Chapter 25

Section 4: The War in the Pacific

• Dec. 7th- hours after Pearl, attacked Clark Island, the main American base in the Phillippines

• Dec. 8th Japanese forces attacked American bases on Wake Island

• Dec. 10th- Attacked Guam

• MacArthur was the commanding General (at Clark Island)

–Failed to prepare & the Japanese destroyed about ½ of the planes lined up in rows on the ground

• Days later landed on Luzon

–MacArthur withdrew most of his troops southward & set up defenses

–No hope for a rescue, FDR ordered MacArthur to go to Australia

–Made a promise to his army “I shall return”

The Japanese Advance 1941-1942

• Hoped the US would withdraw, leaving east access to natural resources of southeast Asia

• Oil & rubber would give Japan economic freedom

• Japan attacked a number of other Allied colonies in Dec 1941

• By March they seized Hong Kong, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya, & invaded Burma

The Phillippines Fall

• Most of Bataan’s defenders surrendered in April 1942

–11,000 Americans & Filipinos surrenders on May 6

• Captured 76,000 as P.O.W’s

• Faced grueling tropical heat, forced to march 60 miles to a railroad junction to board a train that took them to within 8 miles of an army camp

–They walked the rest of the way

• Many were denied water & rest, many were beaten & tortured

• At least 10,000 died

• Many were executed by the guards when they grew too weak

–Bataan Death March

Defending China & Burma

• China joined the Allies on Dec. 1941

• US already set military advisors & Lend-Lease arms & equipment

• China’s Nationalist leader Chiang Hai-Shek asked American Gen. Joseph Stilwell to serve as his chief of staff

• Led the Chinese armies defending Burma

• The “Flying Tigers” fared poorly against the Japanese

• Lost control of the Burma Road

The War at Sea

• Goal at Pearl Harbor was to destroy the 3 aircraft carriers that formed the heart of the Pacific Fleet- failed

–The Lexington & the Enterprise had been at sea

–The Saratoga was undergoing repairs in CA

• April 1942- American B-52 medium bombers took off from the Hornet on their own secret mission

–Led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle

–Planes flew to Japan to carry out a counterattack

• Dropped bombs on Tokyo & other cities before crash landing in China

• Most pilots survived

• Caused little physical damage, but shocked Japan’s leadership & boosted American morale

• Japanese force continued to advance across the Pacific

• The fall of the Dutch East Indies opened the way to Australia

• May 1942- Battle of the Coral Sea–Aircraft launched from carriers

bombed & strafed enemy ships more than 70 miles

–5 day battle cost both sides more than ½ of their planes

–Prevented the Japanese from invading Australia

• First naval combat carried out entirely by aircraft

–Enemy ships never came within sight of one another

Allied Victories Turn the Tide

• Summer of 1941 Soviet Union resisted German attacks

• Allies prepared to invade north Africa

• 2 critical battles took place in the Pacific

The Battle of Midway

• Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku hoped to destroy what remained of the US Pacific Fleet by luring it into battle near Midway Island (1,100 miles northwest of Hawaii)

• Opened June 4, 1942 with a wave of Japanese bomber attacks on the island & an unsuccessful American strike on the Japanese fleet

• Fought entirely from the air

• First American planes tried to fend off Japanese carriers

• Then Americans carriers intervened, surprised the Japanese as they were refueling, fuel hoses caught fire

–Sank 3 of the 4 carriers & finished the 4th later that day

• Japanese planes were able to sink the Yorktown

• After Midway, Japan was unable to launch any more offensive operations in the Pacific

The Battle of Guadalcanal

• Allies goal was now to capture Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, where the Japanese were building an airfield to threaten nearby Allied bases

• 11,000 marines landed in August 1942

• 2,200 Japanese fled into the jungle

• American Navy took control of the waters in November, limiting Japanese troop landings

Struggle for the Islands

• Island hopping- by capturing only a few crucial islands, the US effectively cut off the bypassed islands from supplies & reinforcements

Island hopping in the Pacific

• 1943-44 Allies pushed north from Australia & west across the central Pacific

• Forces under Gen. MacArthur & Adm. William Halsey leap-frogged through the Solomon Islands

• Adm. Nimitz hopped around the Gilbert Islands, seizing Tanawa, then used it to launch bombing raids on Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands

• Feb. 1944, these attacks crippled Japanese air power, allowing Nimitz to seize Kwajalein & Eniwetok

• Captured parts of Mariana Islands in June

–For the first time, Japan was within reach of long range US bombers

The Philippines Campaign

• Mid Oct- 160,000 US troops invaded the Philippines island of Leyte

• Greatest naval battle in world history developed off the coast

–Battle of Leyte Gulf (3 day battle)

• 280 warships

• First time kamikazes were used

• American force virtually destroyed the Japanese navy & emerged victorious

• Not until June 1945 did the Allies control the Philippines

Iwo Jima & Okinawa

• One of the bloodiest battles took place at Iwo Jima, less than 600 miles from Japan

• The natural terrain protected more than 600 Japanese guns

• Nov. 1944 US bombers began to pound Iwo Jima

• For 74 days, US planes & warships poured nearly 7,000 tons of bombs down

• Mid Feb.- Marines stormed the beaches

–After 3 days, they advanced only 700 yards

• Eventually 110,000 Americans took part in the campaign

• Needed at least a month to secure the island

• Only 219 Japanese were taken prisoner

• US suffered 25,000 casualties

Battle of Okinawa

• Fought from April to June 1945

• Approximately 350 miles from Japan

• Last obstacle to the Allied invasion of the home land

• Allies gathered 1,300 warships & 180,000 combat troops to drive the enemy from Okinawa

• Japanese pilots flew from 2,000 kamikaze attacks against the fleet

–As American soldiers came ashore, defenders made desperate banzai attacks (attacks in which the soldiers tried to kill as many as possible until they themselves were killed)

–June- Japanese resistance finally ended after almost 3 months

The Manhattan Project

• Aug. 1939- FDR received a note from Albert Einstein suggesting that a powerful new type of bomb could be built by the Germans–FDR organized the top secret

Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb

• To make the bomb, scientists had to discover how to create a chain reaction, where particles released from the splitting of one atom would cause another atom to break apart, & so on

–In theory, the energy released by the splitting of so many atoms would produce a massive explosion

• 1942- Enrico Fermi produced the first controlled chain reaction in a lab at the University of Chicago

• July 16, 1945- first bomb was tested in New Mexico

The Decision to Drop the Bomb

• Alternatives to ending the war

–Massive invasion of Japan

–Naval blockade to starve Japan & bombing

–Demonstration of the atomic bomb on a deserted island to pressure Japan to surrender

–Softening of Allied demands for an unconditional surrender

• Interim Committee met Spring 1945 to debate these ideas

• Couldn’t recommend any alternatives

• Final decision rested with Truman

Japan Surrendered

• Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped a single atomic bomb on Hiroshima

–Annihilated the city’s center & its residents in an instant

–80,000 died & at least 80,000 more were injured by fire, radiation sickness, & force of the explosion

• Aug. 9th- a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki

• Aug. 14th- Japan surrendered• Aug. 15th- US celebrated V-J day• Formal surrender agreement was

signed on Sept. 2nd aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay