1.
Pacific War
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The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in the Pacific and East Asia. It was fought over a vast area that included the Pacific Ocean and islands, the South West Pacific, South-East Asia, and in China. The Pacific War saw the Allied powers pitted against the Empire of Japan, the formal and official surrender of Japan took place aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. In Allied countries during the war, The Pacific War was not usually distinguished from World War II in general, or was known simply as the War against Japan. Japan used the name Greater East Asia War, as chosen by a decision on 10 December 1941. Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident into the Greater East Asia War, in Japan, the Fifteen Years War is also used, referring to the period from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945. The Phayap Army sent troops to invade and occupy northeastern Burma, also involved were the Japanese puppet states of Manchukuo and Mengjiang, and the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime. The official policy of the U. S. Government is that Thailand was not an ally of the Axis, Japan conscripted many soldiers from its colonies of Korea and Formosa. To a small extent, some Vichy French, Indian National Army, Germany and Italy both had limited involvement in the Pacific War. The German and the Italian navies operated submarines and raiding ships in the Indian, the Italians had access to concession territory naval bases in China, while the Germans did not. After Japans attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declarations of war, mexico, Free France and many other countries also took part, especially forces from other British colonies. Between 1942 and 1945, there were four main areas of conflict in the Pacific War, China, the Central Pacific, South East Asia, U. S. sources refer to two theaters within the Pacific War, the Pacific theater and the China Burma India Theater. However these were not operational commands, in the Pacific, the Allies divided operational control of their forces between two supreme commands, known as Pacific Ocean Areas and Southwest Pacific Area. In 1945, for a period just before the Japanese surrender. By 1937, Japan controlled Manchuria and was ready to move deeper into China, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937 provoked full-scale war between China and Japan. In August 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to fight about 300,000 Japanese troops in Shanghai, the Japanese continued to push the Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanking in December 1937 and committed which was known as Nanking Massacre. In March 1938, Nationalist forces won their first victory at Taierzhuang, but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by Japanese in May. In June 1938, Japan deployed about 350,000 troops to invade Wuhan, the Japanese achieved major military victories, but world opinion—in particular in the United States—condemned Japan, especially after the Panay incident
2.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
3.
Gilbert Islands
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The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They form the part of Kiribati. The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line, as the crow flies it is approximately 420 nautical miles between the northernmost island, Makin, and the southernmost, Arorae. In a geographical sense, the equator serves as the line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. The International Hydrographic Organization considers the Gilberts wholly within the South Pacific Ocean, another method of grouping the Gilbert Islands is by former administrative districts, the Northern, Central, and Southern Gilberts. A group of the southern Gilberts is called the Kingsmill Group, the Gilberts form a continuous chain of seamounts with the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands to the north. In official north-south order, the islands and atolls are, The Northern Gilberts geographically and traditionally encompass Butaritari, Makin, Marakei, Abaiang and they have unique tonal accents with differences particularly noted amongst Butaritari and Makin inhabitants. Traditionally, Butaritari and Makin were ruled by a chief who lived on Butaritari Island, the northern Gilberts have a greater mean rainfall in comparison to the southern and central Gilberts allowing cultivation of a wider crop range. Butaritari and Makin supply most of the bananas sold in Kiribati, the cultivation of taro or babai has been historically easier in the northern Gilberts due to a higher water table and regular rainfall. The Central Gilberts or nuka have traditionally included Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, however, the latter three are considered the main islands that have unique historical and cultural characteristics which distinguish the Central Gilberts from the north and south. Tembinok, the last king of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka died in the part of the 20th century. The Southern Gilberts include the atolls of Nonouti, South and North Tabiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, the islands had been inhabited by Micronesians for several millennia. In 1606 Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sighted Butaritari and Makin, which he named the Buen Viaje Islands, Captain John Byron passed through the islands in 1764 during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of HMS Dolphin. French captain Louis Duperrey was the first to map the whole Gilbert Islands archipelago and he commanded La Coquille on its circumnavigation of the earth. Two ships of the United States Exploring Expedition, USS Peacock and USS Flying Fish, under the command of Captain Hudson, while in the Gilberts, they devoted considerable time to mapping and charting reefs and anchorages. A British protectorate was first proclaimed over the Gilberts by Captain Davis of HMS Royalist on 27 May 1892, British official Arthur Mahaffy visited the Islands in 1909. He noted that the villages are kept in order and the roads are scrupulously clean. A hospital was on island, as well
4.
Marshall Islands
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The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the island group of Micronesia. The countrys population of 53,158 people is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the south-east, about 27,797 of the islanders live on Majuro, which contains the capital. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526. Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed, the islands derive their name from British explorer John Marshall, who visited in 1788. The islands were known by the inhabitants as jolet jen Anij. The European powers recognized Spanish sovereignty over the islands in 1874 and they had been part of the Spanish East Indies formally since 1528. Later, Spain sold the islands to the German Empire in 1884, in World War I the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, which in 1919 the League of Nations combined with other former German territories to form the South Pacific Mandate. In World War II, the United States conquered the islands in the Gilbert, along with other Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the US. Self-government was achieved in 1979, and full sovereignty in 1986, Marshall Islands has been a United Nations member state since 1991. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency, the majority of the citizens of the Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands. The two official languages are Marshallese, which is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, and English, micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship Santa Maria de la Victoria, on August 21, he sighted an island at 14°N that he named San Bartolome. On September 21,1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón commanded the Spanish ship Florida and he stood off a group of islands from which local inhabitants hurled stones at his ship. These islands, which he named Los Pintados, may have been Ujelang, on October 1, he found another group of islands where he went ashore for eight days, exchanged gifts with the local inhabitants and took on water. These islands, which he named Los Jardines, may have been Enewetak or Bikini Atoll
5.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Empire of Japan
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The Empire of Japan was the historical Japanese nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan. Imperial Japans rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei led to its emergence as a world power, after several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, the Empire also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples it conquered. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, Occupation and reconstruction continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose full title is the State of Japan or simply rendered Japan in English. The historical state is referred to as the Empire of Japan or the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku, which translates to Greater Japanese Empire and this is analogous to Großdeutsches Reich, a term that translates to Greater German Empire in English and Dai Doitsu Teikoku in Japanese. This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonym Empire of the Sun. After two centuries, the policy, or Sakoku, under the shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. The following years saw increased trade and interaction, commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the terms of these Unequal Treaties, the Shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement. In March 1863, the Emperor issued the order to expel barbarians, although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, the British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima and they responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. For Richardsons death, the Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity, shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to the Bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the coup known as the Kinmon incident. The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, in early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito. On November 9,1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to the Emperor, however, while Yoshinobus resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. On January 3,1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the palace in Kyoto. On January 17,1868, Yoshinobu declared that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration, on January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces
8.
Chester W. Nimitz
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Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy. Nimitz was the leading U. S. Navy authority on submarines. S, the chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation in 1939, Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States last surviving officer who served in the rank of fleet admiral and his frail, rheumatic father had died six months earlier, on August 14,1884. The best way to get along with either is to all you can, then do your best. His grandfather became a Texas Ranger in the Texas Mounted Volunteers in 1851 and he then served as captain of the Gillespie Rifles Company in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Originally, Nimitz applied to West Point in hopes of becoming an Army officer and his congressman, James L. Slayden, told him that he had one appointment available for the United States Naval Academy and that he would award it to the best qualified candidate. Nimitz felt that this was his opportunity for further education. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Texass 12th congressional district in 1901, Nimitz joined the battleship Ohio at San Francisco, and cruised on her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiser Baltimore, on January 31,1907, remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on the gunboat Panay, destroyer Decatur, and cruiser Denver. The destroyer Decatur ran aground on a bar in the Philippines on July 7,1908 while under the command of Ensign Nimitz. The ship was pulled free the next day, and Nimitz was court-martialed, found guilty of neglect of duty, and issued a letter of reprimand. Nimitz returned to the United States on board USS Ranger when that vessel was converted to a school ship, in May of that year, he was given command of the flotilla, with additional duty in command of USS Plunger, later renamed A-1. He commanded USS Snapper when that submarine was commissioned on February 2,1910, in the latter command, he had additional duty from October 10,1911 as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. On the monitor Tonopah on March 20,1912, he rescued Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action. In the summer of 1913, Nimitz studied engines at the diesel engine plants in Nuremberg, Germany, returning to the New York Navy Yard, he became executive and engineer officer of Maumee at her commissioning on October 23,1916. Under his supervision, Maumee conducted the first-ever underway refuelings, on August 10,1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robison, Commander, Submarine Force, U. S. On February 6,1918, Nimitz was appointed chief of staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for meritorious service as COMSUBLANTs chief of staff. On September 16, he reported to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, from May 1919 to June 1920, he served as executive officer of the battleship South Carolina
9.
