The Pacific Theater of World War II - Research Paper Example

The Pacific Theater of World War II The basis for the Pacific Theater of the Second World War was laid with expansion of Japanese Empire in China during the Second Sino Japanese War in 1938. Furthermore, Japan tried expanding towards East Soviet, but faced severe resistance. During this expansion phase, Japan invaded Vietnam in 1940 to use it as a launching pad for further attacks and an outpost to meet up for possible counter offensives. Vietnam at that time was under French and the invasion bought the Japanese in close proximity with the Indian Subcontinent under the British. This rapid expansion raised concerns among the superpowers at the time, France and Britain. Japanese gained air superiority and bombarded territories in China, Vietnam and even Taiwan. Furthermore, the start of Second World War in the European front with Germany and Italy forming the Axis matched with Japanese plan against the western powers and it led to the inclusion of Japan in the Axis. Initial plans by Japanese Emperor Hirohito were limited to China and some counter measures to safeguard against the Soviet Union. With the inclusion in the Axis, Emperor Hirohito’s plans for expansion gained new strength, backed up by its newly formed allies. This alliance divided the world and Japan faced the Allied powers in the Pacific Region. Japanese Empire was comparatively isolated and her alliance could not yield much support as Germany and Italy were engaged in the European Theater. The paper will look in detail the major events in the Pacific Theater with details on key battles and figures involved. Japanese expansion towards Vietnam raised concerns in Britain as it came close to its colonies in the Subcontinent. Britain and Australia, supported by the United States took measures to contain Japanese Empire. Embargoes were placed to starve Japanese Army by controlling oil and iron exports. The US terminated trade with Japan and negotiations between the two failed. A message from the US State Department was relayed to the Commanders in Chief of Pacific Fleet of a possible surprise aggressive action by Japan in November 1941, after breakdown of negotiations.1The start of this pre-emptive was to target the US Pacific Fleet in the Pearl Harbor with the aim to incapacitate by surprise. At the time, the US was not so active in world politics, but Japanese assumed US inclusion in the future. The surprise attack began on a Sunday morning on 7 December 1941, with layers of Japanese bombers and fighter aircrafts intended to destroy the Pacific Fleet in the harbor as well as US aircrafts on nearby fields. The attack destroyed three main battleships, three destroyers and one mine laying ship according to the initial reports by the Secretary of Navy. Furthermore, 72 aircrafts including bombers and fighters were destroyed along with 128 damaged. Casualties were near 2,400 which mostly included armed personnel.2The attack achieved its objective of destroying most of the fleet and the damages bought Japanese some time to secure footholds in Pacific without interference from the US. The attack pulled US into the war and it is referred as the opening of the Pacific front. The Pearl Harbor was one of many targets across the Pacific that formed part of a very large offensive launched on 8 December 1941 by the Japanese. Thailand was invaded within a day and Hong Kong within three weeks. US forces stationed in Guam and the Wake Island surrendered to the ground offensive. Furthermore, Malaya was taken from the British rule within two months. This initial offensive launched on the 7 and 8 December 1941 was extremely successful campaign. The Japanese controlled the region and dominated the Pacific without major threats. The victories in Malaya as well as Thailand provided launching pads to establish air superiority in surrounding region. British battleship Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese bombers launched from bases in Malaya. Almost a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese started to consolidate their position by securing strategic assets in the region. Tarakan and Manado fell within days of invasion; Tarakan was rich in oil fields and a strategic airfield, whereas Manado provided control of the Minahasa peninsula that could be used to approach Australia. In the same time period, invasion of Burma started on 15 January 1942 along with invasions for Singapore and New Guinea. British Commonwealth forces retreated from Burma and Singapore fell to Japanese in almost a month. By the first six months, Japanese controlled the Pacific from Burma in the west, Singapore in the south, New Guinea in the east and numerous islands in between. The offensive was successful as Japanese enjoyed air superiority which turned out to be extremely effective against the naval forces of the Allies. This complete dominance was achieved by surprised attack and removal of threats systematically. Attack on Pearl Harbor gave Japan time to dominate the region without much interference from outside forces. During this initial offensive by Japan, General Douglas MacArthur was put in command of the US Army in the Far East. General MacArthur was recalled from retirement for the command and prior to this position he was actively involved in structuring the Philippine Army. General MacArthur was commanding the force in Manila when Japanese offensive was launched. The force retreated to the nearby Bataan and 90,000 US