WWII's+Pacific+Theater+2nd+Period

** WWII's Pacific Theater **
=**Pacific Campaign**= - The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought from May 4th-8th in 1942. It was a major navel battle in the pacific theater of world war 2 between the Imperial Japanes navy and Allied naval and air forces from the U.S. and Australlia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. It was also the first naval battle in history in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Imperial Japenese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guine and Tulagi in the southeastern Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved Japan's Combined fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Shigeyoshi Inoue. The U.S. learned of the Japanese plan through signals Inteligance and sent two U.S. navy carrier task forces and a joint Austrailian American crusier force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive. -On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the U.S. fleet carrier Yorktown Now aware of the presence of U.S. carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces. Beginning on 7 May, the Soloman carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the U.S. sank the Japanese light carrie Shoho, while the Japanese sank a U.S. destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler. The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was heavily damaged, the U.S. fleet carrier Lexington was scuttled as a result of critical damage, and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later. -Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. Japanese expansion, seemingly unstoppable until then, had been turned back for the first time. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Shōkaku and Zuicacu, one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement, were unable to participate in the Battle at Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the U.S. victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.
 * == **Battle at Coral Sea** ==


 * **Battle at Midway**

-The Battle of Midway is known as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, one month after the battle at Coral Sea and six months after japans attack on pearl Harbor, the U.S. decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy attack against Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keagan has called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." -The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan an easy shot in expansion. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War -The Japanese plan was to lure the United States few remaining aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupyMidway Atoll as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle raid. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji and Samoa. -The plan didn't work as well from bad Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions. Most significantly, American codebreakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk in exchange for one American aircraft carrier and a Destroter. After Midway, and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Island Campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas. They ended the Japanese expansion over the pacific Islands.

**The United States launched a counter-offensive strike against the Japanese known as "Island-Hopping"**

-The idea was to capture certain key islands, one after another, until Japan came within range of American bombers

-Led by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of U.S. forces in Southwest Pacific

-There were 4 major and key battles throughout the United States island hopping operations

-These battles were Battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima

**Guadalcanal:** **part of an island chain which lies north-east of Australia**

**﻿-**Though it is a humid and jungle-covered tropical island its position made it strategically important for both sides in the Pacific War

-Americans started their attack on Guadalcanal and completely surprised the Japanese, which allowed U.S. to build supplies and forces

-Troops advanced inland facing a brutal hot jungle climate

-U.S. troops had carefully placed machine gun posts all around the island killing many Japanese troops. The Japanese withdrew but the American marines encircled the Japanese

-More than 20,000 reinforcements were called to Guadalcanal to aid the Japanese but the supply line was cut off

-Japanese forces finally ordered a withdrawal from Guadalcanal in February of 1943

**Tarawa:** **Islet group about 2,400 miles southwest of Hawaii**

-Tarawa was of great military significance because of its strategic position in the Pacific, being so close to both the Philippines and Hawaiian islands

-Battle of Tarawa was due to poor planning on the United States part

-The U.S. sent battleships and destroyers and staged an incredibly major artillery assault on an islet of Tarawa

-Japanese planes came and open fired on these ships, causing the marines to have to move to shore. The U.S. had to wade at low tide over razor sharp coral while being fired at.

-As the tide got higher U.S. tanks were able to land on the shore and move their way inland, tremendously helping out the marines

-On the last night the Japanese troops made a final attack on the marines with a Banzai suicide charge. U.S. troops were able to fend off the attacking forces and eventually took over the islands of Tarawa. The marines sustained about 3,000 casualties overall, yet out of the 4,700 Japanese defenders only 17 survived.