Richmond K. Turner
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Richmond Turner was born in Portland, Oregon on May 27,1885, to Enoch and Laura Francis Turner. His father alternated between being a rancher and farmer, and working as a printer in both Portland and Stockton, California. Young Richmond would spend most of his childhood in and around Stockton, with a stop in Santa Ana. He was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy from Californias sixth district, his name put forward by Congressman James Carion Needham and he graduated on June 5,1908 and served in several ships over the next four years. On August 3,1910, he married Harriet Hattie Sterling in Stockton, in 1913, Lieutenant Turner briefly held command of the destroyer USS Stewart. After receiving instruction in engineering and service on board the gunboat Marietta, he was assigned to the battleships Pennsylvania, Michigan. From 1919 to 1922, Lieutenant Commander Turner was an officer at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington. He then was gunnery officer of the battleship California, fleet gunnery officer on the Staff of Commander Scouting Fleet, following promotion to the rank of commander in 1925, Turner served with the Bureau of Ordnance at the Navy Department. He had further aviation-related assignments into the 1930s and was officer of the aircraft carrier Saratoga in 1933–34. Captain Turner attended the Naval War College and served on that staff in 1935–38 as head of the Strategy faculty. Turners final field command was the heavy cruiser Astoria, on a mission to Japan in 1939. Turner was Director of War Plans in Washington, D. C. in 1940–41 and was promoted to rear admiral late in 1941 and it was therefore Turner who made the decision not to send the Commander of the U. S. Prange wrote, If Turner thought a Japanese raid on Hawaii, to be a 50-percent chance, it was his clear duty to say so plainly in his directive to Kimmel. He won the battle for dominance of War Plans over Intelligence, If his estimates had enabled the U. S. to fend off. The Japanese threat at Pearl Harbor, Turner would deserve the appreciation of a grateful nation, by the same token, he could not justly avoid his share of the blame for failure. See also Edwin T. Layton, Kimmels chief intelligence officer, in December 1941, Turner was appointed assistant chief of staff to the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, serving until June 1942. He was then sent to the Pacific to take command of the Amphibious Force, over the next three years, he held a variety of senior Amphibious Force commands as a rear admiral and vice admiral. He helped plan and execute amphibious operations against enemy positions in the south, central and he would have commanded the amphibious component of the invasion of Japan
10.
Marc Mitscher
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Mitscher was born in Hillsboro, Wisconsin on January 26,1887, the son of Oscar and Myrta Mitscher. Mitschers grandfather, Andreas Mitscher, was a German immigrant from Traben-Trarbach and his other grandfather, Thomas J. Shear, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. During the western land boom of 1889, when Marc was two old, his family resettled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his father. His uncle, Byron D. Shear, would become mayor. Mitscher attended elementary and secondary schools in Washington, D. C and he received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1904 through Bird Segle McGuire, then U. S. An indifferent student with a sense of military deportment, Mitschers career at the naval academy did not portend the accomplishments he would achieve later in life. Nicknamed after Annapoliss first midshipman from Oklahoma, Peter Cassius Marcellus Cade, soon he was referred to as Oklahoma Pete, with the nickname shortened to just Pete by the winter of his youngster year. Having amassed 159 demerits and showing poorly in his class work, at the insistence of his father, Mitscher re-applied and was granted reappointment, though he had to re-enter the academy as a first year plebe. This time the stoic Mitscher worked straight through, and on June 3,1910, following graduation he served two years at sea aboard USS Colorado, and was commissioned ensign on March 7,1912. In August 1913, he served aboard USS California on the West Coast, during that time Mexico was experiencing a political disturbance, and California was sent to protect U. S. interests and citizens. Mitscher took an early interest in aviation, requesting a transfer to aeronautics while aboard Colorado in his last year as a midshipman, after graduating he continued to make requests for transfer to aviation while serving on the destroyers USS Whipple and USS Stewart. Mitscher was in charge of the room on USS Stewart when orders to transfer to the Naval Aeronautic Station in Pensacola. Mitscher was assigned to the armored cruiser USS North Carolina, which was being used to experiment as a platform for aircraft. The ship had been fitted with a catapult over her fantail, Mitscher trained as a pilot, earning his wings and the designation Naval Aviator. Mitscher was one of the first naval aviators, receiving No.33 on June 2,1916, almost a year later, on April 6,1917, he reported to the renamed armored cruiser USS West Virginia for duty in connection with aircraft catapult experiments. At this early date the Navy was interested in using aircraft for scouting purposes, lieutenant Mitscher was placed in command of NAS Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, Florida. Dinner Key was the second largest naval air facility in the U. S. and was used to train seaplane pilots, on July 18,1918, he was promoted to lieutenant commander. In February 1919, he transferred from NAS Dinner Key to the Aviation Section in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, on May 10,1919, Mitscher was among a group of naval aviators attempting the first transatlantic crossing by air
11.
Harry W. Hill
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Harry Wilbur Hill was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. Hill was born in Oakland, California on 7 April 1890 and he entered the United States Naval Academy in 1907, graduating in June 1911. From January 1917 he served on the battleship Texas, a part of Battleship Division Nine of the British Grand Fleet during World War I. He transferred in September 1918 to the battleship Wyoming, in which he witnessed the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet upon the cessation of hostilities, in July of that year, he transferred to similar duty on the Staff of Commander Division Six, Pacific Fleet. After serving two months at the Naval Academy, in November 1919 he became Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, where he remained until March 1923. He assisted in fitting out the Concord, at William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia and he served three months from June 1925 as Aide to the Commander in Chief, U. S. Fleet, after which he had duty afloat as Gunnery Officer of the light cruiser Memphis. He was assigned for two years, June 1926 –1928, as Executive Officer of the Receiving Barracks, Hampton Roads, Virginia, then had service from July 1928 to May 1931, as Gunnery Officer of Maryland. He was aboard that battleship in 1929 when she won the Gunnery Trophy, ordered to Bath Iron Works, Commander Hill was in charge of fitting out Dewey, then commanded that destroyer from her commissioning, from 4 October 1934 until 17 June 1935. He was again assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, ordered to sea, Hill assumed command of the heavy cruiser Wichita, which operated for several months on convoy duty with the British Home Fleet to the North Russian port of Murmansk. Hill escorted a convoy that was reported on by Douglas Fairbanks, in response to 4th of July greetings from the British Convoy Commander, Many happy returns of the day. The United States is the country with a known birthday. I think England should celebrate Mother’s Day, detached from command of Wichita on 28 September 1942, he reported as Commander Battleship Division Four, USS Maryland, flagship, serving a year in the South Pacific. He was also commander of a force, which was the first to comprise battleships. He relieved the Commander Fifth Amphibious Force at Okinawa in April 1945, at the close of the war in August 1945, he commanded the Amphibious Force which landed the Sixth Army in Southwestern Japan for occupation duty. In September 1949 he reported as Chairman of the General Board, Navy Department and he continued to serve as such after his retirement on 1 May 1952, until August 1952. Admiral Hill continued to serve on duty from 21 October 1952 until 21 May 1954 as Governor of the Naval Home. Admiral Harry Wilbur Hill died in Annapolis, Maryland on July 19,1971, in 1978, the destroyer USS Harry W. Hill was named in his honor. History. navy. mil, Papers of Vice Admiral Harry W. Hill navysite. de, USS Harry W. Hill
12.
Holland Smith
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Holland McTyeire Howlin Mad Smith, KCB was a general in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He is sometimes called the father of modern U. S. amphibious warfare and his nickname, Howlin Mad Smith, had been given to him by his troops in the Dominican Republic in 1916. On the eve of World War II, General Smith directed extensive Army, Navy, and Marine amphibious training, during the Marianas operation, besides the V Amphibious Corps, he commanded all Expeditionary Troops, including those that recaptured Guam. He then served as the first Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and headed Task Force 56 at Iwo Jima, Holland Smith was born on April 20,1882 in Hatchechubbee, Alabama to John V. Smith and his wife Cornelia Caroline McTyeire. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University in 1901 and he had already decided on a military career and had become first sergeant of a cavalry company in the Alabama National Guard. However, he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alabama in 1903 and practiced law in Montgomery and he then sought a commission in the Army, but as none were then open he was appointed a Marine second lieutenant on March 20,1905. He returned to the United States the following month and was stationed at the Marine Barracks, Annapolis, until December 1909 and he remained with the 1st Brigade until April 1914, when he took command of the Marine Detachment aboard USS Galveston. He served in capacity in Asiatic waters until July 1915. He returned to the United States the following month for duty at the Navy Yard, New Orleans, from there, he was ordered to the Dominican Republic in June 1916, as a member of the 4th Marine Regiment. During that units operations against rebel bandits, he saw action in the march to Santiago and engagements at La Pena and Kilometer 29. Returning to the United States on May 30,1917, he sailed for France, Smiths 8th Machine Gun company was assigned to the French Chasseurs Alpins to learn from the experienced French troops on the tactics of the War. After this time the 8th was assigned to a camp to off load arriving American vessels where Smith became second in command of the camp, on 25 November 1918 Smith was promoted to the temporary rank of major. Smith was detached from the 5th Marines and sent to the Army General Staff College at Langres and he was the first of only six Marines ever to complete this course. He was then named Adjutant of the 4th Marine Brigade, which was a part of the US Armys 2nd Infantry Division, during the fighting in and around Belleau Wood, he played a vital though undramatic role as Brigade liaison officer, overseeing internal communications within the Brigade. For his service at Belleau Wood, Smith was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm by the French government. C, with the War Plans Section of the Office of Naval Operations. There, he was the first Marine officer to serve on the Joint Army-Navy Planning Committee, leaving Washington in May 1923, he served aboard the battleships Wyoming and Arkansas as Fleet Marine Officer, U. S. Scouting Fleet, until September of that year, in April 1931, Smith began another tour of sea duty, this time aboard the USS California as Aide to the Commander and Force Marine Officer of the Battle Force, U. S. Fleet. After the latter assignment, General Smith assumed command of the 1st Marine Brigade at Quantico, taking that unit to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in February 1941, when the brigade was redesignated the U. S
13.
Thomas E. Watson (USMC)
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Lieutenant General Thomas Eugene Watson was a United States Marine Corps General who served in the Marine Corps from 1912 to 1950. His last command was as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, for outstanding services in this capacity, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Thomas Eugune Watson was born on January 18,1892, in Oskaloosa and he attended Penn College in Oskaloosa and on November 11,1912, enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Marine Corps on October 20,1916. For the next three years he was a member of the Second Provisional Brigade in the Dominican Republic and on several occasions participated in engagements with bandits in that country and he returned to the States in April 1919, but one year later was again on foreign shore duty. On this occasion with the Guardia Nacional of the Dominican Republic, three years later, in March 1927, he joined the Third Marine Brigade in China and saw service in Shanghai, Tientsin, and Hsin Ho. Upon return to this country he attended the Field Officers School, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, from October 1930 to February 1934, he was successively U. S. In November 1941, he assumed duties as Executive Officer of the Division of Plans and Policies. During the period April 1 – April 13,1945, the General led the Division as part of Task Group 51.2 in diversionary activities off the coast of Okinawa and as a floating reserve for the U. S. In August 1945, he returned to Headquarters Marine Corps and became Director of Personnel, at that time he assumed command of the Second Marine Division and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. LtGen Watson died on March 6,1966 in a hospital in the Panama Canal Zone and this article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps
14.
