NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________ netw rks Geography and History Activity America and World War II, 1941–1945 Island Hopping Advancing on Japan The war in the Pacific involved a major geographic obstacle: the Pacific Ocean. In order to attack Japan, U.S. forces would have to advance across thousands of miles of ocean and attack heavily fortified Japanese positions on small, strategically important islands. The U.S. strategy involved a twopronged advance. The U.S. navy would island hop through the central Pacific while the Army advanced through the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines. Tarawa was the U.S. navy’s first objective. The Japanese base there had to be captured in order to put air bases in the nearby Marshall Islands. After the Marshall Islands, the U.S. navy targeted the Mariana Islands. The U.S. military planners wanted to use the Marianas as a base for a new heavy bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. From airfields in the Marianas, the B-29s would be in range of the Japanese mainland and could begin a bombing campaign intended to end the war. SOVIET UNION MONGOLIA CHINA Chongqing eR gtz Yan INDIA Sakhalin MANCHURIA Beijing . R. Yellow Nanjing Lashio ril Ku Sea of Japan Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945 Shanghai Okinawa Hong Kong BURMA SIAM (U.K.) Aleutian Attu May 11–27, 1943 Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945 Okinawa Apr. 1– June 22, 1945 Philippine E S 40°N PACIFIC OCEAN Midway June 4–7, 1942 Iwo Jima Feb. 19–March 26, 1945 Sea N W Wake Island Luzon Is. Kiska Is. Japan surrenders on battleship Missouri Sept. 2, 1945 Tokyo Pearl Harbor (U.K.) Saipan June 15–July 9, 1944 Manila PHILIPPINES Marshall March 4, 1945 Leyte Gulf Islands South Oct. 23–26, 1944 Guam Guam Feb. 1944 China July 21– (U.S.) FRENCH Sea Mindanao Aug. 10, 1944 Ma INDOCHINA Palau Is. cA rth Tarawa u Singapore Ha lsey r (U.K.) Nov. 20–23, 1943 Borneo Nauru Gilbert Hal (U.K.) Is. s (THAILAND) Bangkok v. No itz, m i N Hawaiian Islands 20°N 43 19 EQUATOR 0 0° at m Su 0 Batavia Java Ellice 1,000 miles 1,000 km 0 Miller projection on Is. Is. Guadalcanal Aug. 7, 1942– Feb. 9, 1943 Coral Sea May 4–8, 1942 Coral Sea Darwin 100°E ol om S INDIAN OCEAN NEW GUINEA ey ra Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use. Island Hopping in the Pacific, 1942–1945 New Hebrides 20°S AUSTRALIA 120°E 140°E 160°E 180° Japanese Empire and conquests Farthest extent of Japan’s conquests, July 1942 Allied forces Major battle Atomic bombing 160°W Caption: This map shows the naval and army advances across the Pacific from 1942–1945. United States History and Geography: Modern Times 143_144_USHG_ESSG_Ch12_L2_663482.indd 143 PDF Pass 08/02/12 4:38 PM NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________ Geography and History Activity Cont. netw rks America and World War II, 1941–1945 The Difficulties of Island Hopping By the fall of 1943, the U.S. navy was ready to launch its island-hopping campaign, but the geography of the central Pacific posed a problem. Many of the islands were coral reef atolls. The water over the coral reef was not always deep enough to allow landing craft to get to the shore. If the landing craft ran aground on the reef, the troops would have to wade to the beach. Wading ashore under enemy fire led to very high casualty rates among U.S. troops. Directions: Answer the questions below in the space provided. Understanding Concepts 1. What geographic challenge led to the use of island hopping? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ 2. What were some of the dangers posed by the island hopping strategy? ________________________________________________________ 3. What did the United States gain by capturing the Mariana Islands? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Applying Concepts 4. How do you think U.S. bombing of the Japanese mainland contributed to the end of the war in the Pacific? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ 5. Do you think the United States was justified in the use of atomic weapons in the Pacific? Why or why not? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ United States History and Geography: Modern Times Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use. ________________________________________________________