WWII: PACIFIC THEATRE

Island Hopping

• Securing island by island to ensure shorter/safer routes for bombing campaigns against Japan.

• Resources needed: – Strong Navy / Effective engineering of bases

U.S. Evacuates the Philippines: Dec. 22, 1941

• U.S. forced to evacuate when they were overran.

• 200,000 POW’s forced to march to Camp ‘O Donnell- 5 Day trip / 25% died- 37% of POW’s died

in Japanese camps.

DOOLITTLE RAID: APRIL 18, 1942• In response to: Pearl

Harbor• Length of aircraft carriers:

490 ft.• Min. # of feet it took a

bomber to take off: 600 ft.– Modified the planes

• Objective: Bomb key factory areas of Japan– Little damage but proved

to the Japanese they could be attacked and our carriers needed to be sunk.

BATTLE OF MIDWAY: JUNE 4-6, 1942• U.S. controlled airstrip

on the island.• U.S. broke the Japanese

code = totally caught off guard

• Japan lost four carriers• U.S. lost the Yorktown• Turning point of the

war in the Pacific.• By late 1942, Japan was

losing both in the air and on the water.

GUADALCANAL (Island of Death): AUG. 7, 1942

• Japanese airstrip already on island.– Taken w/o a fight

• Japanese let them come inland before attacking

• If held by the Japanese, Australia and supply lines would be under Japanese control

• 1,600 U.S. killed / 4,700 wounded

• 24,000 Japanese dead• 6 month battle

U.S. Lands on Saipan: June 15, 1944

Leyte Gulf (Philippines): Oct. 23–26, 1944

• Largest naval battle in history• Japan threw the entire fleet

into the fight– Japan lost its last four carriers,

three battleships, 13 cruisers and 400 planes

• First use of Kamikaze attacks• Philippines taken back-

General MacArthur freed our prisoners

• Last effort for Japan to dictate how the Pacific war would be fought.

Iwo Jima• Iwo is considered part of

Japan– 650 miles from Tokoyo

• No foreign army in Japan’s 5000 year history has been successful on Japanese soil

• 7.5 miles (1/3 the size of Manhattan)

• 3 Major airfields

Iwo Jima: February 19, 1945 • Gen. Kuribashi: “A million men

could not take this island in 100 years.” “No survivors!”

• Japanese strategy: Let the Americans into the mainland of the island– 1500 underground rooms were

connected by 16 miles of tunnels– Kill 10 Americans before you can

kill yourself.

• Iwo was officially part of Japan• 21,000 Japanese at the on-set /

1,100 survived• 6,800 U.S. casualties/28,000

wounded• U.S. inching closer to Japan

Okinawa: April 1, 1945• Last stepping-stone for an

invasion of the Japanese home islands– Guarded by 80,000 Japanese– Bloodiest battle America

fought in the Pacific (7,600 Americans died/110,000 Japanese)

• Kamikazes heavily used (1900 attacks)

• By mid-May, beginning of surrender = Japanese morale was fading.

• FDR died of a stroke before this battle was over

U.S.S. Indianapolis

• Delivered the 1st test A-bomb to Tinian

• Sank by Japanese sub.• 1,196 men on board• 900 men left• 4 days in the water• 316 survived