Ralph C. Smith
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Major General Ralph Corbett Smith was a senior officer of the United States Army. At his death Smith was the oldest surviving general officer of the Army, born in Nebraska, Smith attended Colorado State College and served in the Colorado National Guard. During World War I Smith was awarded the Silver Star with an Oak-Leaf Cluster for two instances of bravery while serving with the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. He was sent overseas with the 16th Infantry Regiment, part of the 1st Division towards the end of 1917 and he was wounded in action in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the latter half of 1918 and served in occupation duties in Germany after the war. Between the world wars his duties including teaching at the United States Military Academy and attending and he was a temporary colonel when the United States entered World War II in December 1941. In 1942, promoted to general, he served as an assistant division commander of the 76th Infantry Division and later became a major general. In 1943, his division captured Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands while fighting in the Pacific, Marine Corps, commander of the V Amphibious Corps. Marine General Smith contended that under Army General Smith the 27th Division had failed to attack on time, while he worked for CARE he also oversaw operations in other western European countries. Smith retired from the Army in 1948, General Smith was a fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. He died in 1998 of a lung ailment and his first wife, Madeleine, died in 1975. In 1980, he remarried, to Hildy Jarman, she died in 1995, goldberg, Harold J. D-day in the Pacific, The Battle of Saipan. Hyperwar The War in the Pacific, campaign In the Marianas Smith v. Smith Howlin Mad Vs. the Army, Conflict in Command, Saipan 1944 Ralph Corbett Smith papers, Hoover Institution Archives
15.
Keiji Shibazaki
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Keiji Shibazaki was a Rear Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was the commander of the Japanese garrison on the island of Betio of the Tarawa atoll during World War II, Shibazaki was born in Kasai city, Hyogo prefecture. He was a graduate of the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1915 and he served as midshipman on the cruiser Azuma and battleship Settsu. As a Kaigun Shōi, he was assigned to Satsuma and cruiser Yakumo, as a Kaigun Chūi, he served on the cruiser Chikuma, destroyer Kaba and battleship Yamashiro. Shibazaki was promoted to Kaigun Taii in 1921, and after taking courses in navigation, was assigned as chief navigator to Tachikaze, oiler Kamoi, after his promotion to Kaigun Shōsa in 1927, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Prince Kuni Asaakira from 1932-1933. In 1936, he received his first command, the gunboat Ataka, promoted to Kaigun Taisa in 1937, he served in various staff positions, primarily in Kure and in Shanghai. Shibazaki was promoted to Kaigun Shōshō on 1 May 1943, Shibazaki was a veteran of amphibious landings in China during the late 1930s and was aware of the difficulties facing an amphibious landing force. He built extensive defenses on Betio to defend its strategically important airfield, Shibazaki was posthumously promoted to vice-admiral. One Square Mile of Hell, The Battle for Tarawa, stockman, James R. Marines in World War II Historical Monograph, The Battle for Tarawa
16.
Monzo Akiyama
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Monzo Akiyama was a Japanese Rear Admiral who served in World War II. He was killed in action during the Battle of Kwajalein, monzo Akiyama was born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in 1891. In 1912, at the age of twenty-one, he joined the Japanese Naval Academy and was a midshipman on board the Japanese battleship Kashima, in 1940, he became a senior officer in the 6th Marine Regiment in Amoy in China. He commanded the 5,800 occupants of Kiska Island, which was one of the Aleutians and he was sent to the Kurile Islands after the withdrawal of the Japanese army, and the Americans found Kiska abandoned when they retook it. On October 13, he traveled to Rabaul in New Britain and he had 8,700 troops under his leadership in the islands, and he immediately ordered the construction of fortifications on every one of the islands in the chain. On January 2, US bombers attacked the island with their heavy bombs, monzo Akiyama was killed by a naval shell that hit his bunker on January 25. BUR, Montreuil,1967 Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Fading Victory, The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, university of Pittsburgh Press,1992, ISBN 0-8229-5462-1 Nishida, Hiroshi
17.
Makin Island raid
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The Makin Island Raid was an attack by the United States Marine Corps Raiders on Japanese military forces on Makin Island in the Pacific Ocean. The raid was among the first American offensive ground operations of World War II. The force was drawn from the 2nd Raider Battalion and comprised a small battalion command group, because of space limitations aboard ship, each company embarked without one of its rifle sections. Battalion headquarters, A Company and 18 men from B Company—totaling 121 troops—were embarked aboard the submarine Argonaut, the raiding force was designated Task Group 7.15. The Makin Atoll garrison was formed in 1942 as part of the Marshall Islands garrison, in addition there were also four members of the Seaplane Tender base and three members of a meteorological unit. Two civilian personnel were attached to the Japanese forces as interpreters, the Marine Raiders were launched in LCRL rubber boats powered by small,6 hp outboard motors shortly after 00,00 on 17 August. At 05,13, Companies A and B of the 2nd Raider Battalion—commanded by Lt. Col. Evans Carlson—successfully landed on Makin, the landing had been very difficult due to rough seas, high surf, and the failure of many of the outboard motors. Lt. Col. Carlson decided to all his men on one beach. At 05,15, Lt. Oscar Peatross and a 12-man squad landed on Makin, in the confusion of the landing, they did not get word of Carlsons decision to change plans and land all the Raiders on one beach. Thus, Peatross and his men landed where they originally planned and it turned out to be a fortunate error. Undaunted by the lack of support, Peatross led his men inland, at 07,00, with Company A leading, the Raiders advanced from the beach across the island to its north shore before attacking southwestward. Strong resistance from Japanese snipers and machine guns stalled the advance, the Japanese then launched two banzai charges that were wiped out by the Raiders, thus killing most of the Japanese on the island. At 09,00, Lt. Peatross and his 12 men found themselves behind the Japanese who were fighting the rest of the Raiders to the east, peatrosss unit killed eight Japanese and the garrison commander Sgt. Major Kanemitsu, knocked out a gun and destroyed the enemy radios. Failing to contact Carlson, they withdrew to the subs at dusk as planned, at 13,30,12 Japanese planes—including two flying boats—arrived over Makin. The flying boats—carrying reinforcements for the Japanese garrison—attempted to land in the lagoon, one plane crashed, the other burst into flames. The remaining planes bombed and strafed but inflicted no U. S. casualties, at 19,30, the Raiders began to withdraw from the island using 18 rubber boats, many of which no longer had working outboard motors. Despite heavy surf seven boats with 93 men made it to the subs, the next morning several boatloads of Raiders were able to fight the surf and reach the sub, but 72 men, along with just three rubber boats, were still on the island
18.
Battle of Tarawa
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The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought from November 20 to November 23,1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll. The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region and it was also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. The Gilbert Islands are part of Micronesia and they became a colony of the British Empire in January 1916. They were invaded and occupied by the Empire of Japan in December 1941, the battle was fought almost two years later. In July 1979 the islands became independent from the United Kingdom, in order to set up forward air bases capable of supporting operations across the mid-Pacific, to the Philippines, and into Japan, the U. S. planned to take the Mariana Islands. Naval doctrine of the time held that in order for attacks to succeed, land-based aircraft would be required to weaken the defenses, the nearest islands capable of supporting such an effort were the Marshall Islands, northeast of Guadalcanal. Thus, to launch an invasion of the Marianas, the battle had to start far to the east. Following the completion of the Guadalcanal campaign, the 2nd Marine Division had been withdrawn to New Zealand for rest, losses were replaced and the men given a chance to recover from the malaria and other illnesses that had weakened them through the fighting in the Solomons. On July 20,1943, the Joint Chiefs directed Admiral Chester Nimitz to prepare plans for an operation in the Gilbert Islands. Located about 2,400 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor, Betio is the largest island in the Tarawa Atoll, the small, flat island lies at the southernmost reach of the lagoon, and was the base of the majority of the Japanese troops. Shaped roughly like a long, thin triangle, the island is approximately 2 miles long. It is narrow, being only 800 yards wide at its widest point, a long pier was constructed jutting out from the north shore onto which cargo ships could unload cargo while anchored beyond the 500-metre -wide shallow reef which surrounded the island. The northern coast of the faces into the lagoon, while the southern and western sides face the deep waters of the open ocean. Following Colonel Evans Carlsons diversionary Makin Island raid of August 1942, the 6th Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force reinforced the island in February 1943. In command was Rear Admiral Tomonari Saichiro, an engineer who directed the construction of the sophisticated defensive structures on Betio. Upon their arrival, the 6th Yokosuka became a force. Tomonaris primary goal in the Japanese defensive scheme was to stop the attackers in the water or pin them on the beaches, a tremendous number of pill boxes and firing pits were constructed, with excellent fields of fire over the water and sandy shore
19.
