Pearl Harbor—December 7, 1941

In 1940, the Japanese government allied their country with Nazi Germany, and, in the following year, occupied all of Indochina. The U.S. was alarmed by these Japanese moves, embarked on a program of strengthening its military power in the Pacific, and cut off the shipment of oil and other raw materials to Japan.

Because Japan was poor in natural resources, its government viewed these steps, especially the embargo on oil, as a threat to the nation’s survival. Japan’s leaders responded by resolving to seize the resource-rich territories of Southeast Asia, even though that move would certainly result in war with the United States

The problem with the plan was the danger posed by the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, devised a plan to immobilize the U.S. fleet at the outset of the war with a surprise attack.

The Japanese aircrews achieved complete surprise when they hit U.S. ships and military installations on Oahu shortly before 8:00 a.m. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the simultaneous attacks was to destroy the U.S. planes before they could rise to intercept the Japanese.

Of the more than 90 ships in Pearl Harbor, the primary targets were the eight battleships anchored there.

When the attack ended shortly before 10:00 a.m., less than two hours after it began, the American forces had paid a fearful price. Twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged, including all eight battleships. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, the majority hit before they had a chance to take off. American dead numbered 2,403. Japanese losses were comparatively light. Twenty-nine planes, less than 10 percent of the attacking force, failed to return to their carriers.

The Japanese success was overwhelming, but it was not complete. They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which, by a stroke of luck, had been absent from the harbor. The U.S. raised and repaired all but three of the ships sunk or damaged. Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was translated into a wholehearted commitment to victory in World War II.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66-1.htm

Midway—June 4-7, 1942

The Battle of Midway, fought near the Central Pacific island of Midway, is considered the decisive battle of the war in the Pacific. Before this battle the Japanese were on the offensive, capturing territory throughout Asia and the Pacific. By their attack, the Japanese had planned to capture Midway to use as an advance base, as well as to entrap and destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet

In the Japanese view, the capture of Midway Island would allow Japan to pursue its Asian policies behind an impregnable eastern shield of defenses in the Central Pacific. The centerpiece of this plan was a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway. If the U.S. Pacific Fleet responded to the landings on Midway, Japanese carrier and battleship task forces, waiting unseen to the west of the Midway strike force, would fall upon and destroy the unsuspecting Americans. If successful, the plan would effectively eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet for at least a year and provide a forward outpost from which ample warning of any future threat by the U.S. would come.

Thanks to American signals intelligence, judicious aircraft carrier tactics, and more than a little luck, the U.S. Navy inflicted a smashing defeat on the Japanese Navy. The Japanese lost the four large carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor, while the Americans only lost one carrier. More importantly, the Japanese lost over one hundred trained pilots, who could not be replaced.

The balance of sea power in the Pacific shifted from Japan to an equity between America and Japan. Soon after the Battle of Midway, the U.S. and their allies would take the offensive in the Pacific.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq81-1.htm

Island-Hopping in the Pacific, 1942-1944

After the Battle of Midway, the Allies were able to launch a counter-offensive. The first stage of the offensive began with the Navy under Admiral Nimitz and Marine landings on Guadalcanal and nearby islands in the Solomons. At the same time, the Army under General MacArthur set out to take New Guinea. After long, bloody struggles, both campaigns succeeded. From this point on, Nimitz and MacArthur engaged in island-hopping campaigns that bypassed strongly-held islands to strike at the enemy’s weak points.

While MacArthur pushed along the New Guinea coast, Nimitz crossed the central Pacific, via the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Carolines, and Palaus. Once the Marianas were taken, it would be possible to use them as bases from which the new long-range B-29 bombers could strike at the heart of Japan.

[In a series of successful but bloody assaults, the US captured the islands of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands; Kwajalein, Roi, and Namur in the Marshalls; Engebi in the Eniwetok Atoll; Truk in the central Carolines; and Saipan, Guam, and Tinian in the Marianas.]

After the loss of Saipan, the Japanese hastily reassembled their fleet and sailed north to defend the Marianas area, but lack of land-based air support made it impossible to surprise the U.S. naval contingents under Admiral Spruance.

