A long-standing debate in American history is when the United states gained the upper hand against Japan in World War. Some say it happened at the Battle of Midway, while others claim it to be Guadalcanal. Both had their significances and contributions to the American victory, but the victory at Guadalcanal is likely to not have occurred had Japan won the Battle of Midway. The American victory at Midway did several things for them, firstly they gained morale and momentum in the pacific, they essentially destroyed the Japanese navy’s surface fleet, and they secured Midway Atoll. When combined, the resulting outcome spells out the start of Japan’s failure to when the war. The war in the Pacific against Japan was fought largely by carrier and …show more content…
The Japanese lost more than a bunch of ships and a bunch of airplanes, and a bunch of men. Experience is what wins’ wars. You can have the biggest guns and the best planes, but if you lack the men with enough training and experience to be an effective combatant, then there no sense in having those guns and those airplanes because the experienced fighters on the other side will just make quick and easy work of them, which was often the case through the Pacific after the Battle of Midway. After Midway, the Japanese just lacked the highly-experienced commanders, pilots, tacticians, and shipman to fight the Americans and win. Midway was the punch that turned the Americans in favor of winning the war, and Guadalcanal was the knockout punch that would strip the Japanese of any chance of winning the war. The only thing the Japanese could do after Guadalcanal was defend their outposts as the Americans proceeded with their island-hopping campaign with an ultimate goal of fighting them all the way back to the Japanese
When the battle was over the United States losses did not stack up against the Japanese losses. The Japanese lost 3000 men 4 Cruisers and 300 planes. On the other hand, the United States only lost one thousand men 1 Cruiser and 150 planes (Midway, Battle of). this was a crushing loss for the Japanese which was the first Naval loss since
Introduction The attack on Pearl Harbour occurred before World War Two, on December 7th 1941, when Japan launched a pre-emptive strike against the United States of America. Pearl Harbour, in Hawaii, was attacked, and 20 naval vessels, as well as 300 airplanes, were destroyed. The Japanese did this because the American government had imposed sanctions and trade embargoes upon Japan as a result of Japan declaring war on China and attempting to take over China’s import market, in order to solve its demographic and economic issues.2 This prompted the American congress to vote to join World War Two, two years after it had begun.2 My research task aims to discover whether or not Japan’s actions are justified.
The Battle of Midway was a naval battle fought between the U.S and Japan. It was fought between the 4th and 7th of June, 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor. This battle ended all further threats from Japan to the Pacific. It was Japan’s first naval defeat since the 1863 Battle of Shimonoseki Straits. The Battle of Midway was significant because the United States was able to crack Japans code, ambush Japan, and win the first allied victory in the Pacific Wars.
The battle of the Coral Sea was Japan’s first defeat and was Americas first win (Hamilton, 2012). The battle took place in the Coral Sea, between the Solomon islands, the eastern point of papa new guinea and the north-eastern tip of Australia. This covers ocean thousands of kilometres wide and therefore for a large portion of the battle the opposing sides could often not find each other. Each carrier group often sent out planes to find each other but due to limited range in the planes, limited skill amongst the aircrews and ship identification, the often bad weather conditions and the vast area all equated into it being very difficult for them to find their targets (Lewis, 2015). As the list of defeats for the allied military and naval forces began to mount the feeling amongst all Australians began to drift into depression and acceptation that the Japanese could invade at any minute.
Due to severe storms and heavy clouds, Japanese patrol boats were unable to be the approaching Allied ships. The landing on Guadalcanal began on the night of August 6 1942 and continued into the morning of August 7 1942. The landing party was split into two groups, one taking on Guadalcanal, and the other the nearby islands. With much resistance 3000 U.S. Marines secured the three islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo. During this assault the Japanese lost almost all personel with the Marines losing 122 personnel.
Even though we weren’t officially in the war until Pearl Harbor in 1942, a lot still happened. America’s first significant gains came in this same year against Japan. These were the Coral Sea in May and the Midway Island in June. This halted the Japanese advance. In the North Atlantic, British and American ships used superior technology to lower the effectiveness of the German Subs.
