War in the Pacific

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War in the Pacific
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• Admiral Yamamoto is said to have told his
  executive officer after the Bombing of Pearl
  Harbor that I fear we have awaken a sleeping
  Giant
• He was referring to the Americans ability to
  recover and reclaim what was lost.
• He obviously did not lose any sleep over this
  concept and the thought had to have slipped his
  mind in the coming weeks as Japan followed up on
  its attack on Pearl with other attacks across the
  Pacific

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• December 8, 1941 - U.S. and Britain declare war
  on Japan. Japanese land near Singapore and enter
  Thailand.
• December 9, 1941 - China declares war on Japan.
• December 10, 1941 - Japanese invade the
  Philippines and also seize Guam.
• December 11, 1941 - Japanese invade Burma.
• December 15, 1941 - First Japanese merchant ship
  sunk by a U.S. submarine.
• December 16, 1941 - Japanese invade British
  Borneo.
• December 18, 1941 - Japanese invade Hong Kong.
• December 22, 1941 - Japanese invade Luzon in the
  Philippines.
• December 23, 1941 - General Douglas MacArthur
  begins a withdrawal from Manila to Bataan
  Japanese take Wake Island.
• December 25, 1941 - British surrender at Hong
  Kong.
• December 26, 1941 - Manila declared an open city.
• December 27, 1941 - Japanese bomb Manila.

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• April 9, 1942 - U.S. forces on Bataan surrender
  unconditionally to the Japanese.
• April 10, 1942 - Bataan Death March begins as
  76,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans are
  forced to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun
  without food or water toward a new POW camp,
  resulting in over 5,000 American deaths.
• April 18, 1942 - Surprise U.S. 'Doolittle' B-25
  air raid from the HORNET against Tokyo boosts
  Allied morale.
• This was with Medium bombers aboard an aircraft
  carrier
• Dropped their bombs and headed to China
• Some that had been captured we later shot by
  Japan when Admiral Yamamoto was shot down
• May 5, 1942 - Japanese prepare to invade Midway
  and the Aleutian Islands.
• May 6, 1942 - Japanese take Corregidor as Gen.
  Wainwright unconditionally surrenders all U.S.
  And Filipino forces in the Philippines.

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Col Doolittle, Leader of the Doolittle Raid on
Tokyo in America Prior to the Raid.
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Col Doolittle tying Freedom Medals to Bombs to
deliver back to Japan
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B-25 Bomber taking off from USS Hornet on
Doolittles Raid
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B-25s lined up on Hornets Flight deck
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B-25s tied down to Flight Deck of Hornet April
1942
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• May 7-8, 1942 - Japan suffers its first defeat of
  the war during the Battle of the Coral Sea off
  New Guinea - the first time in history that two
  opposing carrier forces fought only using
  aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting
  each other.
• They were aided in the fact that the code
  breakers had discovered their plans
• June 4-5, 1942 - Turning point in the war occurs
  with a decisive victory for the U.S. against
  Japan in the Battle of Midway as squadrons of
  U.S. torpedo planes and dive bombers from
  ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attack and
  destroy four Japanese carriers, a cruiser, and
  damage another cruiser and two destroyers. U.S.
  loses YORKTOWN.
• America surprised the Japanese with planes on
  their deck after attacking Midway
• Turning point in the War

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USS Lexington Following the Battle of Coral Sea
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USS Lexington Burning following the Battle of
Coral Sea
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Midway Island showing Airfields from which
Bombers could be launched
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Japanese Aircraft Carrier Hiryu dodges bombs
dropped from B-17s
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Aircraft aboard the USS Yorktown before the
Battle of Midway
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USS Yorktown in Harbor at Pearl Prior to Pearl
Harbor