In a massive air battle that took place on June 19, 4 days after landings on Saipan, the Japanese lost more than 400 planes to an American loss of less than 30. The Japanese fleet fled westward, but American planes in pursuit were able to sink several vessels, including three carriers.

During this engagement, known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, only three American ships were damaged. This victory paved the way for eventual success in the Marianas.

Capture of the Marianas brought Japan within reach of the Army’s huge new bomber, the B-29, which was able to make a nonstop flight of the 1,400 miles to Tokyo and back. Construction of airfields for the B-29’s began in the Marianas before the shooting had stopped, and in late November 1944 the strategic bombing of Japan began.

The last two major campaigns of the Pacific war—Luzon and Okinawa—were still to come. But Japan was essentially beaten. It was defenseless on the seas; its air force was gone; and its cities were being burned out by incendiary bombs.

http://worldwar2history.info/Pacific/

D-Day, the Normandy Invasion—June 6-25, 1944

Before this battle the German Army still firmly occupied France and the Low Countries, the Nazi government still had access to the raw materials and industrial capacity of Western Europe, and local resistance to Nazi rule was disorganized and not very effective.

An invading army had not crossed the unpredictable, dangerous English Channel since 1688—and once the massive force set out, there was no turning back. The 5000-vessel armada transported over 150,000 men and nearly 30,000 vehicles across the channel to the French beaches. Six parachute regiments—over 13,000 men—were flown from nine British airfields in over 800 planes. More than 300 planes dropped 13,000 bombs over coastal Normandy immediately in advance of the invasion.

By nightfall on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded, but more than 100,000 had made it ashore, securing French coastal villages. And within weeks, supplies were being unloaded at UTAH and OMAHA beachheads at the rate of over 20,000 tons per day.

After overrunning the German beach defenses, the Allies rapidly expanded the individual beachheads. Superior Allied naval and shore-based artillery then helped defeat the initial German counter-attacks at the same time that Allied dominance of the air hindered the transportation of German reinforcements to the region. By 25 July, the Allies were strong enough to begin the liberation of France.

In a larger strategic sense, the successful Allied landing in France was a psychological blow to the German occupation of Europe. It called into question the German Army’s ability to control western Europe, dramatically increased partisan activity against enemy occupation, and heartened the spirits of those fighting the Nazis. The balance of power on the continent, already weakened by Soviet offensives into Poland, was decisively tipped into Allied favor. From that point on, the Allies would begin the drive into Germany that ultimately destroyed the Nazi regime on 7 May 1945.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq109-1.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_info.html

The Battle of the Bulge—12/16/44–1/25/45

The Battle of the Bulge was the last major Nazi offensive, an attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two and destroy their ability to supply themselves by taking the huge port of Antwerp. Because the initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line, it has become known as the Battle of the Bulge.

The battle started with a two-hour bombardment of the Allies lines, followed by a huge armored attack. The Germans experienced great success to start with. Why?

1) The Allies were surprised by the attack. They had received little intelligence that such an attack would take place. 2) Before the attack started, English-speaking German soldiers dressed in American uniforms went behind the lines of the Allies and caused havoc by spreading misinformation, changing road signs and cutting telephone lines. 3) The weather was also in Hitler’s favor. Clouds and fog meant that the superior air force of the Allies could not be used.

However, the success of the Germans lasted just two days. Despite punching a bulge into the Allies front line, the Germans could not capitalize on this. The Germans had based their attack on a massive armored onslaught. However, such an attack required fuel to maintain it and the Germans simply did not possess such quantities of fuel.

By the 22nd, the weather started to clear, allowing the Allies to bring their air power into force. By mid-January, the effect of lack of fuel was becoming evident as the Germans had to simply abandon their vehicles.

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle fought by the Americans in WWII. 600,000 American troops were involved in the battle. The Americans lost 81,000 men.

But Hitler paid an exorbitant price. German casualties were about 100,000 men; at least 800 tanks and about 1,000 planes were destroyed. These losses were irreplaceable. The Ardennes had hurt the Allies, but, in the words of one historian, it had literally “broken the backbone of the (German) western front.” Hitler’s desperate gamble in the West had invited disaster in the East and hastened his final and inevitable defeat.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm

http://www.history.army.mil/books/70-7_20.htm