The Pacific Ocean covers some sixty-four million square miles, more than twice the size of the Atlantic and containing nearly half the earth’s water. The 2,400 statute miles from San Francisco to Honolulu is 50 percent farther than the direct line from Paris to Moscow.
War in the Pacific throughout the rest of World War Two. The war in the Pacific continued between Japan (the latter briefly aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by its Axis allies Germany and Italy) and the Allied powers.
The war in the Pacific continued between Japan (the latter briefly aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by its Axis allies Germany and Italy) and the Allied powers. It only ended in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
While land-based Japanese bombers sank the battle cruiser HMS Repulse and battleship Prince of Wales on December 10, imperial troops landed in the Philippines and Malaya, and seized Hong Kong and Singapore. Nimitz’s carriers could only hit and run.
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
Alternative Title: Pacific Campaign. Pacific War, major theatre of World War II that covered a large portion of the Pacific Ocean, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, with significant engagements occurring as far south as northern Australia and as far north as the Aleutian Islands. U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943.
Pacific War, major theatre of World War II that covered a large portion of the Pacific Ocean, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, with significant engagements occurring as far south as northern Australia and as far north as the Aleutian Islands. U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943, during World War II.
The Japanese war plan, aimed at the American, British, and Dutch possessions in the Pacific and in Southeast Asia, was of a rather makeshift character. The first draft, submitted by the chiefs of the Army and Navy General Staff, was accepted by Imperial General Headquarters early in September 1941. The lateness of the draft was due largely to the long indecision about going to war with such powerful countries, but partly to the complicated system of command. The Army and Navy each had its own Supreme Command, and both of them, under the constitution of 1889, had become virtually independent of the civil government. Cooperation in planning and in execution took place only at top levels. Even when Imperial General Headquarters was established under the nominal command of Emperor Hirohito (the constitutional supreme commander), the separate command system was rigidly followed.
In September 1931 the Japanese Imperial Army invades Manchuria, and refugees flee their burning cities. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
In September 1931 the Japanese Imperial Army invades Manchuria, and refugees flee their burning cities. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article.
On March 18, 1942, the federal War Relocation Authority (WRA) was established to “take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.”.
In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, approximately 120,000 civilians died. Japan formally surrendered in September 1945.
Origins. Japanese expansion in East Asia began in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria and continued in 1937 with a brutal attack on China. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the " Axis .".
Japanese expansion in East Asia began in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria and continued in 1937 with a brutal attack on China. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the " Axis ." Seeking to curb Japanese aggression and force a withdrawal of Japanese forces from Manchuria and China, the United States imposed economic sanctions on Japan. Faced with severe shortages of oil and other natural resources and driven by the ambition to displace the United States as the dominant Pacific power, Japan decided to attack the United States and British forces in Asia and seize the resources of Southeast Asia.
On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, thus entering the military alliance known as the " Axis .". Seeking to curb Japanese aggression and force a withdrawal of Japanese forces from Manchuria and China, the United States imposed economic sanctions on Japan. Faced with severe shortages ...
Japanese troops also invaded neutral Thailand ...
Japanese troops also invaded neutral Thailand and pressured its leaders to declare war on the United States and Great Britain.
The turning point in the Pacific war came with the American naval victory in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The Japanese fleet sustained heavy losses and was turned back.
In addition to hopping from one less-defended island to another, the Allies’ Pacific strategy developed another key feature: soldiers, sailors, and US Marines pressed forward on two fronts. As MacArthur’s troops leapt from island to island in the southwest Pacific, a central Pacific campaign began with the invasion of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands in November 1943. By the end of the year, a two-pronged assault on Japan was well underway.
On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, severely damaging the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war.
Turning Points. In early May 1942, US and Japanese carrier forces clashed in the Battle of the Coral Sea. While both sides suffered major losses, the US Navy checked a major Japanese offensive for the first time.
While both sides suffered major losses, the US Navy checked a major Japanese offensive for the first time. Then, in the Battle of Midway the following month, US carrier aircraft dealt a devastating blow to the Japanese navy, destroying four aircraft carriers. The battle marked the first major US victory against Japan and was a turning point in the war.#N#By shifting the balance of naval power in the Pacific, Midway allowed US forces to take the offensive for the first time. The Allies soon set their sights on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and on New Guinea.
The battle marked the first major US victory against Japan and was a turning point in the war. By shifting the balance of naval power in the Pacific, Midway allowed US forces to take the offensive for the first time. The Allies soon set their sights on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and on New Guinea.
In August 1942, the United States mounted its first major amphibious landing in World War II at Guadalcanal, using innovative landing craft built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans. By seizing a strategic airfield site on the island, the United States halted Japanese efforts to disrupt supply routes to Australia and New Zealand. The invasion ignited a ferocious struggle marked by seven major naval battles, three major land battles, and almost continuous air combat as both sides sought to control Henderson Field, named after Loy Henderson, an aviator killed at the Battle of Midway. For six long months US forces fought to hold the island. In the end they prevailed, and the Allies took the first vital step in driving the Japanese back in the Pacific theater.
The Return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast in 1945 . On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, that ultimately laid the foundation for the forced removal and subsequent incarceration of over 125,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry, two thirds of whom were American citizens.
The war years at the Naval Academy not only produced a slew of war heroes, but also the academy’s first and only U.S. President, James Earl Carter, Jr., ’47.
Seaplane trainers based in hangars on the Severn were utilized instead. Midshipman Wesley A. Brown, circa 1949. He graduated in that year from the U.S. Naval Academy, the first African American to graduate from that institution (NH 91342).
Lieutenant Richard M. McCool, Jr., is presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman at the White House, Washington, DC on 18 December 1945. The medal was awarded for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while McCool was commanding officer of USS LCS (L)-22 off Okinawa in June 1945 (80-G701648).
The Navy’s first Medal of Honor recipient in World War II was Lieutenant Edward “Butch” O’Hare of the Class of 1937. On 20 February 1942, O’Hare placed his F4F Wildcat fighter between his ship, the Lexington (CV-2), and an advancing enemy formation of nine twin-engine bombers.
USS Augusta (CA-31) decommissioned ten months after the end of WWII. The post-WWII press release above announced the reinstatement of “dress ship” (flying of all pennants and lights on holidays) a custom of the sea which the US Navy suspended after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.
The WWI battleship USS Arkansas (BB-33) was, by 1945, old, slow, and thoroughly obsolete. The US Navy’s oldest frontline battleship at the end of WWII, USS Arkansas was decommissioned and sunk as a nuclear target.
The US Navy’s oldest frontline battleship at the end of WWII, USS Arkansas was decommissioned and sunk as a nuclear target. The remaining New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania class battleships were also all quickly decommissioned and disposed of, as they would have no role in any future war.
USS Dolphin was a “bridge” between the WWI-era subs before, and the Sargo, Tambor, Gato, and Balao classes later of WWII. A distinguishing trait was a watertight hangar for a smallboat; when USS Dolphin was being designed there was concern that unrestricted submarine warfare might later be classified as a war crime.