I think a bigger mistake for the Japanese at Pearl was not blowing up the oil tanks.
I always think of HG Wells, killing the invaders in War of the Worlds with bacteria and viruses...Sometimes you don’t need to take out the tank. You just need to stop it from moving. Hence, take out the ball bearings.
The attack and Pearl should have diverted one wing to take out the oil tanks. Having to drive back to California for a while would have made Midway a more difficult effort.
I know the third wave was supposed to do that; but I could never understand why it wasn’t a priority during the first two waves.
Why didn’t the Japanese attack the fuel storage tanks?
If nothing else, for the photo effect.
They knew they were empty.
There was an article several months ago about a construction crew working on a hill above Pearl Harbor hitting an unidentified pipeline.
Real quietly, the Navy said,
“Oh, that’s the pipeline from our underground tank farm on the hill. It’s been there since before Pearl Harbor.”