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Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attacked the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian Island Oahu. The Americans were not prepared. Japanese war planes loaded with bombs and torpedoes destroyed nearly 200 aircraft and destroyed four battleships leaving the other four damaged. The attack barely lasted two hours. Japan and the United States had come into conflict over French Indochina. Japan had also formed an alliance with Germany and Italy. Hideki Tojo was hostile toward the U.S. -
Battle of Java Sea
The Japanese forces were eastily taking control of the Dutch East Indies and British Borneo. The Japanese caused much damage to the Allied navies. They also conquered British-controlled Burma as well. The Americans were about to discover the true strength of Japan's military. -
Loss of Philippines and Bataan Death March
General Douglas MacArthur led the defense in the Philippines. As the Japanese gained ground, MacArthur planned to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. He urged officials to send ships with food and medicine, but War Planners decided it was too risky. MacArthur was ordered to leave his men and less than a month later, 10,000 Americans and 60,000 Filipinos were dead. For five days and nights the remaining soldiers had to march through the forests of Battan. Those who dropped out of line were shot. -
Doolittle Raid
The loss of the Philippines was a low point for the United States. On April 18, 1942, James Doolittle led a group of 16 American bombers on a daring air raid of Tokyo and several other Japanese cities. Although it did not to major damage to Japn, it gave the Americans something to celebrate. It also worried and angered Japan's leaders which would later cloud their judgement and lead to many military mistakes in the months ahead. -
Island Hopping Strategy
“Island Hopping” is the phrase given to the strategy employed by the United States to gain military bases and secure the many small islands in the Pacific. Slowly the US army moved closer to Japan, taking control of many of the surrounding islands. In February 1945 US troops invaded Iwo Jima; the first American landing on Japanese territory. -
Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea was fought from May 4-8, 1942 in the Coral Sea. An aircraft from Pearl Harbor that had not been badly damaged was featured in this attack. This battle took place as Japanese forces were preparing to invade the British controlled Port Moresby on the island of New Guinea. Chester Nimitz sent two aircraft carriers on the attack. American and Japanese navies both suffered damage, but the Americans stopped the Japanese attack. For the first time, they halted the Japanese. -
Battle of Midway
the Japanese had planned to attack Americans at midway, but Naval Intelligence officers had broken a Japanese code and found out about the attack. The Americans immediately recognized flaws in the plan and Nimitz placed his three available aircraft carriers to stop a Japanese landing at Midway. His plan worked perfectly and American bombs severly damaged three out of the four carriers and the fourth was later destroyed by the Americans. When the battle ended it was clear that the Americans won. -
Guadalcanal
A first step was to win control of the territory in the Solomon Islands which the Japanese had moved to in the spring of 1942. This threatened Australia. An Allied presence in the Solomons would protect Australia and it would hlep push back the Japanese. The main goal was to capture Guadacanal where the Japanese had nearly completed an airfield there. In August of 1942 American forces arrived in Guadalcanal and fought in bloody combat with the Japanese for the next six months. Japanese fled. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Nearly 300 ships took place in the largest naval battle ever fought. When the battle was over, the Japanese had lost four carriers, three battleships and a number of other vessels. The Allies had defeated Japan once again. Japan also started to use Kamikaze attacks, Japanese pilots would crash into a fleet with their plane that was loaded with bombs. This battle lasted from October 23-26, 1944 in the Leyte Gulf, Philippines. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. It lasted from February 19 to March 26, 1945. The marines managed to capture the island's tallest point, Mount Suribachi. Japanese troops refused to surrender and by the time the battle was over, nearly 7,000 Americans and more than 20,000 Japanese were dead. -
Battle of Okinawa
The battle was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II from April 1 to June 22, 1945. This island was fought only 350 miles from Japan. Okinawa would be used as the launching pad for the final invasion of Japan. This was the bloodiest task faced by the Americans in the Pacific. More than 12,000 Americans and 110,000 Japanese troops died. -
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945 and American B-29 named Enola Gay flew over the city of Hiroshima and dropped its atomic bomb. Truman decided to drop the bomb to save American lives because Japan refused to surrender. In a single blast, Hiroshima was reduced to rubble and some 80,000 residents died immediately, 35,000 were injured and two thirds of the city's 90,000 buildings were destroyed. -
Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki
In spite of Hiroshima, Japan's leaders took no action and tried to plan their next step for the next three days. On August 9, 1945 another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The death toll was 40,000. This did not bring an end to the war. The Japanese emperor favored surrender, but military leaders resisted. -
VJ Day
Some tried to overthrow the Japanese government to try and continue the war. On August 15, 1945 Hirochita announced the end of the war in a radio broadcast. It was the first time the Japanese people had ever heard the emperor's voice. This event is known as V-J Day.
