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Message Received in Washington
President Franklin D. Roosevelt recieved a message in Washington, intercepted by the U.S. Navy. The message was to the Japanese embassy, in Washington, from Tokyo. The message was encrypted in Japenese code. It was essential for the President to read the message because it revealed that the Japanese were ending relations from the U.S. Roosevelt said,"This means war." The president did not tell the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was one of the worst bombings on American soil in history. It resulted in the sinking of 4 U.S. Navy battleships (2 of these were raised and put back into service later in the war). The Japanese also sank or damaged 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 1 minelayer. They also destroyed 188 aircraft and left 2042 people dead and 1282 wounded. Only 29 Japanese aircraft were destroyed and 65 servicemen killed. -
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was fought over a U.S. mid-Pacific base at Midway. The Japanese intended to take over the base and turn it into a Japanese air base. The Japanese lost their aircraft carrier force at this battle. -
The Battle of Guadalcanal
U.S. Marines landed on August 7th 1942. It took Americans 6 months to defeat the Japanese. Three aircraft carriers had support from the air, gaurded by the battleship USS North Carolina and 24 other support ships. The Americans had acheived surprise. After much battling and losses, the emperor finally ordered a withdrawel from the Guadalcanal in December 1942. -
D-Day
The United States were brought into the war because of Pearl Harbor. D-Day was a turning point for WWII, especially in Europe. At 0200 hours June 6th, one British and two American airborne divisions were dropped behind the beaches. After an intense battle of air and naval attacks, assault waves of troops began landing. There were 5 beaches that were invaded that day: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. -
The Battle of the Philippine Sea
At 1000, American radar picked up a very large swarm Japanese planes approaching. More planes were released from American carriers, 300 in all. The American's intercepted the planes. This resulted in a very intense battle destroying carriers and submarines. The Japanese released 373 planes and only 130 returned. Only 29 American planes were shot down. -
The Battle for Iwo Jima
The Battle for Iwo Jima is one of the most famous battles in WWII. At 0200 hours in the morning, Battleship guns signaled the start of D-Day followed by a bombing of 100 bombers. This attack stopped at 0857 and the first of 30000 marines were realeased from there landing vehicle. Fianally, on February 23 the summit was finally within reach. 5 marines put up the symbolic flag. Colonel Chandler Johnson ordered to put up a bigger flag, a flag that was removed from a sinking ship at Pearl Harbor. -
Okinawa
The attack on April 1 involved 81165 marines, 98567 army, 2380 sailors from 77 transports. Kamikazes attacked every day with 1-20 flights every day between March 26 and the end of July. After hard fighting, Okinawa was secured on July 2. The island was surrendered on September 7. -
The Bombing on Hiroshima
The first atomic bomb ever dropped in history was first dropped on this date on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. At 8:15 A.M., the 9700 pound bomb was dropped. It exploded 1900 feet above the ground. It left 9 out of 10 people half a mile or less from ground zero were instantly dead. -
The Bombing on Nagasaki
Hiroshima was the primary target following Nagasaki. After the first atomic bomb was released over Hiroshima, Jacob Beser stated,"there was no sense dragging the bomb home or dropping it in the ocean." So the B-29 that carried the bombs made a hurried pass over Nagasaki. At 11:02 A.M. at an altitude of 1650 feet, the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki. The explosion was estimated to be 40% greater than the Hiroshima bomb.