Allies Stem Japanese Tide Priority was to defeat Nazis, but US did not wait to move against Japan US submarines still existing US aircraft carriers were at sea during attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese Advances 1 st 6 months after Pearl Harbor- conquered empire that dwarfed Hitler’s Conquered most of South Pacific-as far west as Aleutians-part of Alaska
Japanese Advances Philippines-80,000 Americans commanded by General Douglas MacArthur-held out against 200,000 Japanese for 4 months
Japanese Advances 14,000 killed, another 48,000 wounded MacArthur eventually had to abandon Philippines- “I shall return” Japanese military dazzled by their success Now had 150 million new subjects spread over 1/7 th of the globe
US Retaliation 4/18/42-16 bombers led by James Doolittle take off of USS Hornet Bombed Tokyo military targets Boosted American morale, caused concern among the Japanese
US Retaliation May US and Australian forces intercept Japanese fleet targeting Australia-Battle of the Coral Sea New Warfare-all fighting done with carrier-based planes- opposing ships never saw each other
US Retaliation Allies lost more ships than Japanese Japanese fleet too short of fuel to continue to Australia- 1 st time Japanese had been stopped Moral victory for the US
Battle of Midway June Chester Nimitz-commander of American forces in Pacific- learned Japanese invasion force heading for Midway then on to Pearl Harbor 110 Japanese ships –Largest assemblage of naval power in history
Battle of Midway US outnumbered 4 to 1-prepared a surprise for Japanese at Midway Americans ordered to inflict maximum damage on the enemy
Battle of Midway Japanese lose 4 aircraft carriers, a cruiser, 322 planes Americans avenged Pearl Harbor
Island Hopping Lots of distance between island on in the Pacific Japanese troops dug in on hundreds of islands Taking each island would be long and costly
Island Hopping Americans “leapfrogged” Japanese strongholds Seized less-fortified islands, built airfields, used airpower to cut Japanese supply lines Starved out Japanese strong points
Island Hopping 1 st land offensive of Japanese war- Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands 19,000 marines 6 months later- Japanese leave 1 st Japanese defeat on land
Island Hopping October ,000 Allied troops & 738 ships converge on Leyte Island in the Philippines Japanese throw entire fleet into the battle Japanese introduce kamikaze-suicide plane
Island Hopping In the Philippines- 424 kamikazes-sunk 16 US ships and damaged another 80 Leyte Gulf a disaster for Japan –Lost 3 battleships –4 aircraft carriers –13 cruisers –400 planes
The Battle of Iwo Jima: Beginning the Final Push to Japan By Micah Burden Medal of Honor Legacy Teachers Program The Battle of Iwo Jima: Beginning the Final Push to Japan By Micah Burden Medal of Honor Legacy Teachers Program Mt. Suribachi was taken within days, but the fighting continued for three more weeks The Japanese knew that the U.S. would use Iwo Jima to strike Japan The American invasion force lands on February 19, 1945 “…the stark reality of the casualties sustained by the Americans on Iwo Jima…begged the question of how costly the final assault on Japan might be.” Fighting lasted from Februry 19 th to March 26 th Only 200 of the 20,000 Japanese survived. 6,000 American Marines were killed. An additional 18,000 were wounded. Fighting lasted from Februry 19 th to March 26 th Only 200 of the 20,000 Japanese survived. 6,000 American Marines were killed. An additional 18,000 were wounded.