The Pacific War

1. 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

2. Pearl Harbor • Dec 7, 1941 • “a date which will live in infamy” • Americans taken completely by surprise • The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships • The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities

3. Pearl Harbor

4. Japanese Aircraft Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” Fighter B5N torpedo bomber Aichi D3A dive bomber

5. The Attack

6. The Attack

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 1941

10. 1942

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. The Battle of Midway Japanese forces: 4 carriers, 4 lost 7 battleships, 0 lost ~150 support ships, 1 cruiser lost 264 aircraft, 228 lost 3058 dead US forces: 3 carriers, 1 lost ~50 support ships, 1 destroyer lost 360 aircraft, 98 lost 307 dead

16. 1943-1944

17. 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

18. Kamikaze. • Kamikaze- ‘Divine Wind’. • It became obvious that the US possessed more and better war technology • In desperation Japan ordered her young men to beat the enemy by flying bombs into the enemy (and dying in the process) • These suicide bombers flew planes, or manned suicide torpedoes.

19. 1944-1945

20. Iwo Jima Iwo Jima • February-March 1945 • Island off the coast of Japan—Japanese soil • Longest sustained aerial 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

21. 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”

22. The USS Indianapolis Delivered the first atomic bomb to the US air force in Tinian. July 30 1945 sunk by Japanese submarine off the Philippines on the way home. Because of her ‘special mission’ her journey was ‘secret’. Of 1200 crew, 900 survived the sinking only to find themselves at sea with no rescuers even looking for them. Sharks were quickly attracted and after 4 days only 300 men were left, mostly terrified out of their minds. It was the worst US Navy disaster in history.

23. 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

24. 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 metersDamaged Houses: 18,409CasualtiesKilled------73,884Injured-----74,909Total------148,793(Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.) Little Boy Fat Man

25. Japan Surrenders Representatives of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

26. The Cost of War • 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.