Island Hopping Jalen Payton Mr. Jared Davis English III 17 October 2017 Outline Thesis Statement: Island hopping, a strategy developed by Douglas MacArthur, was one of the most effective ways America won the Pacific War. Introduction The Start of the Pacific War Pearl Harbor to the Philippines MacArthur’s Retreat II. The Meeting with MacArthur, Nimitz, and Roosevelt The Strategy Forms MacArthur’s Plan and Invasion III. The Captures Rabaul Island, Solomon Islands, Manila Iwo Jima IV. Aftermath The Hole It Opened Victory Conclusion Island Hopping On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes filled with bombs attacked an American military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In January of 1942, Japan began to invade the Burma, New Guinea, Manila, The Solomon Islands, and more territories in the Philippines. In March 1942, Japan began to claim the Philippines, a territory claimed by the United States. Douglas MacArthur, an allied commander who controlled the Philippines, was forced to retreat due to the Japanese invading and taking control over the Philippines. Years later, MacArthur, Chester Nimitz, and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt met in Honolulu, Hawaii for a conference to discuss plans on how to defeat Japan. They came up with an idea formed by MacArthur, which was “Island Hopping”. Island Hopping, a strategy developed by Douglas MacArthur, was one of the most effective ways the Allies won the Pacific War. On the morning of December 7, 1941, naval
Beginning of the year in 1941, FDR decided that the Pacific Fleet would move to Hawaii from San Diego in the hopes of discouraging the invasion of the Japanese. Negotiations between Washington and Tokyo had been going on for several months without a resolution. On July 2, 1941, the Imperial High Command was tired of negotiations with the United States and needed to proceed with their development within Asia even with the embargo in place and meaning it would be at a high risk of war with the US. [4] Therefore, the Japanese had deceived the United States, ignored the arbitration, and moved forward with their plans. The United States had hoped that this restrictive embargo would halt Japan’s assault as negotiations had continued well into November.
It was a strategy used to take back islands, which were under Japanese control. The idea was to take one island at a
The war in Europe was finished and America was still fighting Japan in the Pacific. The American people’s will to continue the war effort was falling and the government had to think of a way to end the war. They needed to take some of the Pacific to be able to get close enough to Japan to finish the war. They started by taking islands but ran into heavy Japanese resistance; soldier’s that were almost all willing to die for their emperor. That included fake surrendering, making and then hiding in elaborate cave systems, and killing other Japanese who were trying to surrender. This weighed heavily on the soldiers and made fighting incredibly hard. Even when they had an island there were Japanese who had hidden and still tried to kill the
Pearl Harbor, the beginning of the war between Japan and the United States, was the start of dreadful war organized by Japanese aircraft. The attack was a withheld, destructive attack against the United State's naval base in Hawaii. This attack on December 7, 1941 was originally a plan to conquer the Dutch East Indies without being interrupted by the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States, they wanted to continue their expansion, but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. This terrible ambush resulted in the United State's entry into World War II. The aerial attacks were sent in two waves, this resulted in the sinking of multiple U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers, and Auxiliaries, which led to thousands of U.S. personnel casualties and many wounded army, marines, and navy soldiers including many citizens.
The Battle of Luzon, fought in the Pacific Theater in early 1945, is remembered as the World War Two battle which had the highest net casualties. After Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, was captured by the Japanese in 1942, General MacArthur believed that it was extremely important to recapture it. This took some time, but in 1944, a new campaign to recapture the Philippines was created. The campaign started with attacks on Leyte and Mindoro, which prepared for Luzon. The US, working together with the Commonwealth of the Philippines, successfully used multifaceted assault tactics—including the use of air force, naval, and ground troops—to advance from the Lingayen Gulf to the capital city of Manila. After the capture of Manila,
This holds a significant place in the history of world war 2. American troops, often extremely undisciplined and unhappy with their officers, found an outlet for their frustrations when their political commanders came up with the idea of "Island Hopping". The men would group together on the beaches and hop up and down on-the-spot for around 20 minutes or so, rest for 5 minutes then resume hopping. This became a popular pastime for the troops, and by the end of the war an "Island Hopping" league was formed, with annual competitions being held to see who was the best "Island Hopper". Island hopping was a strategy where the US attacked and took over an island. They then used that island as a base to attacked the next.
The plan was developed on February 19, 1945 for the United States Marine Corps invade and take control of the island of Iwo Jima. After arriving, it was clear that the Japanese were already in place waiting for the invaders. On the site nationalww2museum.org it was said to be as much as 74,000 marines and 21000 Japanese fighters fought in battle on the tiny island. Making it a 3 to 1, the United States had the upper advantage as it came to numbers. After the 36th day, it was estimated that 7,000 marines were killed while another 20,000 were wounded. With that many casualties, the United States knew it wasn’t going to be taken away that easy.
Pacific warfare was indisputably the most harsh warfare for any troop that was sent overseas. Unlike the war in Europe, the troops in the pacific did not know what they were fighting. The Japanese were committed to their leader and to their philosophy of bushido. Bushido meant “death before dishonor” this meant that if it came down to it they would rather die than to give up. This made it a lot harder for the troops to win the battles because there was no surrender. The second thing that made the warfare different between the two theatres was the fact that there was greater distance to travel. There were islands that the Americans needed to take over before they won. This is where the idea of island hopping came along. Island hopping was
In the beginning of war, Japanese victory in Pacific terrified West Cost Americans. Partial victory for Americans appeared when Japanese capital Tokyo was bombed. It was less of a material loss but huge in terms of psychological attack. It was followed by the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942 and after that the decisive Battle of Midway Island took place. U.S. aircraft carriers destroyed three out of four Japanese carriers that sabotaged their further plans of invasion and they adopted a defensive strategy.
Before their attack on Midway Island, the Japanese had to take over Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early May of 1942. Yamamoto planned the Battle of the Coral Sea with hopes of gaining new islands in the Pacific Ocean that would aid the Japanese during its attack on Midway
The Attack on American Bases was a series of Japanese raids on American Bases in the Pacific during 1941 and 1942. They included Attacks on Pearl Harbor, Niihau, The First, Second and Third bombings of Midway and Johnston and Palmyra. The most well known of these attacks was Pearl Harbor. As a result of this attack, America declared war on Japan. As a response Italy and Germany declared war on the United States. The Attack on American Bases is one of the most influential moments of the 20th century, marking our entrance into World War II , and should be remembered as an important moment in United States history.
By the end of 1943 the United States began employing a strategy called leapfrogging (also known as island hopping) in regard to defeating Japan in the Pacific. The basic idea of leapfrogging was the United States along with its allies would avoid attacking heavily fortified islands in the Pacific and divert their attention on islands important in the drive toward Japanese home islands, but that were not as well defended. The United States then tried to isolate the Japanese-held islands that it had leaped frogged over by blockading supply ships.The capture of each successive island from the Japanese allowed the American navy become closer conducting invasions in
Island hopping journeys are described in tourism magazines as “an active holiday combined with a relaxing cruise.” Although Port Kells may not be considered by most as an exotic destination, it is a wonderful launch site for a bicycling day trip to Barnston Island. Home to the Katzie First Nation, this terrific, little island, is located on the Fraser River between Surrey and Pitt Meadows. Charming, quaint, peaceful, this gem is the ideal destination for a family cycling adventure.
Acting on reports from airmen that there were no signs of enemy activity and the islands might have been evacuated, General Douglas MacArthur accelerated his timetable for capturing the Admiralties and ordered an immediate reconnaissance in force. The campaign began on 29 February 1944 when a force landed on Los Negros, the third-largest island in the group. By using a small, isolated beach where the Japanese had not anticipated an assault, the force achieved tactical surprise, but the islands proved to be far from unoccupied. A furious battle over the islands
Hickman, Kennedy. “An Island Hopping Path to Victory in the Pacific During World War II.” ThoughtCo, 9 Feb. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-across-the-pacific-2361460.