How Did Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

The military took up most of the harbor. The islands were seen as the perfect location for a military base as it was quite centralized in the Pacific Ocean, an asset which would certainly give an advantage to the island’s owners because it was an ideal place from which they could launch an imperial power into Asia.

The American forces plan consisted of a “divide and conquer” methodology. The U.S. focused on landing its assault force expediently and quickly and securing Mt. Suribachi and dominant high ground of the island. The Americans expected victory in less than a week. Their forces consisted of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions. The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions were to land on the eastern beaches the 4th on the right and the 5th on the left. The 3rd Marines would either land on the eastern beaches or assume a defensive role, which ever was called (Planning for the Battle of Iwo Jima, n.d.).

Although Allied troops encountered many Japanese kamikaze planes which destroyed some warships, the Allied Air Force successfully supported their troops on the ground. While the Sixth Army landed more troops on the beach, the I Corps protected them and advanced eastward, and the XIV Corps moved south toward Manila. Because of central Luzon’s geographical features—mostly open plains—the XIV Corps was able to quickly advance toward Manila. Around this time, another amphibious landing of the Eighth Army occurred to the south of Manila. From there, the 11th Airborne Division also advanced on Manila. While the XIV Corps was advancing southward, the I Corps switched to defending their left flank. Meanwhile, General Yamashita had his strongest forces deployed in north Luzon and around the Clark Air Base. However, the Japanese were disorganized because of lack of communications and were not prepared for many US attacks. On their southward journey, when the XIV Corps reached Clark Air Base, they battled for control until it was captured on January 29, which also gave the US more supplies found within the base. Following this, the XIV Corps pushed towards Manila and started the attack on January 31 from the north and south of the city. On February 4th the 11th Airborne Division advanced into the city, but met strong Japanese defences. They pushed through and finished capturing the defences on February 11th, and

The Midway Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1,486 miles to the west of the island of Hawaii. The U.S. Navy first occupied the islands in the early 1940’s and used them as a forward operations base, which included a seaport with multiple landing strips. Both sides saw the island as a key asset to acquire which in turn would cut the vast size of the Pacific Ocean in half. The Battle of Midway however was not the first time that the islands saw conflict. On December 7 1941, about 30 minutes into the attack on the naval port of Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces made their first attempt to claim the site. They were unsuccessful in there initial attempt but

The Japanese Pacific Commander, Admiral Yamamoto, believed that in order for Japan to win full control the Pacific, they’d need to take down the US Naval Fleet once and for all. Yamamoto almost chose to attack Pearl Harbour, however America’s land-based air power had gotten much stronger since the bombing of Pearl Harbour on the 7th of December 1941, and believed that attacking Pearl Harbour directly would be too risky, and decided battling them somewhere just out of reach from Pearl Harbour would be ideal.

The Battle of Midway, one of the most important battles of World War II, took place from June 4, 1942 to June 7, 1942. The battle occurred about five months after the Japanese capture of Wake Island, and exactly six months after the Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Before the Battle of Midway, the Japanese were on the offensive through South-East Asia and the Pacific. The Japanese attacked Wake Island Pearl Harbor and other atolls, which strengthened their empire and severely damaged the U.S. Navy. During the Battle of Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy lost four carriers: Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and the Soryu. After the Battle of Midway, the U.S. Navy was able to make their first offensive move at the Battle of Guadalcanal. Before the Battle of Midway, U.S. morale was low because the Japanese were rampaging through the Pacific, but after the Battle of Midway, the Kido Butai was permanently damaged which meant the U.S. Navy was able to take back the Pacific using General MacArthur’s “Island Hopping” strategy.

Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, in his book Utmost Savagery describes he battle of Tarawa as a gruesome seventy-six hour battle, “which took the lives of six thousand human beings in a space of three hundred acres – the identical size occupied by the Pentagon building and its parking lots.” The battle began in the early morning of November 20, 1943, as the United States Invasion fleet lay off the coast of Betio, the island projected to attack among the Tarawa Atoll. There were 18,000 marines sent to the attack on Tarawa and this seemed to be a more than sufficient number to easily secure the island. The United States forces encountered many problems though as they started storming the island on November 20. As the U.S. landing crafts attempted to invade the beaches of Betio, the tides were too low for a number of the heavier boats to freely navigate to shore. On the morning of the attack, the tide level never reached the four feet above the reef that was necessary to allow landing craft to land properly. Instead, the tide rose to at most one foot above the reef. The reefs that surrounded the island were now acting as another defense force for the Japanese and the American forces were significantly slowed in their attack. Many heavier landing crafts were only able to deliver Marines within