Aircraft carriers were the most important naval vessel, and all of them were away from the base on the 7th of December. The assault also left the base’s most vital onshore facilities such as oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards, and submarine docks intact, and so the American Navy was able to rebound quickly from the attack (Source F). War was not declared between the two nations before the attack took place, the Japanese plan was to send out a declaration 30 minutes before the first bombs were dropped, but the message took too long to decode (Source C). This is considered dishonorable, according to Japanese traditions called “Bushido” which states that you may not hurt your opponent if he is sleeping. The assault violated their nations ideals.
(Battle of Guam). The Battle of Guadalcanal The Battle of Guadalcanal lasted from August of 1942 to February of 1943. This battle took place on the island of Guadalcanal, located in the southern Solomon Islands, and was fought between the Allied and Japanese forces (Battle
Japanese Imperial Navy only had a rough estimate of 21,000 men. Japan was outnumbered by many, many soldiers. Japan lost around 20,000 of their men, which was almost their whole army (Andrews). Americans had around 5,900 people killed and 17,400 wounded (Cowley). This was the only battle in which the United States Marine Corps had more casualties than Japan (10).
Also depleting air strength meant the remaining warplanes had to be hoarded to defend Japanese Home Islands. With no available means to defend Iwo Jima, Japan decided to rely on the established defensive equipment in the area and check U.S. by delaying tactics to gain time for defense of the mainland. Japanese Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned the task of defending Iwo Jima. Knowing he couldn’t win the battle, he aimed at inflicting heavy casualties on American forces to force them to reconsider invasion of Mainland Japan. His strategy was radically different from Japan’s usual strategy of beach defense to face the landings directly.
This then led to the complete destruction of the Japanese Empire just four year later (Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941). Also, at around the same year of the American victory General Hideki Tojo of Japan soon realized that Japan had no chance of winning so he stepped down from power and resigned. However, for one person who saw that Japan’s success would not last stated “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve” (Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto). Also, due to the great lose of Japan Admiral Isorku Yamamoto stated that “It is not enough that we should have take Guam and the Philippines, or even Hawaii and San Francisco. We should have to march into Washington and sign the treaty in the White House”.
Throughout history America has had hundreds of transformative events that have changed the course of history through political, economic, and sociocultural effects. The most significant events aren’t the ones everyone remembers for being exciting but rather the ones that have impacted society and individuals the most. Many of these events that have shaped America most profoundly include wars, presidents, supreme court decisions, but they also include such events such as natural disasters, fires, and even scientific findings. Each event has not only impacted the time period it was set in but also may even still be impacting our lives today. By studying and analyzing America’s history one can learn the struggles and triumphs of a young nation that became the superpower it is today.
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort and the U.S.’s overall superior strategies of Nimitz and Fletcher was the true reason for why the U.S.’s seemingly impossible victory became possible. The two key themes that I will focus analysis on is the failures in the Japanese strategic planning and execution at Midway and U.S. determination and resilience to keep pushing on even after things, especially with USS carriers leading up to and during the actual war was falling apart. Symonds begins to argue his case by dissecting Japan’s plans for conquest and domination in the Pacific. He starts with looking at the Japanese failure by several of their military philosophies.
Craig L. Symonds, in The Battle of Midway, recounts the events leading up to and during the June 4, 1942, Battle of Midway. The battle was a decisive American victory and effectively destroyed the Japanese navy for the duration of the war in the Pacific. Symond uses the people who played a part in the battle to retell the battle, its decisive moments, and its aftermath. Symonds argues that Midway “is best explained and understood by focusing on the people involved.” (pg5).
Theoretically of course, what if a country was to develop a weapon strong enough to completely disintegrate cities and all the people living in it? Coincidently, the United states discovered a bomb that did exactly that and ended up thrusting the world into a new era of weaponized technology towards the end of World War II. Countries from this point on became wary of opposing the United States, aware of the power they possessed, especially since the US had already used this weapon on Japan to end the war.