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Raid on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese conducted a two-stage attack on the American Naval base in Pearl harbor, Hawaii. This brings the United States into the Second World War. -
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Major Battles in The Pacific Theatre In WWII
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Doolittle's Raid
An American raid conducted on the Japanese homeland and nearby islands with B-25 bombers. The unique feature was how the attack had begun: the craft were launched via aircraft carrier, (usually only fighter planes were launched off of the deck of a carrier). 16 bombers were involved in the raid, and 14 whole crews made it back. This was an American victory. -
The Battle of The Coral Sea
Japanese forces invaded New Guinea in order to establish a forward base. Allied forces counter-assaulted. The battle was the first in WWII where carriers directly participated in the fighting. The battle went on until the 8th without either side deeing the other, another first. Heavy losses were sustained on both sides, considerably an Allied victory due to the fact that the Japanese Navy retreated. -
The Battle of Midway
American codebreakers uncover a Japanese planned attack on Midway Island in the Pacific as they believed that the Americans deemed it strategically important. The American Navy set up for an ambush and caused irreperable damage to the enemy navy by June 7th, when the battle ended. This was a significant Allied victory as it gave the U.S. an edge over the Japanese fleet for the rest of the war. -
The Battle for Guadalcanal
U.S. Marines landed on Japanese beaches on the 7th of August, 1942 to begin the long Island-Hopping Campaign. The battle was, as usual for battles in the Pacific theatre, fought by both Navy and Marines. The land battle was slow and progressive, while the naval battle nearly ended in disaster as the U.S. Navy was nearly destroyed early on. 6 months later on 2/9/43, Japan pulled out the last of it's troops as it had failed to recapture the airfield on the island. (U.S. victory.) -
The Battle for Saipan
The battle began, after a heavy naval bombardment, with the landing of 8000 U.S. Marines. American Naval craft cut off Japanese supply lines, leaving the current defneders on their own. The island was defended to the last man untill 7/9/44 when the Allies obtained victory there. The island gave the U.S. an airstrip within easy bombing range of the Japanese home islands. -
Battle for Iwo Jima
Marines hit the beaches earlyon Feb 19th, and were not fired upon immediatly. The original bombardment was extremely overwhelming and unexpected. More casualties were sustained here in a month than in the six months of the battle of Guadalcanal. This battle is remembered by the famous flag raising photo. Victory came to the U.S. on 3/26/45. -
The Battle for Okinawa
This was an extremely fast-paced battle that took place over the course of about 3 months. The island provided a barrier for the Japanese to utilize to stop allied planes from moving in to Japan if there were to have been a 'formal' invasion.This was the last battle to occur before the atomic bombings that ended the war. -
The Beginning of an Era, End of Another: The Atomic Bombs
In order to prevent the projected mass-slaughter of U.S. forces by invading Japan directly, two atomic bombs were dropped on the 6th (Little Boy, Hirosima) and on 9th (Fat Man, Nagasaki.) After the second bomb fell, Japan surrendered, as Germany had not so long before.