Brown led the Army’s 7th Division of three regiments of infantry, four battalions of artillery, the 13th Combat Engineer Battalion, and the attachment of the 50th Combat Engineer Battalion.1 Nearly a year before the battle took place, June 3rd, 1942, the Japanese seized Attu with only natives living there. The Japanese reestablished a base on Attu on October 29, 1942 under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Hiroshi Yanekawa.1 The Japanese set up strong defensive positions with antiaircraft and numerous caches of arms, ammunition and food spread across different locations on the island. U.S. forces did not have such advantage and had a difficult time with logistics due to the unforgiving elements. The islands beaches consisted of muskeg which created very difficult circumstances for U.S. vehicles that the engineers were crucial in resolving. Although the harsh climate and terrain caused many problems for both sides, it was more impactful against the Japanese due to the long period of acclimation they endured.2

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because Japan was lacking raw materials, so Hideki Tojo wanted to take over the Philippines who was colonized by America at that time and America was scared about Japan “grabbing colonies and getting oil and other goods” (344). In December of 1941, Japanese warplanes struck Hawaii, America was not ready when it came upon them. Soon after, America declared war on Japan along with Britain and Germany; Italy declared war on America helping Japan. America was successful on winning the sea battle since they knew they were coming, from cracking their secret code. It was very easy to locate the Japanese and their ships and America destroyed everything and Japan lost their dominance at sea. The U.S. were fully geared with

Three months later the Americans pressed forward setting their eyes on a near Australia called Guadalcanal. This battle would be the first allied offensive on the Empire of Japan. On 7 August 1942 American forces landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten the supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabal on New Britain (“Battle of Guadalcanal”). Powerful United States naval forces had supported the landings. Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles, and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last

The Japanese zeros and torpedo bombers could be heard approaching from the south. They swooped in low and close to the water trying to avoid the U.S. air force radar. At approximately 8:30 a.m, the attack began. We lost over 2,400 marines,

The Torpedoes that attacked Pearl Harbor caused a heavy destruction of the ships, made many lives on the ship be lost, and the U.S was not expecting the assault, thus making it pretty much a one sided battle Japan made a surprise attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor. They attacked to neutralize the United States Pacific Fleet. However, the United States did not let this go lightly and planned on getting revenge. The main reason it was a one-sided battle is because the Japanese had multiple pilots and bombers, over 100 in total, the torpedoes pierced the hull of the Battleships, despite the anti-torpedo protection, the Japanese torpedoes had all sorts of shapes and sizes, each for different purposes.

The natives of the land, that were supposedly working for the Japanese, had welcomed and hospitalized the Raiders. False information had been given to them, though, when Raiders inquired of Japanese personnel (Rottman 46-47). The Japanese soldiers had seemingly anticipated the attack or had been aware of it with no reports of the natives. Japanese soldiers had been deployed close to where the path and position of the target of the Raiders (Rottman 47). This was most likely due to the panic friendly fire shots by Raiders which had occurred frequently throughout the Raider’s presence. The Japanese had automobiles and special weaponry, such as flamethrowers, machine guns, etc. to use on the island against the Raiders as well. The Japanese had also placed camouflaged snipers amongst the palms in advance to pick off any hiding or unprepared Raider

The battle for Okinawa begin on 01Apr1945 and went until 22Jun1945. The capture of Okinawa was part of the plan to win the Far East war. The island of Okinawa is a part of a group of islands at the southern end of Japan. The main focus for the Americans were four airfields that were on the island that they wanted to control. The forces that made up the American landing party were the III Amphibious Corps and XXIV Corps, making the Tenth U.S. Army under the command of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. American forces had not been able to gather very much intelligence about the island which made it difficult to determine how many enemy forces there have been. There were over 130,000 Japanese troops waiting on the island. There were over 450,000 civilians which made operations harder for American forces. The enemy forces were mainly down in the southern sector of the island waiting for the Americans. The beach

24 Island Hopping Campaign An amphibious attack launched in late January 1944 by U.S. Marine and Army troops, the Island Hopping Campaign took place on three islets in the Kwajalein Atoll, a coral formation in the Marshall Islands. Here, the Japanese had already established their outermost defensive perimeter. U.S. troops first took control of Kwajalein Island and the nearby islets of Roi and Namur, allowing the Pacific Fleet to advance its assault onto the islands and continue towards the Philippines and the Japan.