The Early Battles Chapter 14 Section 2

After Pearl Harbor After the attack, the commander of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, Admiral Chester Nimitz, began planning operations against the Japanese navy. Thankfully they had missed the American aircraft carriers, which were at sea on a mission.

After Pearl Harbor After Pearl Harbor, Japanese attacked American airfields in the Philippines. 2 days later, Japanese troops landed in the islands. The American and Filipino were badly outnumbered.

After Pearl Harbor Their commander, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. MacArthur’s troops help out there for more than three months.

After Pearl Harbor Gradually, the lack of supplies along with diseases such as malaria, scurvy, and dysentery took their toll. Realizing that MacArthur’s capture would demoralize the American people, President Roosevelt ordered the general to evacuate to Australia.

After Pearl Harbor “I shall return”

After Pearl Harbor On April 9, 1942, the weary defenders of Bataan finally surrendered. The Japanese then marched the 78,000 sick, exhausted, and starving survivors to a Japanese prison camp.

After Pearl Harbor They marched 65 miles. Thousands died on the march, which came to be known as the Bataan Death March.

The Doolittle Raid Even before the fall of the Philippines, President Roosevelt was searching for a way to raise the morale of the American people. He wanted to bomb Tokyo, but American planes could reach Tokyo ONLY if an American aircraft carrier could get them close enough.

The Doolittle Raid But, Japanese ships would not allow that. Solution: use B-25 bombers that could take off from a carrier. However, they could not land on the short deck. So, they would have to bomb and then land in China.

The Doolittle Raid President Roosevelt put Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle in command of the mission. The planes were loaded onto a carrier and on April 18th, American bombs fell on Japan for the first time. Only 71 of the 80 crew members survived this raid.

Japan Changes Their Strategy Americans were overjoyed that the Doolittle Raid accomplished its goal. The Japanese were horrified because the bombs could have killed the emperor. They decided to change their strategy.

Japan Changes Their Strategy They decided to abandon their plan to capture Australia, and instead decided to destroy America’s fleet. An attack on Midway Island was the new objective

Japan Changes Their Strategy The Japanese believed they could proceed with two different attacks. They thought the U.S. was unaware of Japan’s activity and would not be able to respond in time. But American code breakers had already decoded the Japanese attack plans

Japan Changes Their Strategy The Americans decoded a message and discovered the Japanese plan to attack New Guinea. Nimitz sent two carriers to intercept the Japanese in the Coral Sea. They were able to stop the Japanese and keep supply lies to Australia open.

The Battle of Midway Nimitz then intercepted a message that the Japanese were planning to attack the island of Midway. He had been waiting for a change to ambush the Japanese. So he ordered carriers to take up positions near Midway.

The Battle of Midway Unaware of the ambush, the Japanese launched their aircraft against Midway on June 4, 1942. The island was ready for them. The Japanese planes ran into a blizzard of antiaircraft fire, and 38 of them were shot down.

As the Japanese were preparing to launch a counterattack, American planes caught the Japanese carriers with fuel, bombs, and aircraft exposed on their decks. Within minutes three Japanese carriers were reduced to burning wrecks.

The Battle of Midway Midway was a turning point in the war. The Japanese Navy lost four of its largest carriers—the heart of its fleet.