WORLD WAR 2 WAR
IN THE PACIFIC 1941
AND 1942
Japan's goal was to create an empire in the Pacific
and Indian Oceans. They tried to take territories that
had natural resources, ports, and airbases.
1941 BATTLES IN THE
PACIFIC
The locations of this first wave of Japanese attacks included Hawaii,
Malaya, Sarawak, Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and
the Philippines.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was the beginning of
the war for the USA.
The Japanese had gambled that the United States, when faced with
such a sudden and massive blow and loss of life, would agree to a
negotiated settlement and allow Japan free rein in Asia.
PEARL HARBOR AND WAKE
ISLAND
The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor
was a success, but not completely.
The surprise attack failed to destroy the
American aircraft carriers. The aircraft
carrier became the most important
naval vessel of the war.
This battle awakened the USA. The
Japanese never believed the USA would
fight a long war.
Opposition to war in the USA vanished
after the attack.
WAKE ISLAND
American marines defended the island
from Dec 8 till Dec 23 against a much
larger Japanese force. All of the US
soldiers were either captured or killed in
the 15 seige.
The battle was used in movies to build
support for the war and for propaganda
use.
1942 PACIFIC BATTLES
The Japanese conquered Thailand, Hong Kong, and Guam by early 1942.
In January, Japan invaded British Burma, the Dutch East Indies,
New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and captured Manila, Kuala Lumpur and
Rabaul.
Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese during the
Battle of Singapore, but were forced to surrender to the Japanese on 15
February 1942; about 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch
personnel became prisoners of war
PHILIPPINES
The only forces that remained to defend the
Philippines were American ground troops, a
few fighter aircraft, about 30 submarines,
and a few small vessels.
On 11 March 1942, under orders from
President Roosevelt, MacArthur left
Corregidor for Australia. MacArthur is
quoted, "I shall return."
The defenders on Bataan, running low on
ammunition and supplies could not hold back
a final Japanese offensive.
BATAAN DEATH MARCH
Bataan Death March was
the forcible transfer by the
Imperial Japanese Army of
60,000–80,000 American
and Filipino
prisoners of war
The soldiers were marched
66 miles to a POW camp.
Over 5,000 Filipinos and
over 500 Americans died
during the march
ALLIED DEFENSE
IN THE PACIFIC
General MacArthur was made the
supreme commander of the Southwest
Pacific theater during WW2.
American troops started massing in
Australia for a defense.
DOLITTLE RAID
the Doolittle Raid occurred in April 1942, where 16
bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS
Hornet, 600 miles (970 km) from Japan. The raid
inflicted minimal material damage on Japanese soil
but was a huge morale boost for the United States;
it also had major psychological repercussions in
Japan, in exposing the vulnerabilities of the
Japanese homeland. Because the raid was
mounted by a carrier task force, it consequently
highlighted the dangers the Japanese home islands
could face until the destruction of the American
carrier forces was achieved
BATTLE OF CORAL SEA
The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8
May 1942, was a major naval battle
between the Imperial Japanese Navy
(IJN) and naval and air forces of the
United States and Australia. Taking
place in the Pacific Theatre of
World War II, the battle is historically
significant as the first action in which
aircraft carriers engaged each other
BATTLE OF
CORAL SEA
With both sides having suffered heavy losses in
aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two forces
disengaged and retired from the area.
Although a victory for the Japanese in terms of ships
sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory
for the Allies in several ways.
1. First time the Allies had stopped a Japanese
offensive.
2. Two Japanese carriers were not able to fight in the
Battle of Midway. Midway would be the turning point
in the war.
BATTLE OF MIDWAY
Midway is an island in the Pacific controlled by the USA. The Japanese planned
an attack to take the island to help with its conquest of Hawaii and other
Pacific islands.
took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor
and one month after the Battle of Coral Sea.
USA Admiral Chester Nimitz versus Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
American cryptographers were able to determine the date and location of the
planned attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to prepare its own ambush.
MIDWAY
Four Japanese and three American
aircraft carriers participated in the battle.
The four Japanese fleet carriers—Akagi,
Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū, part of the
six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl H
arbor
six months earlier—were sunk, as was
the heavy cruiser Mikuma. The U.S. lost
the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer
Hammann.
MIDWAY TIMELINE
4 June, 4:30
At 04:30 on 4 June, Nagumo launched his initial attack on
Midway itself, consisting of 72 bombers and 36 "Zero"
fighters.
At 05:34, a PBY reported sighting two Japanese carriers and
another spotted the inbound airstrike 10 minutes later.
At 06:20, Japanese carrier aircraft bombed and heavily
damaged the U.S. base.
At 07:15, Nagumo ordered his reserve planes to be re-armed
with contact-fused general-purpose bombs for use against
land targets. This was a result of the attacks from Midway,
as well as of the morning flight leader's recommendation of
a second strike.
5:34
MIDWAY
At 7:00 American bombers and fighters took off
to attack the Japanese carriers.
9:20 Waldron's squadron attacked the
Japanese carriers without fighter escort and
were all destroyed.
This attack caused no damage, but the
Japanese zeros were out of fuel and could not
repell the next American bomber attacks.
KAGA AND
AKAGI
At 10:22 the Kaga and the
Akagi were hit by American
dive bombers. Their decks
were covered with bombs and
fuel that were reloading planes
that had attacked Midway
island.
One direct hit took out the
Akagi.
SORYU
Simultaneously, Yorktown's
VB-3, commanded by
Max Leslie, went for Sōryū,
scoring at least three hits
and causing extensive
damage. Gasoline ignited,
creating an "inferno", while
stacked bombs and
ammunition detonated.
JAPANESE
COUNTER
ATTACK
Hiryū, the sole surviving
Japanese aircraft carrier, wasted
little time in counterattacking.
attacked the first carrier
they encountered, Yorktown,
hitting her with three bombs
A second attack finished off the
Yorktown.
HIRYU
The US carrier Enterprise
launched bombers to
attack the last Japanese
carrier the Hiryu.
4 bombs hit the Hiryu and
the final Japanese carrier
was sunk.
AFTERMATH OF
MIDWAY
After Midway and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign,
Japan's capacity to replace its losses in materiel (particularly aircraft carriers)
and men (especially well-trained pilots and maintenance crewmen) rapidly
became insufficient to cope with mounting casualties, while the United States'
massive industrial and training capabilities made losses far easier to replace.
The Battle of Midway, along with the Guadalcanal campaign, is widely
considered a turning point in the Pacific War.
