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Pearl Harbor
At Pearl Harbor onthe morning of Dec. 7, 1941 at approximately 7:55, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Naval fleet stationed there. This attack was devastating and almost completely annhilated the entire fleet. Had the U.S. not been attacked here, they might have stayed out of the war even longer then they did. -
Battle of Java Sea
On janurary 23, 1942, a force of four American destroyers attacked a Japanese invasion convoy in Makassar Strait as it approached Balikpapan in Borneo. On February 13, the Allies fought unsuccessfully to prevent the Japanese from capturing the major oil port in eastern Sumatra. On the night of February 19, an Allied force attacked the Eastern Invasion Force off Bali in the Battle of Badung Strait. Also on the 19th, the Japanese made two air raids on Darwin -
Loss of Philippines and Bataan Death March
Following April 9, 1942, the U.S. surrendered the Bataan peninsula from the Philippine mainland. 75,000 troops on the peninsula were forced to make a death march to a prisoner of war camp. There the troops were treated very badly and had few resources to live off of. many of the prisoners were killed at the prisoner of war camps. -
Doolittle Raid
This raid was the first air attack on the japanese mainland. The significance of this raid was the milestone setting achievement of sending in aircraft to combat from an aircraft carrier. This had never been done before in combat. This raid showed that the Japanese mainland was very vulnerable to an attack on their own mainland. -
Island Hopping Strategy
The island hopping strategy is the name of the U.S. strategy to win the Pacific theatre of WWII. In this strategy, the U.S. would take control of many little islands and construct makeshift military bases on them. After a little time, a network of bases was made and the U.S. forces closed in on the Japanese mainland for a land invasion of Japan. -
Battle of Coral Sea
Considered a skirmish, this four day conflict was the first sea and air battle of the war. The Japanese wanted this for it's access to port Moresby, New Guinea. The Japs plan's were intercepted by allied forces and the Japs were met with a ready allied force once they arrived near port Moresby. The allied force was able to turn the Japs around. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is considered one of the most decisive battles of the war. Due to the U.S.'s abillity to decode Japanese messages, the Japaneses' plans were intercepted for an attack on Midway. The decoding led to an American attack on Japans few remaining aircraft carriers, decimating their fleet. The victory in this battle allowed the U.S. to move into an offensive position for an attack on the Japanese mainland. -
Guadalcanal
In the battle of Guadalcanal, the first allied offensive was launched. The U.S. marines launched a surprise attack on the Japanese stationed in the Soloman Islands. This battle was a decisive victory for the U.S. and was a major morale lifter. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The aerial and naval battle conducted as Allied forces invaded the Philippines began with Leyte Island on October Expecting an invasion, the Japanese fleet command ordered its forces to sea at the very first sign of Allied landings. Due to the effects of previous engagements and to Japan’s precarious fuel situation, however, the Japanese fleet was deployed in a scattered fashion. The Japanese were also training new battleship crews and pilots at the time. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, and it was attacked by three marine divisions after elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment. The battle was marked by changes in Japanese defense tactics. Troops no longer defended at the beach line but rather concentrated inland. Consequently, the marines experienced initial success but then got bogged down in costly attritional warfare. -
Battle of Okinawa
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of WWII, the Okinawa campaign involved 287,000 troops of the U.S. 10th Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese 32nd Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties, including 14,000 dead. -
Atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima
On Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan. This one, named Fat Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb created massive damage to the city and stunned the world with it's use. It would however, not be the bomb that prompted japan's surrender in WWII. -
Atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki
On August 9, 1945, the atomic bomb named "little man" was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This bomb was a uranium type bomb very similar to the one dropped on HIroshima. The damage caused was similar to the one on Hiroshima and this bomb finally prompted the surrender of Japan from WWII. -
VJ Day
On August 15, 1945, news of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri.
