USS North Carolina

The United States of America has not always been the world superpower that it is today. The same goes for its Navy. In the first several years of existence, the United States Navy was not a formidable fighting force. The young nation was hesitant to invest in a navy for many reasons, one of them being to prevent provoking the world powers of the time, France and Britain. On top of that, navies were very expensive to build and required a significant amount of resources to maintain, which the U.S. did not have at the time. To say that the United States Navy was ill prepared for war would be a dramatic understatement. The U.S. had a total of fifteen ships in its entire naval fleet compared to the might of the Royal Navy which possessed over six hundred warships. Even with the odds stacked against the U.S., President Madison declared war on 18 JUN 1812. The lack of size and power of the navy at the time would make it extremely difficult to satisfy the needs of the newly founded nation.

The Confederate Navy had ships called raiders, which they used to raid and loot Union cargo ships.

Returning to their aircraft carriers to refuel and rearm the Japanese bombers noticed the U.S. fleet and prepared for their attack. Sent from the aircraft carriers were Devastator Torpedo Bombers and Dauntless Dive Bombers. The first to attack were the Torpedo Bombers, flying low to the sea the Japanese were able to defend their ship’s with ease. The Japanese destroyed 35 Torpedo Bombers, only 6 made it to their target destination which was one of the four Japanese aircraft carriers, but to their surprise none of their torpedo’s hit the intended target. Although the Torpedo Bombers did not hit their target their sacrifice was not in vain. High above the Dauntless Dive Bombers were closing in on their targets without any resistance. With just enough cloud coverage the Dive Bombers were able to approach their targets with ease. Within the first day the Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, were hit, set ablaze, and abandoned (). According to ..: Over the next two days, the US Navy and US forces on Midway continued their attacks, forcing the Japanese to abandon the battle and retreat to Japan. The Japanese lost approximately 4,800 men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft, while the United States lost approximately 307 men, one carrier, one destroyer, and over 100 aircraft.

Prior to the upcoming Coral Sea battle, a number of Japanese military messages had been intercepted by the U.S. Navy signals intelligence unit. The first, dated March 28, 1942, was encoded as stating “The objective of MO will be first to restrict the enemy fleet movements and will be accomplished by means of attacks on the north coast of Australia.” (“Battle of the Coral Sea”) Subsequent messages were intercepted that provided allied forces with updated details concerning IJN fleet progress, as well as elements of IJN plans that included battleship and carrier logistics. This resulted in the U.S. Navy’s deployment of a cotillion of numerous warships and support craft, and also the carriers Lexington and Yorktown (“Battle of the Coral Seas”). In the upcoming battle, these ships would do battle against a superior IJN force comprised of far more battleships, submarines and support craft, as well as aircraft carriers.

America suffered heavy damage from this attack, 20 ships were damaged or destroyed. Over 300 planes were reduced to ashes. And there were over 3500 casualties. Many of which came from soldiers trapped in ships while they were sinking.

By the thousands American Men started joining the Army, it grew massively the women of the country started pouring into factories and started building tanks, planes, guns, ammo, jeeps, and trucks by the thousands. The Nation was preparing for all-out war, with Germany and Japan as the main targets in their sights. Nazi going to let anybody stand in their way. Germany and Imperial Japan wasn’t ready for what the United States was about to unleash upon them. Pearl Harbor was just a distraction to keep the Navy from interfering with what they had planned in South-East Asia. Over the course of 7 hours, several Japanese attacks on U.S held Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island and the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. There have been numerous precedents of unannounced Military force by Japan, but their lack of any formal warning or declaration of war the attack on Pearl Harbor was later judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime. On December 8th, The United States declared war on Japan and three days later on December 11th Italy and Germany declared war on America. In the Aftermath, 15 Metals of Honor were awarded, 51 Navy Crosses, 53 Silver Stars, 4 Navy and Marine Corps Medals, 1 Distinguished Flying Medal, 4 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 3 Bronze Star Medals were awarded to the American Soldiers who distinguished themselves in the line of battle during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Later on, a special Military