Battle of Makin
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The Battle of Makin was an engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 20 to 23 November 1943, on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The plan was to approach the Japanese home islands by island hopping, establishing naval, the Gilbert Islands were the first step in this chain. The Japanese garrison only posted 83 to 160 men under the command of a warrant officer, the Raiders killed at least 83 Japanese soldiers, annihilating the garrison, and destroyed installations for the loss of 21 killed and 9 captured. The Japanese moved their prisoners to Kwajalein Atoll, where they were later beheaded, after Carlsons raid, the Japanese reinforced the Gilberts, which had been left lightly guarded. Makin was garrisoned with a company of the 5th Special Base Force on August 1942. By July 1943 the seaplane base on Makin was completed and ready to accommodate Kawanishi H8K Emily flying boat bombers, Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe hydrofighters and its defenses were also completed, although they were not as extensive as on Tarawa Atoll—the main Japanese Navy air base in the Gilberts. The Chitose and 653rd Air Corps were detached and deployed here, while the Japanese were building up their defenses in the Gilberts, American forces were making plans to retake the islands. In June 1943 the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, initially both Nimitz and Admiral Ernest J. Considering these drawbacks and the combat experience of the U. S. forces, King and Nimitz decided to take the Marshalls in a step-by-step operation via the Ellice. With those advantages in mind, on 20 July 1943 the joint Chiefs of Staff decided to capture the Tarawa and Abemama atolls in the Gilberts, the operation was codenamed Operation Galvanic. On 4 September the U. S. 5th Fleets amphibious troops were designated the V Amphibious Corps, the V Amphibious Corps had the only two divisions, the 2nd Marine Division based in New Zealand, and the U. S. Armys 27th Infantry Division based in Hawaii. The 27th Infantry Division had been a New York National Guard unit before being called into service in October 1940. It was transferred to Hawaii and remained there for 1½ years before being chosen by Lt. Gen. Robert C, richardson, Jr. U. S. Army Commanding General in the Central Pacific, for the Gilbert Islands invasion. Smith, a veteran of World War I, who had assumed command in November 1942 and he was one of the most highly respected officers in the U. S. Army of the time. In April 1943, the 27th Infantry Division had begun preparing for amphibious operations, planning for the 27th Infantry Divisions role in Galvanic began in early August 1943, with Nauru Island in the western Gilberts as the original objective. Unlike the other objectives, Nauru was an island, much larger in size. However, in September 1943 the 27ths objective changed, the 27th Infantry Division staff learned the change of target on 28 September, scrapped the original Nauru plan, and began planning to capture Makin. The garrisons at Tarawa and Makin were left to their fate, the invasion fleet, Task Force 52 commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner left Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1943
20.
Battle of Kwajalein
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The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of a garrison of 3,500. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense, Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US. Kwajalein Atoll is in the heart of the Marshall Islands and it lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nmi southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii at 8°43′N 167°44′E. Kwajalein is the worlds largest coral atoll and comprises 93 islands and islets, it has an area of 1,560 acres. The two most significant land masses are Kwajalein Island in the south, and the islands of Roi-Namur in the north. By the start of World War II, the Marshalls were already a part of the Japanese perimeter of defense. Its facilities were being utilized as outlying bases for submarines and surface warships, as well as for air staging for future advances being planned against Ellice, the Fiji Islands, and Samoa. After the capture of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and these islands had been Imperial German colonies, after their purchase from Spain in 1899. At the end of World War I, however, they were assigned to Japan in the settlement as the Eastern Mandates. The islands then became a mystery because the Japanese closed them to the outside world and it was presumed the Japanese had built illegal fortifications throughout the islands, but the precise extent of such fortifications was unknown. Japan regarded them as part of the ring of their territory. The strategic importance of the Marshalls had been recognized as early as 1921 in Plan Orange, the Marshalls were a key step in the island-hopping march to the Japanese mainland. After losing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to the Allies in 1943 and they preferred fighting a decisive battle closer to home. Nevertheless, the Marshalls were reinforced at the end of 1943 to make their capture more costly for the Americans, by January 1944, the regional commander in Truk, Admiral Masashi Kobayashi, had 28,000 troops to defend the Marshalls, although he had very few aircraft. The 6th Base Force, under the command of Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama, Akiyama, however, had his men spread out over a very wide area, with IJN air bases located on Roi-Namur, Mille, Maloelap, Eniwetok, and Wotje
21.
Operation Hailstone
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Operation Hailstone is often referred to as the Japanese equivalent of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Truk was a major Japanese logistical base as well as the home base for the Imperial Japanese Navys Combined Fleet. Some have described it as the Japanese equivalent of the U. S. Navys Pearl Harbor, the base was the key logistical and operational hub supporting Japans perimeter defenses in the central and south Pacific. To ensure air and naval superiority for the invasion of Eniwetok. Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitschers Task Force 58 had five fleet carriers and four light carriers, supporting the carriers was a large fleet of seven battleships, and numerous cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other support ships. Fearing that the base was becoming too vulnerable, the Japanese had relocated the aircraft carriers, battleships, however, numerous smaller warships and merchant ships remained in and around the anchorage and several hundred aircraft were stationed at the atolls airfields. The U. S. attack involved a combination of airstrikes, surface ship actions, a force of U. S. surface ships and submarines guarded possible exit routes from the islands anchorage to attack any Japanese ships that tried to escape from the airstrikes. Some of the ships were destroyed in the anchorage and some in the area surrounding Truk lagoon, many of the merchant ships were loaded with reinforcements and supplies for Japanese garrisons in the central Pacific area. Very few of the troops aboard the ships survived and little of their cargoes were recovered. Maikaze, along with support ships, was sunk by U. S. surface ships while trying to escape from the Truk anchorage. Maikaze herself was sunk with all hands on board, the survivors of the sunken Japanese ships reportedly refused rescue efforts by the U. S. ships. The cruiser Agano, a veteran of the Raid on Rabaul, oite rescued 523 survivors from Agano and returned to Truk lagoon to assist in its defense with her anti-aircraft guns. She was sunk soon after by air attack with the Agano survivors still on board, killing all of them, over 250 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, mostly on the ground. Many of the aircraft were in states of assembly, having just arrived from Japan in disassembled form aboard cargo ships. Very few of the aircraft were able to take off in response to the U. S. attack. Several Japanese aircraft that did take off were claimed destroyed by U. S. fighters or gunners on the U. S. bombers, the U. S. lost twenty-five aircraft, mainly due to the intense anti-aircraft fire from Truks defenses. About 16 U. S. aircrew were rescued by submarine or amphibious aircraft, a nighttime torpedo attack by a Japanese aircraft from either Rabaul or Saipan damaged Intrepid and killed 11 of her crew, forcing her to return to Pearl Harbor and later, San Francisco for repairs. She returned to duty in June,1944, another Japanese air attack slightly damaged the battleship Iowa with a bomb hit
22.
Battle of Eniwetok
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The Battle of Eniwetok was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought between 17 February 1944 and 23 February 1944, on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The invasion of Eniwetok followed the American success in the Battle of Kwajalein to the southeast, capture of Eniwetok would provide an airfield and harbor to support attacks on the Mariana Islands to the northwest. In 1943 the Japanese established light defenses at Eniwetok, they believed that the Americans would strike at the southwestern Marshalls first, the 1st Amphibious Brigade reinforced the defenders in January 1944. Its commander was Major General Yoshimi Nishida, there was also a company of nine Type 95 light tanks, led by First Lieutenant Ichikawa. The 1st Amphibious began to construct defenses, but repeated air attacks made this difficult, vice Admiral Raymond Spruance preceded the invasion with Operation Hailstone, a carrier strike against the Japanese base at Truk in the Caroline Islands. This raid destroyed 39 warships and more than 200 planes, Naval bombardment of Eniwetok began on 17 February, and the 22nd Marine Regiment, commanded by Col John T. Walker, landed on Engebi Island, on 18 February at 08,43 the next day. Resistance was light, and the island was declared secure by 14,50, US losses included 85 dead and missing plus 166 wounded. The island was not secured until 21 February,37 Americans were killed or missing and 94 wounded. The mistake was not repeated at Parry Island, the battleships USS Tennessee and USS Pennsylvania and other ships delivered more than 900 tons of explosive onto the island. The 104th Field Artillery on Eniwetok and the 2nd Separate Pack Howitzer Battalions on Japtan provided additional fire support. The 1/22 and 2/22 Marines landed at 09,00 on 22 February At 19,30, US casualties included 73 dead and missing plus 261 wounded. The vast majority of Japanese soldiers were killed, though 105 survivors were captured, Eniwetok Atoll provided a forward base for the United States Navy for its later operations. Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, the Marshall Islands 1944, Operation Flintlock, the capture of Kwajalein and Eniwetok. US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1943-44, US Army Campaigns in World War II. United States Army Center of Military History, breaking the Outer Ring, Marine Landings in the Marshall Islands Heinl, Robert D. and John A. Crown. Historical Division, Division of Public Information, Headquarters U. S. Marine Corps, archived from the original on 16 November 2006. The Amphibians Came to Conquer, The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Animated History of The Battle for Eniwetok Soldiers of the 184th Infantry, 7th ID in the Pacific, 1943-1945
23.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
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The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States entry into World War II. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U. S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions they planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U. S. -held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, the attack commenced at 7,48 a. m. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, all eight U. S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but the USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service, the Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U. S. aircraft were destroyed,2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the station, shipyard, maintenance. Japanese losses were light,29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, one Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured. The surprise attack came as a shock to the American people. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan, the U. S. responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940, Roosevelt to proclaim December 7,1941, a date which will live in infamy. Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, over the next decade, Japan continued to expand into China, leading to all-out war between those countries in 1937. Japan spent considerable effort trying to isolate China and achieve sufficient resource independence to attain victory on the mainland, from December 1937, events such as the Japanese attack on USS Panay, the Allison incident, and the Nanking Massacre swung public opinion in the West sharply against Japan. Fearing Japanese expansion, the United States, the United Kingdom, in 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina in an effort to control supplies reaching China. The United States halted shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline to Japan, an invasion of the Philippines was also considered necessary by Japanese war planners. War Plan Orange had envisioned defending the Philippines with a 40 and this was opposed by Douglas MacArthur, who felt that he would need a force ten times that size, and was never implemented. By 1941, U. S. planners anticipated abandonment of the Philippines at the outbreak of war and orders to that effect were given in late 1941 to Admiral Thomas Hart, commander of the Asiatic Fleet
24.
