Japan China

Canada

USA

The Pacific Ocean SE Asia

Australia

The Pacific War

Dates: July 7, 1937 - August 14, 1945 Began with the Second Sino-Japanese war, between China and Japan Concluded with Japans surrender to the Allied powers

Prelude to War
Japan seeks to establish The Greater East Asia CoProsperity Sphere a bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers Invasions of Manchuria and Korea follow Three political forces in Japan: Emperor Hirohito Civilian Government Military branches The army informs the civilian govt of the Manchuria campaign two months after it begins.

Prewar

1932

1937

B
D

ABCD Encirclement

1940

1941

Dec 8/7 1941

Fleet Admiral Yamamoto

The US fleet is a dagger pointed at our throat and must be destroyed.
I can run wild for six months,after that, I have no expectation of success. - Yamamoto, during discussions on the planned Pearl Harbour Attack
Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Attack on Pearl Harbour

Dec 7, 1941. A day that will live in infamy

Pearl Harbour

Japanese Aircraft

Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter

Nakajima B5N torpedo bomber

Aichi D3A dive bomber

The Attack

The Attack

Aftermath

"Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful. - Winston Churchill

1941

1942

Bataan Death March April 1942

12,000 Americans walked 60 miles to a POW camp No food or water 5,000 died

Battle of Coral Sea

May 7, 1942 Strategic Allied victoryhalted the Japanese advance on Australia
First naval battle carried out entirely by aircraft. The enemy ships never even came into contact with each other

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 Navys carrier forces.

Midway Order of Battle

US forces: 3 carriers ~50 support ships 233 carrier aircraft

Japanese forces:
4 carriers 7 battleships

~150 support ships

248 carrier aircraft 16 floatplanes

127 land-based aircraft

Plan of Attack

The Battle of Midway

The first major carrier vs. carrier engagement Decided by cryptanalysis, tactics, radar, pilot skill, weather, and luck.

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

The Battle of Midway

US forces: 3 carriers, 1 lost ~50 support ships, 1 destroyer lost 360 aircraft, 98 lost 307 dead

Japanese forces:
4 carriers, 4 lost 7 battleships, 0 lost

~150 support ships, 1 cruiser lost

264 aircraft, 228 lost

3058 dead

1943-1944

Strategic Bombing
B-29 Superfortress bombers

Island-Hopping Warfare

American and Australian troops land in Borneo

Guadalcanal8/42-2/43
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

Island-Hopping Warfare
American Troops assaulting Iwo Jima

1944-1945

The Final Year

The US retakes the Philippines in a long and costly campaign. Borneo, Iwo Jima and the Okinawa fall, with heavy losses on both sides. The military leadership of Japan refuses to give up, in spite of the loss of the bulk of their forces. An edict is issued, ordering civilians on the main Japanese islands to construct bamboo spears and meet the invaders on the beaches. US Bombers produce a firestorm in Tokyo, killing 100,000 people in two days. The US, Britain and China issue the Potsdam Declaration, demanding Japans surrender.

Iwo Jima
February-March 1945 Island off the coast of JapanJapanese soil deeply Volcanic island entrenched 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 groundAllies rarely saw a soldier The battle was won inch-by-inch

Iwo Jima
Results: US win Provides a link in the chain of bomber bases By the wars end, 2,400 B-29 bombers and 27,000 crewmen made emergency landings. 4 marines raising US flag

Okinawa
Casualties
US12,500 killed; 36,000 wounded Japan93,000 troops killed; 94,000 civilians killed (many killed themselves)

Kamikazessuicide pilots
Crashed planes loaded with explosives Sank 30 US vessels

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 meters Damaged Houses: 18,409 Casualties Killed------73,884 Injured-----74,909 Total------148,793 (Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.)

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

Japan Surrenders

Representatives of Japans Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

The Cost
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. The list continues