Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs
Lesson 15 The War in the Pacific, The Offensive
Phase
2
Learning Objectives

• comprehend the political and economic forces
  which led Japan to strike at Pearl Harbor and the
  colonial possessions of the U.S., Britain, and
  the Netherlands and the relationship of these
  forces to Japan's ultimate defeat.
• comprehend the Japanese strategy for an early
  victory and their concept of the postwar Pacific
  power balance.

3
Learning Objectives

• comprehend the impact of Pearl Harbor and the
  subsequent Battles of Coral Sea and Midway on the
  transformation of the aircraft carrier's role in
  naval warfare.
• know (list) the significant highlights of the
  evolution of U.S. operational strategy in the
  Pacific, including turning point battles or
  campaigns and instances where strategy was flawed
  or ambiguous.

4
Learning Objectives

• know (identify) the strategic significance of
  the employment and refinement of amphibious
  landing tactics by the U.S. Navy and Marine
  Corps.
• comprehend the reasons the geopolitical world
  order was changed as a result of Japan's actions
  in striking at the Western Powers in 1941.

5
U.S. Aircraft Production

• Japan and Germany had early advantage in air war
• Messerschmit ME-109
• Mitsubishi A6M Zero
• U.S. aircraft industry produces higher
  performance aircraft
• American industrial base allows rapid and mass
  production
• New flight training programs developed
• U.S. gains advantage in air warfare
• Air supremacy eventually established in both
  European and Pacific theaters

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A6M Zero or Zeke

• Fighter

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F2A Buffalo

• Fighter

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F4F Wildcat

• Fighter

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Wildcats on the Prowl
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F6F Hellcat

• Fighter

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F4U Corsair

• Fighter

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SBD Dauntless

• Dive Bomber

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SB2C Helldiver

• Dive Bomber

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TBF Avenger

• Torpedo Bomber

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PBY Catalina

• Scout

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U.S. Submarine Force
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U.S. Submarine Warfare

• Simultaneously with Dual advance, US conducts war
  on commerce
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ordered
  immediately after Pearl Harbor -- new role for
  U.S. submarines
• Early operational problems - 1942-43
• Undependable torpedoes - poorly designed magnetic
  fusing.
• Many commanders were excessively cautious.

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Subs in Battle

• Bataan and Corregidor, Philippines
• Supplied by submarines from the Asiatic Fleet
• Evacuation of personnel
• Battle of Midway
• Guarded approaches to the island
• Guadalcanal Campaign
• Begin to be more effective at fleet operations

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U.S. Submarine Warfare

• Late 1943
• Torpedo fusing problems corrected
• Radar installed and sonar improved
• Central Pacific Advance
• Initially uncontested by Japanese Navy
• Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf
• U.S. submarines support fleet and amphibious
  operations
• Japanese battleship and carriers sunk

21
U.S. Submarine Warfare

• Search and rescue of downed naval aviators
• Commerce raiding of Japanese shipping from East
  Indies
• By 1945 - 3/4 of the Japanese merchant fleet
  sunk
• High casualty rates among submarine crews
• Rotation policy 20 of crew transferred after
  each patrol.

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Japanese Submarine Warfare

• Long Lance torpedo - smaller variant for
  submarines
• Focused attacks on U.S. warships and avoided
  supply ships
• Used to screen and scout for battle fleets
• Warrior ethos of Japanese naval leaders
• Used for supply of bypassed garrisons

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Japanese Submarine Warfare

• Battle of Midway
• Failed to intercept U.S. carrier forces
• Torpedoed USS Yorktown under tow
• Guadalcanal Campaign
• USS Saratoga torpedoed January 1942
• USS Wasp sunk
• USS Indianapolis sunk -- July 1945 - shark
  attacks

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Prelude to Guadalcanal

• Japanese leadership shocked by defeat at Midway
• Cancel plans to take Fiji, Samoa, and New
  Caledonia
• Must proceed with plan to take Port Moresby
• Within bomber range of major naval operating base
  at Rabaul
• Japanese begin building airfield at Guadalcanal

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Prelude to Guadalcanal

• Nimitz moves to reinforce South Pacific Area
• Protect vital sea lines of communication with
  Australia.
• Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley
• Commander South Pacific Ocean Area (Subordinate
  to Nimitz).
• Two bases established in New Hebrides.

