War in the Pacific

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War in the Pacific
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Background

• Japan invades China in 1937.
• Japan joins the Axis in Sept 1940.
• US, British, and Dutch impose oil embargo in July
  1941 on Japan
• Japanese expect armed conflict with U.S. continue
  false negotiations.
• US population focused on war in Europe.

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Situation

• Growing Japanese Empire starved for resources
• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
• Pre-emptive Strike
• Successful opening offensive!
• Border extended 14,200mi
• Over half the earths circumference
• Each attack in an area larger then European and
  Mediterranean Theatres combined

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Defensive Phase
Offensive Phase
Pearl Harbor Wake Is. Kiska/Attu
Aleutians Philippines (Bataan) Guam
Turning Point
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Midway - June 1942

• Japanese get greedy.
• Not satisfied w/ original perimeter.
• Want base to bomb Hawaii.
• Destroy US naval fleet.
• US breaks Japanese code.
• Jap. complex plan with many targets.
• Aleutians, Midway, Fleet, etc.
• First naval battle fought entirely with
  airplanes.

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Midway The Tide Turns

• Japanese lose four heavy carriers, all planes,
  and many of their best pilots
• US loses A/CC USSYorktown.

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Defensive Phase
Offensive Phase
Tarawa Marianas (Saipan, Tinian, Guam) Iwo
Jima Okinawa Firebombing Tokyo
Pearl Harbor Wake Is. Kiska/Attu
Aleutians Philippines (Bataan) Guam
Hiroshima, Nagasaki
Turning Point
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Offensive Phase

• Twin Thrusts
• MacArthur from south
• Purpose
• Push back and destroy the enemy
• By-Pass enemy strongholds
• Regain the Philippines

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Offensive in the Southern Pacific
MacArthur
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Twin Thrusts Nimitz

• Nimitz from across the Pacific
• Carrier Fleet vulnerable to land air bases
• Purpose
• Cut the enemy in two
• Break enemy will to fight
• Firebombing
• Prepare to invade Japan

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Offensive in the Central Pacific
Nimitz
Tarawa
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• 1943
• (Mac) March Bismark Sea
• (Nim) November Tarawa and Makin (Gilberts)
• 1944
• (Nim) February Kwajalein Eniwetok (Marshalls)
• (Mac) February-June New Guinea
• (Nim) June-August Saipan, Tinian, Guam
  (Marianas)
• B29s able to bomb Japan
• (Mac Nim) October Leyte Gulf
• Destroyed much of Japanese Navy
• Largest Naval Battle in History

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LVT Landing Vehicle, Tracked

• Amphibious Tractor or AmphTrac or Amtrac or
  Alligator

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Flame Throwers Filled with Napalm Gasoline
mixed with naphtha that sticks to flesh and burns
extremely hot flames.
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Iwo Jima (Nimitz)

• 9 Feb 1945
• Objective Capture Airfields
• 1st wave of Marines gets ashore easily but then
  Japanese attack.
• 2 days - Southern half of island in US control.
• Takes 34 more days to secure remainder
• (8 square miles total).

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Iwo Jima

• Throwing human flesh against reinforced
  concrete.
• 36 days, 26,000 US casualties including 6,800
  Killed 
• 27 Medals of Honor awarded.   
• ONLY 1,000 out of 20,000 Japanese survived   
• By the end of the war 2,400 B-29s w/ 27,000
  crewmen made unscheduled landings on IWO.

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• Using the data below, create a bar graph or line
  graph showing U.S. casualties in the Pacific
  theater in WWII.
• What trends can you identify?
• Make a prediction of the casualties of an
  invasion of Japan.

Battle American Dead American Wounded Tarawa
(Gilberts) 1,001 2,300 Guam (Marianas) 3,000
7,000 Saipan (Marianas) 3,426 13,160 Iwo
Jima 6,000 17,200 Okinawa 12,500 35,500
Japan ????? ?????
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1945

• February-March Iwo Jima (Nim.)
• March Tokyo raids
• Low level fire-bombing runs.
• Kills 80,000 Japanese civilians
• Designed to force surrender but didnt.
• April-June Okinawa (Nim.)
• Japanese home island very tough resistance
• August
• 6th Hiroshima
• 9th Nagasaki
• 15th Japan surrenders.
• September 2 VJ Day

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A New Formula for Mass Destruction

• Japan warned, but refused to surrender.
• Planners estimate 3-5x as many casualties as at
  Okinawa.
• Hiroshima
• 6 August 1945
• 60-70k killed or missing
• Nagasaki
• 9 August
• 40k killed
• Logical outcome of Total War?

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