Talk:Fort William Rufus

Does anyone know what Turtledove was basing this fortification on, or if it was only a "butterfly effect" of his imagination? In other words, do we know if Fort William Rufus and the battle to take it was "inspired" in any way by an actual historical event? My weak guess is that this secondary battle where the US Navy consolidates its seizure of the "Sandwich Islands" from the Brits is loosely based on the Japanese seizure of Manila and the subsequent battle for the fortified island of Corregidor in 1941/42. I'm not satisfied with this, of course, because of the major differences: the Jap victory in the Philippines as I said happened in WWII, the US seizure of Hawaii in Turtledove's American Front is obviously WWII; also, Fort Rufus is extensively described as a man-made island while Corregidor was a heavily-fortified natural island. The military similarities, however, make me suspicious ( a major naval port, the battle to take it, and the battle on the major fortress protecting that port following), but has THE MAN HIMSELF talked about it? The reason I ask is because I'm curious about any battle in our universe that was at all similar to this incredible scene in How Few Remain. BTW- great job in descibing the fort in this article! This site is a nerdom refuge!