Doolittle Raid
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The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James Jimmy Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces. Sixteen B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U. S. Navys aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to military targets in Japan. Fifteen aircraft reached China, but all crashed, while the 16th landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union, all but three of the 80 crew members initially survived the mission. Eight airmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China, three of those were later executed, the B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen complete crews, except for one crewman who was killed in action, Doolittle, who initially believed that the loss of all his aircraft would lead to his court-martial, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two steps to brigadier general. The raid had its start in a desire by President Franklin D, an attack on the Japanese homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt about the reliability of their leaders. There was a second, and equally important, psychological reason for this attack, Americans badly needed a morale boost. The concept for the attack came from Navy Captain Francis Low, Assistant Chief of Staff for anti-submarine warfare, the attack was planned and led by Doolittle, a famous military test pilot, civilian aviator and aeronautical engineer before the war. Requirements that the aircraft have a range of 2,400 nautical miles with a 2. The range of the Mitchell at the time was only about 1,300 miles, the B-18, one of the final two types considered by Doolittle, was rejected for the same reason. The B-25 had yet to be tested in combat, but subsequent tests indicated it could fulfill the missions requirements. Doolittles first report on the plan suggested the bombers might land in Vladivostok, negotiations with the Soviet Union for permission to land were fruitless because it had signed a neutrality pact with Japan in April 1941. The raid was approved and the 17th Bomb Group was chosen to provide the pool of crews from which volunteers would be recruited. The 17th BG had been the first group to receive B-25s, the 17th not only was the first medium bomb group of the Army Air Corps, but in the spring of 1942 also had the most experienced B-25 crews. Its first assignment following the entry of the United States into the war was to the U. S, the group officially transferred effective 9 February to Columbia, where its combat crews were offered the opportunity to volunteer for an extremely hazardous, but unspecified mission. On 19 February, the group was detached from the Eighth Air Force, initial planning called for 20 aircraft to fly the mission, and 24 of the groups B-25B Mitchell bombers were diverted to the Mid-Continent Airlines modification center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With support provided by two senior managers, Wold-Chamberlain Fields maintenance hangar was the first modification center to become operational
25.
Battle of the Coral Sea
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The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither sides ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive, on 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Shōhō, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer, the next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shōkaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged, and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet. Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean, on 7 December 1941, using aircraft carriers, Japan attacked the U. S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the attack destroyed or crippled most of the U. S. Pacific Fleets battleships and brought the United States into the war, in launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the American fleet, seize territory rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire. At the same time that they were attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Malaya, causing Britain, Australia, Japan planned to use these conquered territories to establish a perimeter defense for its empire from which it expected to employ attritional tactics to defeat or exhaust any Allied counterattacks. The Imperial Japanese Army, however, rejected the recommendation, stating that it did not have the forces or shipping capacity available to such an operation. Inoue believed the capture and control of these locations would provide greater security, in April 1942, the army and navy developed a plan that was titled Operation MO. The plan called for Port Moresby to be invaded from the ocean, upon the completion of MO, the navy planned to initiate Operation RY, using ships released from MO, to seize Nauru and Ocean Island for their phosphate deposits on 15 May. Further operations against Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia were to be planned once MO, Inoue was especially worried about Allied bombers stationed at air bases in Townsville and Cooktown, Australia, beyond the range of his own bombers located at Rabaul and Lae. By March 1942, the U. S. was able to decipher up to 15% of the IJNs Ro or Naval Codebook D code which was used by the IJN for approximately half of its communications. By the end of April the Americans were reading up to 85% of the signals broadcast in the Ro code, in March 1942, the U. S. first noticed mention of the MO operation in intercepted messages. On 5 April, the Americans intercepted an IJN message directing a carrier and other warships to proceed to Inoues area of operations
26.
Battle of Midway
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The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Military historian John Keegan called it the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare, the Japanese hoped another demoralizing defeat would force the U. S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific. Luring the American aircraft carriers into a trap and occupying Midway was part of an overall strategy to extend Japans defensive perimeter. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, the plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions. Most significantly, American cryptographers were able to determine the date and location of the planned attack, the Battle of Midway, along with the Guadalcanal Campaign, is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War. Because of this, preliminary planning for a phase of operations commenced as early as January 1942. Admiral Yamamoto finally succeeded in winning the struggle with a thinly veiled threat to resign. Yamamotos primary strategic goal was the elimination of Americas carrier forces and this, and other successful hit-and-run raids by American carriers in the South Pacific, showed that they were still a threat, although seemingly reluctant to be drawn into an all-out battle. Yamamoto reasoned that another air attack on the main U. S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor would induce all of the American fleet to sail out to fight, including the carriers. Instead, Yamamoto selected Midway, a tiny atoll at the extreme northwest end of the Hawaiian Island chain and this meant that Midway was outside the effective range of almost all of the American aircraft stationed on the main Hawaiian islands. In addition to serving as a base, Midways airstrips also served as a forward staging point for bomber attacks on Wake Island. Typical of Japanese naval planning during World War II, Yamamotos battle plan for taking Midway was exceedingly complex and it required the careful and timely coordination of multiple battle groups over hundreds of miles of open sea. His design was predicated on optimistic intelligence suggesting that USS Enterprise and USS Hornet. During the Battle of the Coral Sea one month earlier, USS Lexington had been sunk, however, following hasty repairs at Pearl Harbor, Yorktown sortied and would go on to play a critical role in the discovery and eventual destruction of the Japanese fleet carriers at Midway. Yamamoto felt deception would be required to lure the U. S. fleet into a compromised situation. To this end, he dispersed his forces so that their full extent would be concealed from the Americans prior to battle, critically, Yamamotos supporting battleships and cruisers trailed Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumos carrier force by several hundred miles. What Yamamoto did not know was that the U. S. had broken the main Japanese naval code and his emphasis on dispersal also meant none of his formations were in a position to support each other. By contrast, Yamamoto and Kondo had between two light carriers, five battleships, four heavy cruisers, and two light cruisers, none of which would see action at Midway
27.
Operation RY
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Operation RY was the Imperial Japanese plan to invade and occupy Nauru and Ocean islands in the south Pacific during the Pacific conflict of World War II. The operation was set to be executed in May 1942 immediately following Operation MO and before Operation MI. The primary reason for the operation was to exploit the islands supplies of phosphate, after a postponement due to interference by enemy forces, the operation was completed in August 1942. Before and during World War II, Nauru and Ocean Island were isolated, the islands were under Australian mandate control, with the British Phosphate Commissioners running the phosphate mining. The phosphate deposits were mined for making ammunition, explosives and fertilizers, the German auxiliary cruisers Orion and Komet sank five merchant ships and bombarded the island causing damage to the phosphate mining, disrupting the Allied production of phosphate. Following the raids, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board requested that the British Admiralty redeploy Australian naval units to meet the threat posed by raiders, a naval company and two field guns were deployed to each island. The attacks also led to the introduction of convoys between Australia and New Zealand, in late February 1942, as a Japanese invasion of Nauru and Ocean Island was feared, the Free French destroyer Triomphant departed the New Hebrides to evacuate both places. The ship arrived on 23 February and completed the evacuation without serious incident, the invasion troops from the 6th Special Naval Landing Force and Kashima SNLF were carried by the transports Kinryū Maru and Takahata Maru. The invasion forces escorts closed S-42 and depth charged the area until 1130, the submarine left the area to return to base at Moreton Bay, Brisbane. Rear Admiral Shima transferred his flag to Yūzuki southwest of Buka Island, at 06,40, Okinoshima capsized under tow by Mochizuki in St. Georges Channel at 05°06′S 153°48′E. While returning to Rabaul after being dispatched to assist repair work on Okinoshima and she sank at 1440 at 04°51′S 152°54′E. In spite of the loss of Okinoshima, the rest of the Japanese forces continued with the operation, as these forces were en route, however, a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft from Tulagi sighted the United States Navy aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and Hornet heading towards Nauru. The two US carriers, acting on intelligence obtained from intercepted Japanese communications, had sent to the area as a feint to try to stop the Japanese operation. Fearing the threat posed by the US carriers to the RY forces, which did not have air cover, the Japanese cancelled the operation on 15 May, and the naval forces returned to Rabaul. A second invasion force departed Truk on 26 August 1942, consisting of the cruiser Yūbari, the destroyers Oite, Yūzuki, Ariake, Yūgure and Yūnagi, the landing forces landed on Nauru on 29 August and Ocean Island on 30 August unopposed. Japanese forces occupied the two islands until the end of the war, but became isolated as the war progressed. During the Japanese occupation of Nauru, American aircraft repeatedly bombed the islands facilities, warship Losses of World War Two. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, the First Team, Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway
28.
