The Pacific War

1943

The Main Players: USA’s General Macarthur Years of Service: Involved in: Philippines campaign ( ) and ( ) New Guinea Campaign Borneo Campaign (1945) Occupation of Japan

Macarthur's Plan

The Navy’s Plan

The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought in the waters southwest of the Solomon Islands and eastward from New Guinea. The Coral Sea action resulted from a Japanese amphibious operation intended to capture Port Moresby, located on New Guinea’s southeastern coast. A Japanese air base there would threaten northeastern Australia and support plans for further expansion into the South Pacific. The U.S was tipped off of the Japanese plans through breaking Japanese communication codes. Both sides would be equipped with naval power, air power, and land based bombers. After two days of active aircraft carrier combat, the U.S had lost one aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and one of its fleet oilers. The Japanese were forced to cancel the battle when they lost a carrier, a destroyer, some smaller ships, and maintained large damage to a main aircraft carrier, depleting much of their air resources. This marks the first Allied victory against Japan. The Battle of the Coral Sea (7-8 May 1942)

The Battle of Midway was fought near the tiny U.S mid-Pacific base at Midway atoll. Midway would even out the naval playing field. Up to this point the Japanese were superior. The Japanese fleet commander moved on Midway in an effort to draw out and destroy U.S Pacific Fleet’s aircraft carrier striking forces and embarrass the U.S Navy as they had done at Pearl Harbor. The plan was to knock down Midway’s defenses, follow with an invasion of nearby islands at Midway and establish a Japanese land base there. The Japanese intended to surprise them. Superior American intelligence cracked Japanese communication codes and the attack was known about well before the battle was joined. The U.S readied their carriers, their air force, and the land battalions, which were waiting for the Japanese before they had arrived. Japan lost 4 irreplaceable fleet carriers, with the U.S only losing 1. The base at Midway was salvaged and the Japanese left this battle defeated. The Battle of Midway (June 4 th -7 th 1942)

In the six months between Aug and February 1943, the U.S and its Pacific Allies fought a brutally hard air-sea-land campaign against the Japanese possession of the previously-obscure island of Guadalcanal. The Americans were on the offensive now and sent in a U.S Marine division carrying 19,000 marines to Guadalcanal’s Lunga Point and a nearby island of Tulagi. Air, land, and sea forces would be used. The U.S had the resources and abilities to replace their lost ships, carriers, planes etc.. Japan however, had spread themselves so thinly and lacked the oil, building materials, and time to repair and replicate their ships. Japan’s offensive began to halt based on the events at Guadalcanal and they began a lengthily retreat from the area that lasted until the war ended. The Guadalcanal Campaign (August February 1943)

The battle was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon. The American naval fleet was much superior to the Japanese at this point. On Oct. 20, U.S troops invaded the island of Leyte as a strategic move to cut Japan off from the countries it had occupied in the “Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere,” thus cutting it off from its oil supplies. The Japanese navy mobilized all of its remaining major naval vessels for this fight but was quickly squashed by the U.S navies attacking fleets. The Japanese navy failed to hold back the Americans and suffered heavy losses. They would never again have a naval force of any concern to the allies. Japan would use organized Kamikaze pilots (the divine wind) for the first time at this battle. The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Oct )