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Army - Navy Dispute

• MacArthur proposes retaking Rabaul
• Wants Navy to let him borrow First Marine
  Division
• Admiral King
• Objects to Macarthur's plan
• Proposes step-by-step advance through Solomons to
  re-take Rabaul.
• Nimitz and Ghormley in command with Marines
  making amphibious assaults and Navy providing
  support.
• Army forces used as garrisons for islands

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Operation Watchtower

• Compromise Three-Stage Plan of Operations
• Initial advance in Eastern Solomons under Nimitz
• Boundary between Areas moved west
• MacArthur takes command after Tulagi secured

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Gudalcanal Campaign Aug 1942-Feb 1943
33

Guadalcanal

• Whoever controlled an airfield would control air
  over the Solomons
• Vital SLOC
• For both sides it symbolized offensive rather
  than defensive warfare

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Force Commanders

• Admiral Robert L. Ghormley overall command of
  Watchtower
• Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner - Amphibious
  Forces
• Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher carrier group
• Provided support against Japanese fleet during
  day

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GeneralArcher Vandegrift

• Commander - First Marine Division
• Amphibious landing virtually unopposed
• Marines take Henderson Field - Cactus Air
  Force.

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Guadalcanal River Crossing
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See-Saw Pattern

• Japan dominates nighttime action.
• Tokyo Express down The Slot into Ironbottom
  Sound
• U.S. dominates daytime with shore and carrier
  aircraft

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Actions

• Battle of Savo Island, 8-9 August 1942
• Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 August 1942
• Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26-27 October,
  1942
• Naval Battle of Gudalcanal, 12-13 November, 1942

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Guadalcanal Campaign

• Battle of Savo Island - Allies defeated in night
  surface action
• Battle of the Eastern Solomons - carrier battle
• USS Enterprise damaged by bombers
• USS Wasp sunk and Saratoga damaged by Japanese
  submarines

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Battle of Santa Cruz Islands

• Halsey relieves Ghormley - 18 October 1942
• Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid
• Hornet sunk and Enterprise damaged
• No operational carriers left
• Zuiho and Shokaku badly damaged
• Tactical defeat by strategic victory?maybe

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Naval Battle

• Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee
• uses RADAR to his advantage to win nighttime
  naval battle
• Washington and South Dakota outfight Japanese
  battleships
• Warships flee
• Transports beach themselves

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Guadalcanal Campaign

• 1st Marine Division relieved by Armys 25th
  Infantry Division
• Japanese forces evacuate Guadalcanal
• U.S. forces begin advance up Solomon Islands
• Land-based airfields established
• Marine Corps Black Sheep Squadron (VMF-214)
• Commanded by Maj Greg Pappy Boyington
• Medal of Honor Recipient
• MacArthur drives Japanese from eastern Papua
• Captures main Japanese base at Buna

44
Aftermath

• Both sides suffered heavy losses
• U.S loses more tonnage at sea, carriers
• Japan loses more lives
• Japan allowed to dominate sea at night while U.S.
  dominates day
• Battle drags on from Aug 42- Feb 43

45
Aftermath

• MacArthur successful in driving Japanese from
  Papuan Peninsula
• By Feb 43 Jap plans for offensives in S. and W
  Pacific stopped cold
• King uses Casablanca Conference to allocate more
  resources to Pacific

46
Reconquest of Attu and Kiska Aleutian Islands
(January - May 1943)

• No real threat to security.
• Necessary to end Japanese control of American
  territory for political reasons.
• Battle of the Komondorskis
• Last classic surface ship battle.
• Americans attack heavily guarded Japanese convoy.
• Minimal resistance on Attu, none on Kiska.

47
Operation Cartwheel

• The Solomons Campaign
• Halsey goes to work for McArthur
• Leads Amphibious Assault from Guadalcanal along
  Solomons
• McArthur wants direct assault on Rabaul
• King and Marshall overrule him
• Capture every island BUT Rabaul to isolate it
• Rabaul becomes isolated and insignificant
• On to the Phillipines (October 1944)

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The Defeat of Japan
Objective The Philippines and the penetration
of the Japanese inner defense zone!
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The Advance

• Pacific Thrust
• Amphib support
• Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance
• Significant campaigns
• Gilberts
• Marshalls
• Marianas

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Essex Class Fast Carrier
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The Gilberts (Tarawa)

• New fleet organization due to new Essex Class
  carrier fleet production
• Objective to gain airfield on Betio Island to
  launch further attacks in Central Pacific Drive
• 3 days cost US gt 3,000 marines

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Marines at Tarawa
53
Kwajalein Atoll
Tarawa
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The Marshalls

• After the Gilberts, concern for death toll in
  Marshalls
• Nimitz orders RADM MITSCHER attack on Airpower
• Destroys Jap Force
• Kwajalein success furthers to the rest of the
  islands
• Total Marshall loss less than first day of Tarawa
• Onto Marianas

