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On December 7, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, with no explicit warning. This lead eight American battleships out of action, 188 American aircraft destroyed, and 2,403 innocent American citizens dead.
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The United States, Britain, and China declare war on Japan.
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Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese, but were forced to surrender. About 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch personnel became prisoners of war.
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The Battle of the Coral Sea, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia,
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Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy.
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With Japanese troops stationed in this section of the Solomon Islands, U.S. marines launched a surprise attack and took control of an air base under construction.
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In the Battle of Tarawa the 18,000 U.S. Marines sent to tiny Betio were expected to easily secure it; however, problems quickly arose. Low tides prevented some U.S. landing crafts from clearing the coral reefs that ringed the island.
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The Battle of Leyte was the amphibious invasion of the Gulf of Leyte in the Philippines by American forces and Filipino guerrillas.
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The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It is considered one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific war.
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The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army.
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The Japanese surrender on board the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on early Sunday morning. Aboard the new 45,000-ton battleship U.S.S. Missouri and before representatives of nine Allied nations, the Japanese signed their surrender.
