meanwhile…..in the pacific theater
DESCRIPTION
Meanwhile…..In the Pacific Theater. Battle of Leyte Gulf. Japan tries to destroy entire American Fleet Backfired – lost their entire fleet instead US forces land on Philippines First use of Kamikazes. Kamikaze. Means “Divine Wind ” Suicide attacks - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Meanwhile…..In the Pacific Theater
Battle of Leyte GulfJapan tries to destroy entire American
FleetBackfired – lost their entire fleet instead
US forces land on PhilippinesFirst use of Kamikazes
Kamikaze• Means “Divine Wind”
• Suicide attacks
• Over 40 ships sunk by Kamikazes at Battle of Leyte Gulf
• Psychological attack
Battle Of Iwo Jima • Key island – provide airbases
to bomb Japan
• Feb. – March – 1945
• 18,000 Japanese soldiers present at battle
• Only 216 taken prisoner
• Americans killed – (6800)o Greater than total on D-Day
Battle Of Okinawa • Largest amphibious assault –
Pacific Theater
• April – June 1945
• 110,000 Japanese soldiers killed
• 34 U.S. ships destroyed by Kamikazes
• U.S. o 12,000 deado 36,000 wounded
• Last major campaign of Pacific War.
Firebombing of TokyoMarch 9-10, 1945
300 American planes½ million incendiary
bombs dropped
100,000 die in ONE night
Goal: destroy Japanese morale
Manhattan Project• Atomic bomb project – U.S.
• Robert Oppenheimer
• Trinity Test – first ever successful atomic bomb
• Birth of the Atomic Age
• 2 bombs Fat Man - NagasakiLittle Boy - Hiroshima
Hiroshima• August 6, 1945
• B-29 “Superfortres” Enola Gay drops 1st atomic bomb in history
• Destroyed about 70% of the city
• 80,000 people killed
• Japanese = no surrender
Nagasaki• August 9, 1945
• B-29 Super fortress Bockscar
• 75,000 killed
• Hundreds of thousands dies from after effects
• Japanese agree to surrender
Japanese Surrender• September 2, 1945
• Tokyo Bay, Japan
• USS Missouri
• Japanese surrender to Gen MacArthur
• End of WWII
• VJ Day – Victory in Japan