Solomon Islands campaign
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The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea. In a campaign of attrition fought on land, on sea, and in the air, the Allies retook some of the Solomon Islands, and they also isolated and neutralized some Japanese positions, which were then bypassed. The Solomon Islands campaign then converged with the New Guinea campaign, on December 7,1941, after failing to resolve a dispute with the United States over Japans actions in China and French Indochina, the Japanese attacked the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack crippled most of the U. S, Pacific Fleets battleships and started a formal state of war between the two nations. In launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the U. S. fleet, seize possessions rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire. Anchoring its defensive positions in the South Pacific was the major Japanese army and navy base at Rabaul, New Britain, which had been captured from the Australians in January 1942. In March and April, Japanese forces occupied and began constructing an airfield at Buka in northern Bougainville, as well as an airfield, in April 1942, the Japanese army and navy together initiated Operation Mo, a joint plan to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea. Also part of the plan was an operation to capture Tulagi in the southern Solomons. The Japanese Navy also proposed an invasion of Australia. Japanese naval forces successfully captured Tulagi but its invasion of Port Moresby was repulsed at the Battle of the Coral Sea, shortly thereafter, the Japanese navy established small garrisons on the other northern and central Solomon Islands. One month later, the Japanese Combined Fleet lost four of its aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway. The Allies countered the threats to Australia by a build-up of troops and aircraft, with the aim of implementing plans to approach and reconquer the Philippines. In March 1942 Admiral Ernest King, then Commander-in Chief of the U. S. Fleet, had advocated an offense from New Hebrides through the Solomon Islands to the Bismarck Archipelago. The United States Navy advocated a gradual approach from New Guinea. These competing proposals were resolved by Admiral King and U. S. Army Chief of Staff General George C, Marshall, who adopted a three-task plan. Task One was the capture of the island of Tulagi in the Solomons, task Two was an advance along the New Guinea coast. Task Three was the capture of Rabaul, task One, implemented by a directive of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 2 July 1942 and named the initial attacks Operation Watchtower, became the Solomon Islands campaign
29.
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
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Beginning the offensive, United States Marine Corps and United States Army forces, with support from the United States Navy, executed landings on Saipan in June,1944. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navys combined fleet sortied to attack the U. S. Navy fleet supporting the landings, thereafter, U. S. forces executed landings on Guam and Tinian in July,1944. After heavy fighting, Saipan was secured in July and Guam, after heavy and intense combat on Peleliu, the island was finally secured by U. S. forces in November,1944. Battle of Angaur Battle of Guam Battle of Peleliu Battle of Saipan Battle of Tinian West Loch Disaster DAlbas, death of a Navy, Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Hold the Marianas, The Japanese Defense of the Mariana Islands, an Allied Interpretation of the Pacific War. In the Service of the Emperor, Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army, a Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945. The Liberation of Guam 21 July–10 August, nautical & Aviation Pub Co of Amer. Goldberg, Harold J. D-day in the Pacific, The Battle of Saipan, the Devils Anvil, The Assault on Peleliu. New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944–August 1944, vol.8 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, champaign, Illinois, USA, University of Illinois Press. Ross, Bill D. Peleliu, Tragic Triumph, Saipan & Tinian 1944, Piercing the Japanese Empire. Peleliu 1944, The Forgotten Corner of Hell, brotherhood of Heroes, The Marines at Peleliu,1944, The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War. Carrier Battles, Command Decision in Harms Way, to the Far Side of Hell, The Battle for Peleliu,1944. The Marianas and the Great Turkey Shoot, the Amphibians Came to Conquer, The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner. Breaching the Marianas, The Battle for Saipan Hoffman, Major Carl W. USMC, Saipan, The Beginning of the End. Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Anderson, Charles R. U. S. Army Campaigns of World War II, United States Army Center of Military History. Lodge, Major O. R. USMC Historical Monograph, The Recapture of Guam, Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps,1954. OBrien, Cyril J. Liberation, Marines in the Recapture of Guam, Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, Marine Corps Historical Center, USCM Historical Monograph, The Seizure of Tinian Chen, C
30.
Japanese invasion of French Indochina
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The fighting, which lasted several days before the French authorities reached an agreement with the Japanese, took place in the context of the ongoing Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Japan was able to occupy Tonkin in northern Indochina, tightening the blockade of China, chinese resistance, supplied from Indochina, was tough. Then on 22 June 1940, France signed an armistice with Germany and this established the neutral but Axis-influenced Vichy France government in the unoccupied part of France. Vichy France also controlled at that time most French overseas possessions, the IJA captured Longzhou, closing one route, but the rail line to Yunnan was still open. Japanese aerial bombing did not close it, Japan pressured the Vichy government to close the railway, but the French did not agree. On 5 September, the South China Front Army of the IJA organised the amphibious Indochina Expeditionary Army to move into Indochina, led by Major-General Takuma Nishimura, it was supported by a flotilla of ships, and planes from aircraft carriers and air bases on Hainan Island. Faced with this threat, Vichy France yielded. On 22 September, Japan and Vichy Indochina signed an accord which granted Japan the rights to station troops in Indochina, and to move troops and supplies through Indochina. The accord allowed up to 6,000 Japanese troops to be stationed in Indochina, in addition, all Japanese land, air, and naval forces were barred from Indochinese territory except as authorised in the accord. Within a few hours, columns from the IJA 5th Division under Lieutenant-General Akihito Nakamura moved over the border at three places and closed in on the railhead at Lang Son, near Longzhou and this action contravened the new agreement. In the Battle of Lang Son, a brigade of French Indochinese colonial troops, the Japanese victory opened the way to Hanoi. Still, the Vichy French continued to fight on in the north and south of the colony, on 23 September, Vichy France protested the breach of the agreements by the IJA to the Japanese government. On the morning of 24 September, Japanese aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin attacked French positions on the coast. A Vichy envoy came to negotiate, in the meantime, shore defenses remained under orders to fire on any attempted landing. On 26 September, Japanese forces came ashore at Dong Tac, south of Haiphong, a second landing put tanks ashore, and Japanese planes bombed Haiphong, causing some casualties. By early afternoon the Japanese force of some 4,500 troops, by the evening of 26 September, fighting had died down. The occupation of southern Indochina did not happen immediately, however, the Vichy government had agreed that some 40,000 troops could be stationed there. However, Japanese planners did not immediately move troops there, worried that such a move would be inflammatory to relations between Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States
31.
Indian Ocean in World War II
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Axis naval forces gave a high priority to disrupting Allied Indian Ocean trade. Initial anti-shipping measures of unrestricted submarine warfare and covert raiding ships expanded to include airstrikes by aircraft carriers, a Kriegsmarine Monsun Gruppe of U-boats operated from the eastern Indian Ocean after the Persian Corridor became an important military supply route to the Soviet Union. 15 November 1939, Australian, British and French warships began patrolling the Indian Ocean when the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sank the tanker Africa Shell south of Madagascar. 23 March 1940, The Royal Navy established the Malaya Force of cruisers, destroyers,11 May 1940, German merchant raider Atlantis entered the Indian Ocean from the South Atlantic. 7 June 1940, Italian warships began minelaying off Massawa and Assab,10 June 1940, Eight Italian submarines began war patrols of the Indian Ocean from Massawa. 10 June 1940, Atlantis captured the freighter Tirranna in the Central Indian Ocean,16 June 1940, Italian submarine Galileo Galilei sank the tanker James Stove. 19 June 1940, Galileo Galilei was captured by the British naval trawler Moonstone,23 June 1940, Italian submarine Torricelli sank HMS Khartoum before being sunk by accompanying destroyers. 24 June 1940, Italian submarine Galvani sank the sloop HMIS Pathan before being sunk by the sloop HMS Falmouth,11 July 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter City of Bagdad south of India. 13 July 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter Kemmendine south of India,2 August 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter Tallyrand in the central Indian Ocean. 17 August 1940, Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy cruisers and destroyers covered the withdrawal of British troops from British Somaliland to Aden,24 August 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter King City in the Central Indian Ocean. 26 August 1940, German merchant raider Pinguin sank the tanker Filefjell south of Madagascar,27 August 1940, Pinguin sank the tanker British Commander and the freighter Morviken south of Madagascar. 6 September 1940, Italian submarine Guglielmotti sank the tanker Atlas in the Red Sea,9 September 1940, Atlantis sank the tanker Athelking in the central Indian Ocean. 10 September 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter Benarty in the central Indian Ocean,12 September 1940, Pinguin sank the freighter Benavon east of Madagascar. 16 September 1940, Pinguin captured the freighter Nordvard in the central Indian Ocean,20 September 1940, Atlantis sank the liner Commissaire Ramel west of Sumatra. 7 October 1940, Pinguin captured the tanker Storstad south of Java,21 October 1940, Italian destroyer Nullo was sunk during the battle of Mumbai to Suez Canal convoy BN7. 22 October 1940, Atlantis captured the freighter Durmitor west of Sumatra,9 November 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter Teddy west of Sumatra. 10 November 1940, Atlantis captured the tanker Ole Jacob west of Sumatra,11 November 1940, Atlantis sank the freighter Automedon west of Sumatra. 18 November 1940, HMS Dorsetshire shelled Italian Somaliland,18 November 1940, Pinguin sank the freighter Nowshera west of Australia
32.
Franco-Thai War
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The Franco-Thai War was fought between Thailand and France over certain areas of French Indochina. The German military occupation of a part of France made Frances hold on its overseas possessions, including Indochina. The colonial administration was now cut off from help and outside supplies. After the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940, the French were forced to allow Japan to set up military bases and this seemingly subservient behaviour convinced the Phibun regime that France would not seriously resist a confrontation with Thailand. The most obvious deficiency of the French army was its shortage of armour and it could field only 20 Renault FT tanks against the nearly one hundred armoured vehicles of the Royal Thai Army. The French navy in Indochina had one light cruiser and four Avisos, the Armée de lAir had approximately 100 aircraft, of which about 60 could be considered front line. The slightly larger Thai Army was a relatively well-equipped force, consisting of 60,000 men, it was made up of four armies. The largest was the Burapha Army with five divisions and the Isan Army with three divisions, the artillery was a mixture of Krupp guns and modern Bofors guns and Howitzers, while 60 Carden Loyd tankettes and 30 Vickers 6-ton tanks made up the bulk of the armys tank force. The Royal Thai Navy included two coastal ships,12 torpedo boats, and four Japanese-made submarines. The Thai navy was inferior to the French naval forces, while nationalist demonstrations and anti-French rallies were being held in Bangkok, several border skirmishes erupted along the Mekong frontier. The superior Royal Thai Air Force then conducted daytime bombing runs over targets in Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Sisophon. The French retaliated with their own air attacks, but the damage caused was less than equal. On 5 January 1941, following the report of a French attack on the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, French response was instantaneous, but many units were simply swept along by the better-equipped Thai forces. The Thai army swiftly overran Laos, but the French forces in Cambodia managed to rally, at dawn on 16 January 1941 the French launched a large counterattack on the Thai-held villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, initiating the fiercest battle of the war. Due to poor co-ordination and non-existent intelligence against the entrenched and prepared Thai forces, however, the Thais were unable to pursue the retreating French, as their forward tanks were kept in check by the gunnery of French Foreign Legion artillery. With the situation on land rapidly deteriorating for the French, Admiral Decoux ordered all available French naval forces into action in the Gulf of Thailand. In the early morning of 17 January, a French naval squadron caught a Thai naval detachment by surprise at anchor off Ko Chang island, fearing the war would turn in Frances favour, the Japanese intervened, proposing an armistice be signed. On 24 January, the air battle took place when Thai bombers raided the French airfield at Angkor
33.