Both sides sustained significant losses. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk in exchange for one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. The heavy losses permanently weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), in particular the four fleet carriers and over 200 experienced naval

The USS Missouri is a strong rugged battleship, shining with sailor’s devotion. It is a battle hardened ship that was filled with men willing to give their lives for their country. Now a memorial, it shows how far Americans will go to succeed. Men on board the Missouri fought for their lives and our country’s life to possess our freedom and the other things we hold most dear. The Missouri is a museum holding all the facts and information about her during the wars. It was battle tested and survived multiple attempts to foil the good she was doing. The Missouri is known as the last battleship, for it was the last commissioned and the last decommissioned. The USS Missouri was used by patriots to serve America during the harsh times of World War

The U.S broke the Japanese naval code and knew they were coming. Since they knew this they had the advantage. The U.S had 3 heavy aircraft carriers stationed just out of range of the Japanese fleet. It started when a Japanese spy plane spotted the fleet.

At the same time, three United States aircraft carriers were closing on to the Japanese forces and they were Enterprise, Yorktown and Hornet. The Japanese weren’t expecting the Yorktown aircraft to be around at that stage as they were only expecting two. As the Japanese forces were more focus on attacking Midway, the United States lunched their first attack. They attacked with torpedo bombers. These planes were traveling in a low range so they could hit the side of the Japanese aircraft as there was more chance of them sinking in the ocean. The Japanese forces were able to easily sight them and almost all the torpedo planes were destroyed and none of the planes were able to make it to their target. Out of 42 torpedo bomber planes, only 6 survived as 36 of them were shot

May 5th the Yorktown and the Lexington joined the designated rendezvous. Some Japanese were already entering the Coral Sea. Admiral Takagi's Striking Force moved down along the Solomon, they were at the Coral Sea by early May 6th. Port Moresby invasion Force and the Support Group went to the Jomard Passage. Port Moresby was finally attacked, it was bombed on this specific day. On May 6th Fletcher made a decision to attack the Japanese force. The American told Fletcher that it was almost certain that Japanese would come through the Jomard Passage on May 7th or 8th. Fletcher told his people to striking distance on May 7th. While the Japanese planes reported back into place. 15 Japanese bombers attacked American ships but they failed to hit their targets. Later a destroyer names 'Sims' was attacked, and it quickly sank with 379 lives were lost. Oil tanker 'Neosho' was attacked as while, but it stayed up and until May 11th when 123 men were able to get off of the destroyer 'Henley”. The oil tanker “Neosho' losses was not in vain as the 56 Japanese planes that attacked both the ships could have turned their attention to the 'Yorktown'. A group of Japanese bombers attacked the ships of commander Rear Admiral J.C Crace of the Royal Navy. Fletcher moved his carriers away from Crace's group, this group included two carriers 'Australia' and 'Hobart' of

The Japanese, caught off guard by the American forces, lost the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu (Jordan & Wiest, 2004). The United States lost "approximately 307 men, one carrier, one destroyer, and over 100 aircraft," while the Japanese lost a much more significant "4,800 men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft," proving the battle to be a clear victory for the Americans and a failure on the part of the Japanese to cripple the United States Navy '("Battle of," n.d.). This critical turning point in the war came exactly six months after the events at Pearl Harbor and proved the prediction made by Admiral Yamamoto prior to the war, "In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success," ("The Battle,"

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had many of them destroyed during in the war. The First aircraft carrier to shoot down an actual U.S

At dawn on June 4, Japanese carrier aircraft bombed and heavily damaged the base on Midway. Long range bombers, including B-17's, made several attacks on the Japanese, with no effect, and Midway-based fighters made a strenuous defense of Midway, also to little effect. US carrier forces, led by Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher was in overall command from Yorktown, but Spruance had better knowledge of the present operational situation), had the advantage of knowing, through decryption of Japanese Navy communications, the enemy plans and intentions. When the Japanese aircraft returned to their carriers, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo decided to re-arm them with bombs for a second strike at Midway. While