**S****aipan:** **island about 1,300 miles south of the Japanese mainland**

-Located so close to the Japanese mainland this land was held tremendous strategic value for the United States. It was a supply checkpoint between Japans homeland and the Central Pacific

-Taking over this land would cut off a major supply line for the Japanese and would allow the United States to launch air attacks against the Japanese home islands

-The U.S. landed on June 15, 1944 on the island of Saipan and by the end of the first day they had suffered more than 2,000 casualties

-The next day Japanese troops put a large number of civilians including women and children at the front of their attacking forces to create an impression of surrender to take place. The Marines were only deceived for a bit and eventually annihilated the opposing Japanese attackers

-The Marines continued to brutally fight the Japanese army for over weeks in constant battles and midnight raids

-The Marines started their last move to take over the Japanese colony of Saipan. They captured and destroyed several Japanese supplies and command centers while encircling the remaining forces

-The Japanese launched the Gyokusai attack translating to the destruction of an entire Japanese unit. It’s estimated that more than 4,000 Japanese troops participated in this last assault on the American forces.

-They launched their mad attack and drastically failed. More than 30,000 Japanese soldiers died not including an untold number of civilians. Sadly a total of 13,438 enlisted American soldiers were killed, wounded or missing in action. **Iwo Jima:** **very small Pacific island only 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide**

-Took place in February 1945

-Attack was in desire to finally destroy Japan’s merchant fleet so supplies could be cut off for Japans mainland

-There were two airfields on the island – under Japan’s control; they could be used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to Japan.

-There were about 22,000 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-General Kuribayashi

-Iwo Jima was ‘softened up’ by bombing raids for more than two months before the actual amphibious assault

-The first day of the landings was February 19th, 1945. The Marines took heavy casualties, as the American bombings had not been effective. It had churned up the beaches and inland giving the Japanese hiding-holes for snipers

-The Americans had cut the island in two by the end of the first day – despite taking over 2,400 casualties

-Iwo Jima proved a difficult and bloody target to take – frequently the Americans only advanced at several hundred meters per day

-The tiny island had taken America over one month to take. The Marines lost 6,891 men killed and 18,070 wounded. Out of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoners

-The battle showed Americans how far the Japanese would go to defend their country, which was a decision that was to influence the use of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Brutality of the Fighting Between America and Japan · The Japanese Conquest In the 1920’s, Japan lacked the resources necessary to feed their industries, so instead of expanding trade with other countries, they tried to expand their Empire and take the resources they needed by force.

In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, which is a large region in Northeast China, and in 1937 they declared war against China. President Roosevelt shut off all trade between America and Japan in order to try to make them stop attacking China. Instead, Japan became more determined then ever, because now they desperately needed the resources that America previously supplied. The Japanese knew that the American Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor was the only force capable of stopping their conquest, so on December 7, 1941, Japanese pilots bombed Pearl Harbor, then bombed General MacArthur’s fleet on the ground in the Phillipines. Free of any effective opposition, the Japanese took over Burma, Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies. · America Fights Back In 1942, America deployed several carrier ships and fought the Battle of Midway, which America won. In a large air battle between the American and Japanese Air Forces, the Japanese lost over 400 fighter planes, and America only lost 30. Japan went on to fight two more battles, but with their Navy and Air Force basically gone and their cities being bombed, they were essentially beaten in the first battle against America. · Atrocities of the War 1. Nanking Massacre On December 13, 1937, the Chinese city of Nanking was taken over by Japanese troops. For the next six weeks, the Japanese shot everybody they saw, including citizens on the streets, and even people looking out of the windows of their homes. Girls as young as twelve and women of all ages were taken captive and raped by gangs of 15 to 20 soldiers. Most of them were killed soon after, or sent to work in brothels in Japanese camps. It is estimated that about 150,000 Chinese soldiers and citizens were killed during this massacre. 2. The Hospital Massacres On February 7, 1944, the Japanese landed in Singapore, and directly in their path was the Princess Alexandria Hospital. The soldiers went inside and started murdering the patients and doctors, then raping the nurses. These people were shot, clubbed and bayonetted to death. In all, 31 patients, 9 nurses, and 4 doctors were killed.

There were many more massacres and other atrocities that the Japanese committed in World War II. · America’s view of Japan The American view of Japan changed dramatically during these events. Before World War II, there was a lot of discrimination of the Japanese, but after World War II started, they were viewed as animals. One historian, John Dower, writes that the Japanese had become known as “the herd”. He also writes that the reason that the Americans were relentlessly fighting the Japanese was not only for justice, but also because of prejudice.

[] []