Pearl Harbor first needed a logistical surge

The American losses of 1941 are assessed as relatively light, yet psychologically devastating because so many occurred at Pearl Harbor. Losing battleships in a supposedly safe home anchorage gave the attack particular force; Sealion and Reuben James are noted as losses elsewhere. The immediate priority was to build up Pearl Harbor, accumulate supplies, and surge resources. That was broadly the course actually taken, and the counterfactual offers no substantial improvement using the information available in January 1942. Recovery would require a long effort despite the industrial strength still to come.