Japanese invasion of Thailand
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The Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on 8 December 1941. It was fought between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Empire of Japan, despite fierce fighting in southern Thailand, the resistance lasted only a matter of hours before ending in a ceasefire. The origin of Japanese invasion of Thailand can be traced to the principle of hakkō ichiu as espouced by Tanaka Chigaku in the mid- to late-1800s, Tanaka interpreted the principle as meaning that imperial rule had been divinely ordained to expand until it united the entire world. The concept became expressed in the New Order in East Asia, in 1940, the concept was expanded by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, who sought to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, including Japan, Manchukuo, China, and parts of Southeast Asia. Taiwan Army Unit 82 was formed in 1939 or 1940 to bring this about, in its final planning stages, the unit was commanded by Colonel Yoshihide Hayashi. As part of conquering Southeast Asia, the Japanese military planned to invade Malaya, in order to do this, they needed to make use of Thai ports, railways, and airfields. They did not want conflict with the Thai military, as this would delay the invasion, the Japanese plan was seen by the Nazi government of Germany as helpful in diverting Britains military forces, and thus assisting Germany in its own conflict. Thailand had a military, and after a series of border skirmishes in 1940 had invaded neighbouring French Indochina to recover provinces lost in the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. The Japanese, who wanted to use the Indo-Chinese ports and air-bases, as part of the process, secret discussions were held with Thai Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram, in which the Japanese military sought free passage through Thailand. Phibun had responded positively, but his actions showed he may have been very uncertain. By February, the British were beginning to suspect the Japanese were planning to attack their possessions in Southeast Asia and were concerned Japan might set up bases in Thailand to that end. Phibun could have decided he had little choice, as his own forces would have been unable to defeat the Japanese by themselves, thailands invasion of French Indochina in 1940 made it difficult for the United States government to support Phibun. Midway through 1941, Phibun sought British and American guarantees of support if Japan invaded Thailand. The United States was unable to support this proposition, and Britain was not prepared to make it alone, by August, Britain and the United States had put in place severe sanctions against Japan. The Japanese sought to have the sanctions lifted by promising not to encroach on Thailand and to withdraw their forces from Indochina and this proposal was unacceptable to both Britain and the United States because of its impact on China. In late November, the British had become aware of an attack on Thailand by Japan because of the rapid buildup of Japanese troops in Indochina. Further negotiations took place between the Japanese diplomatic representative, Tamara, and Phibun on 2 December, Phibun was prepared to look the other way if Japan invaded the Kra Peninsula, but wanted them to avoid passing through the Bangkok Plain. On 2 December, the Japanese military issued the order Climb Mount Niitaka, the main invasion fleet for Operation E, the invasion of Malaya and Thailand, sailed from Sanya, Hainan Island, China on 4 December
34.
Dutch East Indies campaign
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The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–42 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted unsuccessfully to defend the islands, the East Indies were targeted by the Japanese for their rich oil resources which would become a vital asset during the war. The campaign and subsequent three and a half year Japanese occupation was also a factor in the end of Dutch colonial rule in the region. S. The oil made the enormously important to the Japanese, so they sought to secure the supply for themselves. In addition, the Dutch government in exile, at the urging of the Allies and with the support of Queen Wilhelmina, broke its economic treaty with Japan, Japans military and economic reserves included only a year and a halfs worth of oil. As a U. S. declaration of war against Japan was feared if the latter took the East Indies, Pacific Fleet, allowing them to overtake the islands, this led to the attack on Pearl Harbor. In late November, the East Indies government began preparing for war, ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy were sent to sea and this was in the hopes that the Dutch would not preemptively destroy oil installations before the Japanese were ready to invade. On 8 December 1941, in a proclamation, the Netherlands declared war on Japan. By 7,00 a. m. on the day of the attack, at that hour, the governor general made a public announcement over the radio that the Netherlands accepts the challenge and takes up arms against the Japanese Empire. Instructions had been telegraphed to the embassy in Tokyo at 2,30 a. m. even before news of the attack on Pearl Harbor had reached the Dutch government in London at 4,00. The instructions were received on the evening of the next day. Pabst, on the morning of 10 December, the Swedish ambassador agreed to handle Dutch interests for the duration of the conflict. The Dutch declaration did not alter the Japanese decision, and the declaration of war did not come until 11 January 1942. The tribunal rejected this, on the grounds that Japans sole intention was to give time to the Netherlands for destroying oil wells. They found that the Netherlands declaration was in self-defence, General Hisaichi Terauchi, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group, began the campaign by sending the 16th Army under command of General Hitoshi Imamura to attack Borneo. On 17 December, Japanese forces successfully landed on Miri, an oil production centre in northern Sarawak, with support from a battleship, initially, the Japanese forces launched air strikes on key areas and gained air superiority. Following the airstrikes, landings were made at several locations targeting airfields, in addition to the landings at Miri, the Japanese forces made landings at Seria, Kuching, Jesselton and Sandakan between 15 December 1941 and 19 January 1942. After these main objectives in Borneo were completed, the Japanese forces planned a three-pronged assault southward using three forces named Eastern Force, Center Force and Western Force, the aim of this assault was to capture the oil resources in the East Indies
35.
Malayan Campaign
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The Malayan Campaign was fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 –31 January 1942 during the Second World War. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian and Malayan forces defending the colony, the operation is notable for the Japanese use of bicycle infantry, which allowed troops to carry more equipment and swiftly move through thick jungle terrain. Royal Engineers, equipped with demolition charges, destroyed over a hundred bridges during the retreat, by the time the Japanese had captured Singapore, they had suffered 9,800 casualties, Allied losses totaled 138,708, including 130,000 captured. By 1941 the Japanese had been engaged for four years in trying to subjugate China and they were heavily reliant on imported materials for their military forces, particularly oil from the United States. From 1940 to 1941, the United States, the United Kingdom, the object of the embargoes was to assist the Chinese and encourage the Japanese to halt military action in China. The Japanese considered that pulling out of China would result in a loss of face and decided instead to take action against US, British. The Japanese forces for the invasion were assembled in 1941 on Hainan Island and this troop build-up was noticed by the Allies and, when asked, the Japanese advised that it related to its operations in China. When the Japanese invaded, they had over 200 tanks, consisting of the Type 95 Ha-Go, Type 97 Chi-Ha, Type 89 I-Go, in addition, they had over 500 combat aircraft available. They had just over 250 combat aircraft, but half of these were destroyed inside the first few days of combat, between the wars, the British military strategy in the Far East was undermined by a lack of attention and funding. He predicted that landings could be made at Songkhla and Pattani in Siam and he recommended large reinforcements to be sent immediately. His predictions turned out to be correct, but his recommendations were ignored, a strong naval presence was also thought to act as a deterrent against possible aggressors. By late 1941, after Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival had taken over as GOC Malaya, in addition, Churchill and Roosevelt had agreed that in the event of war breaking out in the east, priority would be given to finishing the war in the west. The east, until that time, would be a secondary priority, containment was considered the primary strategy in the east. Planning for this offensive was undertaken by the Japanese Military Affairs Bureaus Unit 82 based in Taiwan, intelligence on Malaya was gathered through a network of agents which included Japanese embassy staff, disaffected Malayans, and Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese business people and tourists. Japanese spies, which included a British intelligence officer, Captain Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan, in November 1941 the British became aware of the large scale buildup of Japanese troops in French Indo-China. Thailand was seen to be under threat from this build-up as well as Malaya, British strategists had foreseen the possibility of Thailands Kra isthmus being used by the Japanese to invade Malaya. To counteract this threat, plans for a pre-emptive invasion of southern Thailand
36.
Battle of Hong Kong
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The Battle of Hong Kong, also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong, the attack was in violation of international law as Japan had not declared war against the British Empire. The Japanese attack was met with resistance from the Hong Kong garrison, composed of local troops as well as British. Within a week the defenders abandoned the mainland and less than two weeks later, with their position on the island untenable, the colony surrendered. Britain first thought of Japan as a threat with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in the early 1920s, on 21 October 1938 the Japanese occupied Canton and Hong Kong was surrounded. British defence studies concluded that Hong Kong would be hard to defend in the event of a Japanese attack. Key sites of the defence of Hong Kong included the Wong Nai Chung Gap, Lye Moon Passage, the Shing Mun Redoubt, by 1940, the British determined to reduce the Hong Kong Garrison to only a symbolic size. Winston Churchill and the staff named Hong Kong as an outpost. C Force, as it was known, arrived on 16 November on board the troopship Awatea, a total of 96 officers, two Auxiliary Services supervisors and 1,877 other ranks disembarked. Included were two officers and two nurses, two Canadian Dental Corps officers with assistants, three chaplains and a detachment of the Canadian Postal Corps. The Royal Rifles had served only in the Dominion of Newfoundland and Saint John, New Brunswick, prior to posting to Hong Kong, the Japanese attack began shortly after 08,00 on 8 December 1941, fewer than eight hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The colony had no significant air defence, an earlier request for a fighter squadron had been rejected and the nearest fully operational RAF base was in Kota Bharu, Malaya, nearly 2,250 kilometres away. Hong Kong also lacked adequate naval defences, three destroyers were to withdraw to Singapore Naval Base. The Japanese bombed Kai Tak Airport on 8 December, two of the three Wildebeest and the two Walrus were destroyed by 12 Japanese bombers. The attack also destroyed several aircraft including all but two of the aircraft used by the air unit of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corp. The RAF and air personnel from then on fought as ground troops. Two of the Royal Navys three remaining destroyers were ordered to leave Hong Kong for Singapore, only one destroyer, HMS Thracian, several gunboats and a flotilla of motor torpedo boats remained. The crews evacuated 275 persons including Mme Sun Yat-Sen, the widow of Sun Yat-sen, the Commonwealth forces decided against holding the Sham Chun River and instead established three battalions on the Gin Drinkers Line across the hills
37.
