Japan
Canada
China
USA
The Pacific Ocean
SE Asia
Australia
Prewar
1932
1937
C
B
A
D
“ABCD Encirclement”
1940
1941
Dec 8/7 1941
Imperial Japan
• Japan saw the US and
others as a threat to its
influence in Asia and in
1940 the Japanese began
developing plans to
destroy the US Navy in
Hawaii
• On Dec 7, 1941, the
Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor
In May 1940, the main part of the
US fleet was transferred to Pearl
Harbor from the west coast
The Pacific War
• Dates: July 7, 1937 - August 14, 1945
• Began with the Second Sino-Japanese war,
between China and Japan
• Concluded with Japan’s surrender to the
Allied powers
Prelude to War
• Japan seeks to establish “The Greater East Asia CoProsperity Sphere”
– “a bloc of Asian nations led by the
Japanese and free of Western powers”
– Invasions of Manchuria and Korea follow
• Three political forces in Japan:
– Emperor Hirohito
– Civilian Government
– Military branches (TOJO)
• The army informs the civilian gov’t of the Manchuria
campaign two months after it begins.
Fleet Admiral Yamamoto
“The US fleet is a dagger
pointed at our throat and
must be destroyed.”
“I can run wild for six
months,after that, I have
no expectation of
success.”
- Yamamoto, during
discussions on the planned
Pearl Harbour Attack
Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Pearl Harbour
Japanese Aircraft
Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” Fighter
Nakajima B5N torpedo bomber
Aichi D3A dive bomber
The Attack
The Attack
Tactical Damage
• Eight battleships were damaged, with five sunk
• Three light cruisers, three destroyers, three smaller
vessels, and 188 aircraft were destroyed
• 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed
• 1,178 wounded
– 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona were killed
after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward
magazine causing catastrophic explosions.
Aftermath
"Being saturated and satiated with
emotion and sensation, I went to
bed and slept the sleep of the
saved and thankful.”
- Winston Churchill
Broader Results
• In spite of the tactical
success, the attack on
Pearl Harbor was an
operational and strategic
failure for the Japanese
– The attack failed to destroy
the American aircraft
carriers, fleet repair
facilities, or fuel reserves
– The “sneak attack”
galvanized American
support for entry into the
war
1941
Fall of the Philippines
• Shortly after Pearl
Harbor the Japanese
made initial landings
on Luzon, then made
their main landings on
Dec 22
• On Dec 24, MacArthur
ordered his forces to
withdraw to the
Bataan Peninsula
• By Apr Bataan
surrendered
• By early May
Corregidor
surrendered
Douglas MacArthur in his
headquarters tunnel at Corregidor
in March 1942
1942
Bataan Death March April 1942
– 12,000 Americans
walked 60 miles to
a POW camp
– No food or water
– 5,000 died
Bataan Death March
• President Roosevelt
ordered MacArthur to
relinquish command to
Lieutenant General
Jonathan Wainwright
and MacArthur
escaped to Australia
Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942)
• US had been able to intercept
Japanese radio traffic in an
operation called “Magic”
• Magic intercepts allowed Admiral
Nimitz to position two carriers off
the eastern tip of New Guinea
• Both sides suffered heavy losses
but the Japanese were forced to
call off their amphibious attack
on Port Moresby
• Battle waged exclusively via air
strikes
– Opposing surface ships never
made direct contact
Admiral Chester Nimitz,
Commander in Chief Pacific
and Pacific Ocean Areas
Battle of Coral Sea
•May 7, 1942
•Strategic Allied
victory—halted the
Japanese advance on
Australia
First naval battle carried out entirely by
aircraft.
The enemy ships never even came into
contact with each other
Midway (June 3-6, 1942)
• Japanese planned a diversionary attack on the
Aleutian Islands while the main force attacked
Midway to destroy the American fleet
• Thanks to Magic intercepts, US didn’t fall for the
Alaska feint and reinforced Midway
• Americans destroyed four Japanese carriers and
most of their flight crews
• Japanese advance was checked and initiative in the
Pacific began to turn to the Americans
The Battle Of Midway
June 4-7 1942
6 months after
Pearl Harbour
Yamamoto
seeks to capture
Midway atoll
and thus
confront and
destroy the US
Navy’s carrier
forces.
Midway Order of Battle
US forces:
Japanese forces:
3 carriers
4 carriers
~50 support ships
7 battleships
233 carrier aircraft
~150 support ships
127 land-based aircraft
248 carrier aircraft
16 floatplanes
Plan of Attack
The Battle of Midway
• The first major carrier vs. carrier
engagement
• Decided by cryptanalysis, tactics, radar,
pilot skill, weather, and luck.
The Battle of Midway
• Scouts from the US fleet find the Japanese
Fleet first
• A delayed scout means the Japanese fleet
receives a warning of US carriers only
minutes before the first US planes attack
• After losing many planes in ineffective
strikes, US dive bombers manage to set
three Japanese carriers on fire.
• A Japanese counterstrike does heavy
damage to one US carrier
• Japanese battleships never see combat
The Battle of Midway
US forces:
Japanese forces:
3 carriers, 1 lost
4 carriers, 4 lost
~50 support ships, 1
destroyer lost
7 battleships, 0 lost
360 aircraft, 98 lost
~150 support ships, 1
cruiser lost
307 dead
264 aircraft, 228 lost
3058 dead
Guadalcanal—8/42-2/43
• Who: US vs. Japan
• Where: Island near Australia—
one of Solomon Islands
• What: One of the most vicious campaigns
– Japanese put up a fierce resistance
– US has superior air and naval power
• Results:
– First time US land troops defeat Japanese
– Americans are able to secure the island
Island-Hopping Warfare
American Troops
assaulting Iwo Jima
19431944
Strategic Bombing
B-29 Superfortress
bombers
Island-Hopping Warfare
American and Australian
troops land in Borneo
Twin Drives
• Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest
King favored a drive across the central
Pacific moving toward Japan over the
coral atolls scattered across the Pacific
– Take advantage of ability to leap
across vast distances
• MacArthur favored an advance across
the South Pacific via New Guinea and the
Philippines
– Meet obligations to Filipinos
– Maintain pressure against the
retreating Japanese
– Protect against a renewed threat
against Australia
Admiral Ernest King
19441945
The Final Year
• The US retakes the Philippines in a long and costly
campaign.