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The Marianas

• Draws out Japanese Fleet
• Battle of Philippine Sea, 19-20 June 1944 The
  Great Marianas Turkey Shoot
• 346 Jap planes downed
• 3 Jap carriers sunk
• Classic Mahanian engagement

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Liberation of the Philippines

• U.S. advance continues after Marianas Campaign
• Macarthur's forces capture New Guinea
• Air strikes in the Phillipines wipe out two
  hundred aircraft
• Bypass smaller islands and head to Leyte Gulf
  early
• from 20 December to 20 October

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BattleofLeyte Gulf
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Battle of Leyte Gulf 24-25 October 1944

• Largest battle in all of naval history
• U.S. command structure remains divided and
  confused
• U.S. landings in Leyte Gulf
• MacArthur returns

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BattleofLeyte Gulf

• In case opportunity for destruction of the major
  portion of the enemy fleet is offered or can be
  created, such destruction becomes the primary
  task. -- Standing Order of
  Fleet Admiral Nimitz
• Where is, repeat where is, Task Force 34? The
  world wonders. -- Nimitz (message to Halsey
  during the battle.)

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AdmiralMarc Mitscher

• Commander
• Fast Carrier Task Force
• Battle of Leyte Gulf

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Battle of Leyte Gulf

• Japanese Combined Fleet divided into three
  forces
• Northern
• Central
• Southern
• Japanese defeated in a series of separate
  engagements.
• Effective end of Japanese Navys ability to
  control the sea.

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Battle of Leyte Gulf
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Japanese Kamikaze Squadrons

• Explosives loaded aboard aircraft.
• Japanese pilots fly one-way suicide attack
  missions against U.S. fleet.
• First used at Leyte Gulf.

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USS Lexington (CV 16)

• Essex Class Fast Carrier
• Mitschers Flagship -- Battle of Leyte Gulf

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AdmiralThomas Kinkaid

• Commander
• U.S. Seventh Fleet
• Battle of Leyte Gulf

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The Sands of Iwo Jima Mount Suribachi
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The Road to Japan

• Iwo Jima
• Okinawa

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Iwo Jima

• Emergency landing field and fighter escort base
  desired.
• Midway between Marianas and Tokyo
• Support B-29 Superfortress strategic bombing of
  Japan
• 26,000 casualties
• 2,400 Emergency landings - 27,000 aircrew
• General Holland Smith
• Iwo Jima was the most savage and most costly
  battle in the history of the Marine Corps.
• Admiral Nimitz
• Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

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Okinawa Campaign April-June 1945

• Staging base for invasion of Kyushu
• Joint amphibious operation
• Marines under Army command
• Japanese use delaying tactics at the beach
• Continued heavy resistance inland

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Okinawa Campaign

• Kamikaze raids continue
• 34 U.S. ships sunk
• 4,900 Sailors killed in action
• Over 40,000 U.S. casualties
• Carrier groups begin raids on Japanese home
  islands.
• U.S. has established complete control of the
  seas.

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USS Benjamin Franklin

• -- Damaged in Kamikaze raid during invasion of
  Okinawa - March 1945.

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Japanese Battleship Yamato

• Sunk by U.S. carrier-based aircraft during
  Okinawa Campaign.
• 7 April 1945

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U.S. Carrier Raidson theJapaneseHome
IslandsJuly 1945
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Manhattan Project Atomic Bombs

• President Truman orders two bombings.
• Hiroshima - 6 August 1945
• Nagasaki - 9 August 1945
• Believed potential for casualties during a
  prolonged struggle for the Japanese home islands
  is too high.

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Hiroshima
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Japan Surrenders

• Japanese officially surrender aboard USS Missouri
  in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
• MacArthur commands U.S. army of occupation.

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Learning Objectives

• comprehend the political and economic forces
  which led Japan to strike at Pearl Harbor and the
  colonial possessions of the U.S., Britain, and
  the Netherlands and the relationship of these
  forces to Japan's ultimate defeat.
• comprehend the Japanese strategy for an early
  victory and their concept of the postwar Pacific
  power balance.

82
Learning Objectives

• comprehend the impact of Pearl Harbor and the
  subsequent Battles of Coral Sea and Midway on the
  transformation of the aircraft carrier's role in
  naval warfare.
• know (list) the significant highlights of the
  evolution of U.S. operational strategy in the
  Pacific, including turning point battles or
  campaigns and instances where strategy was flawed
  or ambiguous.

83
Learning Objectives

• know (identify) the strategic significance of
  the employment and refinement of amphibious
  landing tactics by the U.S. Navy and Marine
  Corps.
• comprehend the reasons the geopolitical world
  order was changed as a result of Japan's actions
  in striking at the Western Powers in 1941.

84
Discussion
Next time the Navy and the Early Cold War