around Hawaii, and interdict the relief fleet long enough for a transport ship from Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia or Phillipes to come, as all these places had invasion fleets and armies ready for amphibeous assaults. In the end, Japan with a clear strategic advantage, as US loses all it's island bases is able to end the war in the pacific with a stalemate, as Japan is unable to advance any further, and America unable to leave the mainland. Japan retains most of it's empire after peace talks ending WW2. 