Battle of Singapore
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Singapore was the major British military base in South-East Asia and was the keystone of British imperial interwar defence planning for South-East Asia as well as the South-West Pacific. The fighting in Singapore lasted from 8 to 15 February 1942 although this was preceded by two months of British resistance as Japanese forces advanced down the Malaya peninsula and it resulted in the Japanese capture of Singapore and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. About 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops became prisoners of war, the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, called it the worst disaster in British military history. During 1940 and 1941, the Allies had imposed an embargo on Japan in response to its continued campaigns in China. The Japanese were encouraged to choose war by their intelligence, in December 1940, the Germans handed over copies of the papers to the Japanese. As a part of process, the Japanese planners determined a broad scheme of manoeuvre that incorporated simultaneous attacks on the British. In addition, strikes would be made against the United States naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, as well as landings in the Philippines, and attacks on Guam, Wake Island and the Gilbert Islands. With this perimeter, it was intended to block Allied attempts to regain the lost territory, the Japanese 25th Army invaded from Indochina, moving into northern Malaya and Thailand by amphibious assault on 8 December 1941. This was virtually simultaneous with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which precipitated the United States entry in to the war, Thailand initially resisted, but soon had to yield. The Japanese then proceeded overland across the Thai–Malayan border to attack Malaya, at this time, the Japanese began bombing strategic sites in Singapore. The Japanese 25th Army was resisted in northern Malaya by III Corps of the British Indian Army, although the 25th Army was outnumbered by Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore, Japanese commanders concentrated their forces. The Japanese were superior in close air support, armour, co-ordination, tactics, prior to the Battle of Singapore the most resistance was met at the Battle of Muar, which involved the Australian 8th Division and the Indian 45th Brigade. At the start of the campaign, the Allied forces had only 164 first-line aircraft on hand in Malaya and Singapore, and these aircraft were operated by two Royal Australian Air Force, two Royal Air Force, and one Royal New Zealand Air Force squadron. Major shortcomings included a slow rate of climb and the fuel system which required the pilot to hand pump fuel if flying above 6,000 feet. Their fighter aircraft were superior to the Allied fighters, which helped the Japanese to gain air supremacy, Japanese forces quickly isolated, surrounded, and forced the surrender of Indian units defending the coast. They advanced down the Malayan peninsula overwhelming the defences, despite their numerical inferiority, the Japanese forces also used bicycle infantry and light tanks, allowing swift movement through the jungle. The Allies, however, having thought the terrain made them impractical, had no tanks, and only a few armoured vehicles, although more Allied units—including some from the Australian 8th Division—joined the campaign, the Japanese prevented the Allied forces from regrouping. They also overran cities and advanced toward Singapore, the city was an anchor for the operations of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, the first Allied joint command of the Second World War
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Battle of the Malacca Strait
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Haguro had been operating as a supply ship for Japanese garrisons in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal since 1 May 1945. On 9 May, Haguro left Singapore, escorted by the destroyer Kamikaze, to re-supply the Port Blair garrison on the Andaman Islands, the Royal Navy was alerted to this by a decrypted Japanese naval signal, subsequently confirmed by a sighting by the submarines HMS Statesman and Subtle. Force 61 of the Eastern Fleet set sail on 10 May from Trincomalee, the Japanese were unwilling to risk any battle and, on receipt of an air reconnaissance warning, they returned to Singapore. On 14 May, Haguro and Kamikaze tried again and left Singapore, the next day, they were spotted by aircraft from Force 61. The subsequent bombing attack by Grumman Avenger IIs of 851 Naval Air Squadron caused only minor damage to Haguro, information was relayed to the Japanese that two British destroyer squadrons had been sighted heading towards them. Again, they reversed course to return to the Malacca Strait and this change had been anticipated, however, and the 26th Destroyer Flotilla, commanded by Captain Manley Laurence Power steamed to intercept. In heavy rain squalls with lightning, Venus made radar contact at 34 nmi, the British destroyers arranged themselves in a crescent cordon and allowed the Japanese ships to sail into the trap. At 01,05, Venus, parallel to Haguro as she raced past the north-westernmost ship in Powers force, Haguro, thinking Venus had launched torpedoes, altered course away to comb the tracks. In so doing, she turned south and deeper into the trap, Saumarez and Verulam were now well positioned to make their attacks. Haguro appeared fine off Saumarezs port bow at a range of 6,000 yards, at the same time, the Japanese destroyer Kamikaze appeared off the starboard bow, crossing from starboard to port, only 3,000 yards away and on a collision course. Haguro now fired her first broadside of ten 8in and four 5in guns at Saumarez, tremendous waterspouts thrown up alongside swamped the British flotilla leaders upper decks as Haguro was seen clearly three miles away in the light of both sides star-shells. At 01,11, just as she was about to fire torpedoes, the top of her funnel disappeared over the side and a 5in shell penetrated No.1 Boiler Room, severed a steam main and lodged inside the boiler. Five men were scalded, two of whom died, but as with the 8in shell hits, this failed to explode at such close range and was later thrown overboard. At 01,15, Haguro was hit by three torpedoes from Saumarez and Verulam, as Saumarez limped northward from the immediate battle area, a violent explosion created confusion. Power thought it was Kamikaze blowing up and men on Virago and Vigilant thought it was Saumarez, Venus hit Haguro with one torpedo at 01,25, and Virago stopped Haguro with two more torpedo hits two minutes later. The Japanese cruiser finally sank at 02,06 after receiving another torpedo from Vigilant, Kamikaze was also damaged, but escaped, returning the next day to rescue survivors. About 320 survived, but over 900 died, including the Japanese commanders, Vice-Admiral Hashimoto, Saumarezs main aerial and a funnel top had been shot away and an 8 in shell nicked the forecastle. Two men were killed and three burned in the room when a 5 in shell severed the main steam pipe
39.
Operation Tiderace
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Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake Singapore following the Japanese surrender in 1945. The liberation force was led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command, Tiderace was initiated in coordination with Operation Zipper, which involved the liberation of Malaya. With the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and an American planned invasion of Japan, South East Asia Command were also drawing up plans to invade Malaya, codenamed Operation Zipper. With over 100,000 Allied infantry, the plan was to capture Port Swettenham and Port Dickson, the assault was scheduled for 9 September 1945, but was forestalled following the Surrender of Japan. Once the lodgement was secure, the Allies would have initiated Operation Mailfist, during which forces were to advance south through Malaya. It was expected that Operation Mailfist would begin in December 1945, Operation Tiderace was planned soon after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emergency planning was put in preparation for the occupation of Singapore at an early date should Japan agree to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July. While Operation Zipper was executed ahead of schedule, it did so on a smaller scale. The convoy consisted of about 90 ships, which included two battleships, HMS Nelson and the French battleship Richelieu, the heavy cruiser HMS Sussex served as the flagship. HMAS Hawkesbury was the sole Australian warship during the Japanese surrender, a smaller British naval force was given the task of liberating Penang under Operation Jurist, a component of the overall Operation Zipper. There were a total of seven escort carriers, HMS Ameer, HMS Attacker, HMS Emperor, HMS Empress, HMS Hunter, HMS Khedive, two ex-German U-boats, I-501 and I-502 were also in Singapore. Both were moored at Singapore Naval Base, Air strength in both Malaya and Sumatra was estimated to be a little more than 170 aircraft. Operation Tiderace commenced when Mountbatten ordered Allied troops to set sail from Trincomalee, japans defeat in World War II had caught the Japanese Command in Singapore by surprise. Many were unwilling to surrender and had vowed to fight to the death, Itagaki had initially balked at the order to surrender and instead ordered the 25th Army to resist when the Allies arrived. There was even a plan to massacre all Allied PoWs on the island. Terauchi prevailed over Itagaki who then sent his signal to Mountbatten, the Allies arrived in Malaya on 28 August with a small portion of the fleet sent to Penang as part of Operation Jurist. When Penang surrendered without resistance under Operation Jurist, the sailed for Singapore on 2 September. The fleet arrived in Singapore on 4 September 1945, meeting no opposition, however, the French battleship Richelieu struck a magnetic mine at 0744 on 9 September while passing down the Straits of Malacca
40.
Operation Zipper
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During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, some of the proposed landings on Penang went ahead as planned to probe Japanese intentions, encountering no resistance. The earlier liberation of Penang was intended to test Japanese intentions as a prelude to the recapture of Singapore. The Japanese garrison in Penang surrendered on 2 September and the Royal Marines recaptured Penang Island the following day, meanwhile, the Allied fleet arrived off Singapore on 4 September and accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces stationed on the island. A formal surrender ceremony was held in downtown Singapore on 12 September, on 9 September, troops of the 25th Indian Division were landed in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, capturing Port Dickson. After some delays, the Commonwealth force reached Kuala Lumpur on 12 September
