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Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States military base. Was planned to be a preventative action to keep the US Pacific Fleet out of Japan's plans in southeast Asia. -
Battle of Java Sea
Naval battle of the Pacific campaign between Japan and Allied powers. It was a decisive Japanese victory. It led to Japans occupation of the entire Netherlands East Indies. -
Loss of the Philippines and the Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer from Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. About 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination which was for 60 miles. -
Doolittle Raid
Also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack -
Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a major naval battle in the between the Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. -
Battle of Midway
The United States' navy decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Japanese navy. The goal was to end United States involvement in the Pacific giving Japan complete control. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. -
Guadalcanal
Codenamed Operation Watchtower, was the first major offensive by Allied forces against Japan. The Allied forces landed on the island to take control away from Japan. Marked the transition from Allied defensive position to being offensive. -
Island Hopping Strategy
The strategy was to capture the Pacific islands one by one, advancing towards Japan and bypassing and isolating centres of resistance. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, largest naval battle of the war. Fought in the waters of Leyte Gulf near the Philippine islands between combined American and Australian forces and Japan. United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its -
Battle of Iwo Jima
A major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese. The invasion which was called Operation Detachment had the goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War. -
Battle of Okinawa
Codenamed Operation Iceberg,[11] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and included the largest amphibious assault. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland -
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
The American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A blast equivalent to the power of 15,000 tons of TNT reduced four square miles of the city to ruins and immediately killed 80,000 people. -
Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki
The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference’s demand for unconditional surrender. -
VJ Day
Japan completely surrendered to the United States, the formal ceremony of surrender took place on September 2.