• Borneo, Iwo Jima and the Okinawa fall, with heavy losses
on both sides.
• The military leadership of Japan refuses to give up, in
spite of the loss of the bulk of their forces.
• An edict is issued, ordering civilians on the main
Japanese islands to construct bamboo spears and meet
the invaders on the beaches.
• US Bombers produce a firestorm in Tokyo, killing 100,000
people in two days.
• The US, Britain and China issue the Potsdam Declaration,
demanding Japan’s surrender.
Compromise
• King’s planned drive would
move first against the
Gilbert Islands and then
toward the Philippines
• MacArthur would likewise
advance toward the
Philippines
– Joint Chiefs gave no
clear priority to either
drive
– “Mutual supporting” or
“mutually competing?”
Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief
Pacific and Pacific Ocean Areas and
William Halsey, Commander, South
Pacific Area and South Pacific Force
Operation Cartwheel
• MacArthur requested five additional divisions and
1,800 aircraft to capture Rabaul
• Joint Chiefs of Staff concluded there were not
enough resources to capture Rabaul in 1943 so they
accepted MacArthur’s proposal for a two-pronged
drive to isolate it
Operation Cartwheel
• MacArthur would be in
overall command
• Admiral William Halsey,
commander of the naval
forces in the South Pacific,
would advance up the
Solomons as far as
Bougainville
• MacArthur would move
along the coast of New
Guinea before attacking
the western end of New
Britain
Operation Cartwheel
• Became the model for Pacific commanders throughout the
rest of the war
– don’t move island to island; advance by great bounds
using air superiority
– bypass major strongpoints and leave them reduced to
strategic and tactical impotence
– hit Japanese weak spots; avoid frontal assaults; use
deception and surprise
– seize existing airfields and ports and use these newly
acquired bases to support the next leap forward
Retaking the Philippines
• The invasion of the
Philippines brought
MacArthur and
Nimitz’s twin drives
together
• On Oct 20, 1944,
MacArthur attacked
Leyte
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• The American and Japanese
surface fleets made contact
the night of October 24-25
in the San Bernardino Strait
• Two Japanese task forces
entered the strait, Halsey
did the classic naval
maneuver of crossing the
“T” and sank all but one
enemy destroyer
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• However, Halsey was
surprised shortly after
dawn when Japanese
heavy cruisers and
battleships passed
unopposed through the
San Bernardino Straits and
threatened the invasion
fleet
• American aircraft turned
back the already weakened
Japanese
• Still the Japanese did not
give up, delivering their
first wave of kamikaze
attacks
Escort carrier St. Lo
sunk by kamikaze attack
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• The Battle of Leyte Gulf secured
the beachheads of the U.S.
Sixth Army attack on Leyte and
destroyed Japanese naval
power
• By the end of December 1944,
the Allies controlled Leyte and
MacArthur was in position to
attack Luzon, the heart of the
Philippines
Walter Krueger,
commander of
Sixth Army
“I shall return”
Iwo Jima
• February-March 1945
• Island off the coast of Japan—Japanese
soil deeply
Volcanic island
– Longest sustained aerial entrenched
offensive of
the war
– More marines sent than in any other
battle
– 100,000 men fighting on an island the
1/3 the size of Manhattan
– Japanese fought from below ground—
Allies rarely saw a soldier
– The battle was won inch-by-inch
Iwo Jima
• Results: US win
– Provides a link in
the chain of bomber
bases
– By the war’s end,
2,400 B-29 bombers
and 27,000 crewmen
made emergency
landings.
– “4 marines raising
US flag”
Okinawa
• Casualties
– US—12,500 killed; 36,000 wounded
– Japan—93,000 troops killed; 94,000
civilians killed (many killed
themselves)
• Kamikazes—suicide pilots
– Crashed planes loaded with
explosives
– Sank 30 US vessels
Plan to Invade Japan
• US planned to invade
Japan with eleven Army
and Marine divisions
(650,000 troops)
• Casualty estimates for
the operation were as
high as 1,400,000
• Truman decided to use
the atomic bomb to
avoid such losses
Operation Cornet, the plan to take Tokyo
Hiroshima
- 90,000 to 100,000 persons were
killed immediately
- 145,000 persons perish from the
bombing by the end of 1945.
Nagasaki
Leveled Area: 6.7 million square meters
Damaged Houses: 18,409
Casualties
Killed------73,884
Injured-----74,909
Total------148,793
(Large numbers of people died in the
following years from the effects of
radioactive poisoning.)
Nuclear Strikes
Aug 6, 1945. Uranium
bomb “Little Boy”
dropped on Hiroshima,
killing 140,000
Aug 9, 1945. Plutonium
bomb “Fat Man” dropped
on Nagasaki, killing 74,000
Japan Surrenders
Representatives of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy
appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo
Bay
The Cost
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2,000,000 Japanese Soldiers dead
300,000 Allied Soldiers dead
600,000 - 1,000,000 Japanese civilians dead
11,000 American civilians dead
60,000 Korean civilians dead
Mass devastation of Japanese infrastructure
Indigenous people of north and western Pacific islands
devastated by disease, cultural contamination, collateral
damage, and atrocities.
• The list continues…