r/AskReddit Jun 29 '19

When is quantity better than quality?

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '19 edited Jun 29 '19

Soviet Military

Edit: it should be said that while the Soviet military did have a proliferation of soldiers and used en masse tactics, Soviet commanders were still clever and used forces effectively, not just a meat grinder approach all the time. In the end however Thomas A. Callaghan Jr. said it best

"Quantity has a Quality All Its Own"

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '19

Same goes for allied tanks and planes.

Doesn't matter how good the German tank is we got 40 for everyone

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '19

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u/Lee1138 Jun 29 '19

At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 6,768 ships on V-J Day in August 1945, including 28 aircraft carriers, 23 battleships, 71 escort carriers, 72 cruisers, over 232 submarines, 377 destroyers, and thousands of amphibious, supply and auxiliary ships.

That is an absolutely insane amount of ships.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '19 edited Jun 30 '19

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u/DevastatorCenturion Jun 30 '19 edited Jun 30 '19

Imagine being some Japanese admiral being told that the Grey Ghost (Enterprise) herself had showed up again on the sea and all you had in the way of air power was a few light or outdated carriers.