and Philippine troops took defensive positions surrounded by Japanese naval blockade.3 Japanese attacked positions for six days but could not gain good ground. Bataan was surrounded for almost two months and the defensive positions could not be reinforced with vital supplies. In this period General MacArthur was able to escape to Australia. During this retreat, the US and Philippine soldiers were trapped in between the Japanese on one side and the ocean on the other; naval resources could not be committed to assist the retreat. This resulted in the largest surrender in the US history. General MacArthur famously made his commitment to return to Philippines again. The first major retaliation from the US was on 18 April 1942, in the form of air raid on the Japanese main land. The raid was aimed at boosting the morale of the American public after the PearlHarbor attack and is known as Doolittle Raid. Bombers were planned to take off from an aircraft carrier and because of limitation of fuel, land in mainland China. Tokyo was target of the raid and military along with industrial zones were hit by the bombers, however, most of the bombers crashed near the Chinese coast due to fuel and weather conditions after the raid.4 In May 1942, Japanese invaded Tulagi on the east of New Guinea to consolidate their positions and defend against attacks from the US forces. Tulagi was the eastern corner of the Japanese empire and could overlook the Solomon Sea and protect the flanks with an additional advantage of interdicting line of communication between Australia and the US. These interdiction plans led to naval battles in the Coral Sea, in between Australia and New Guinea. Admiral Yamamoto’s Combined Fleet was involved in these battles. Yamamoto planned the attack on Pearl Harbor and battle of the Coral Sea was the first time the US naval forces met Japanese Combined Fleet. Japanese destroyed an aircraft carrier and damaged another, but the US fleet destroyed a medium sized Japanese carrier along with serious damage to a battleship. The outcome of the battle was divided, but the US naval air fleets gained advantage over the Japanese. The Allied code breakers decrypted the keys for signal communications and interdicted signals traffic efficiently. This gave Allies an edge with superior intelligence and anticipation of Japanese plans. Soon after the battle of Coral Sea, Yamamoto planned to take over Midway atoll, about 1200 miles north east of Hawaii. Four Japanese air craft carriers participated in the war as opposed to three from the US. Yamamoto’s plan called for two strike teams, one aimed to lure in the US fleet, whereas the other was meant to ambush the US forces in the trap. The plan was decrypted by US cryptographers and provided US an oversight of Japanese intentions.5 Furthermore, Yamamoto initiated the plans without complete reconnaissance and could not estimate the correct strength of US fleet as well. US ground forces on the Midway atoll were incorporated in the plans with a task to reinforce navy with artillery fire. The Japanese lost all four air craft carriers in the battle and this damage to the air capabilities called for a retreat. Allied bombers played an important role in locating and destroying the carriers. The battle was the turning point and a major victory for the US forces as they gradually gained strength. By the end of 1942, Allies started Arakan Campaign to start engaging Japanese forces in Burma. British and Indian forces were involved in the campaign, but the attacks could not penetrate strong defenses. The forces retreated without major success after five months of fighting. However, campaigns in New Guinea and Solomon Sea earned partial success for the US forces. Amphibious operations matured over time and the US forces gained experience during these battles. Attacks were supported by the aircraft carriers and artillery fire from the destroyers as well. Both sides sustained heavy casualties during these campaigns, but in 1943 the Allies controlled most of the New Guinea region and were in a position to launch offensive for the Philippines. Before ground offensive could be launched, naval battles cleared off the Japanese fleet and the Allies enjoyed air and naval superiority. US destroyers played important role in clearing waters by laying charge explosives against submarines. By late 1944, the offensive for Philippines began with invasions on the eastern islands of Philippines. By now, US forces were experienced in amphibious operations and succeeded to move forward after landings. Furthermore, air and artillery fire from the navy provided support for the advance. Leyte was the first island to face offensive in the campaign for Philippines and General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his commitment to return to Philippines. Another phase of the offensive was launched two months later for the northern islands which played important role to interrupt Japanese line of communication and without critical supplies,the Allies achieved victories despite Japanese strong defensive positions. Almost five months into the campaign, the Japanese were forced to break in small groups and reverted to guerilla tactics. These small packets of resistance were cleared in coming months. After Philippines, the Japanese faced shortage of trained pilots for the air force and parameters decreased rapidly. Japanese reverted to Kamikaze attacks, in particular against the naval forces. These attacks involved young pilots crashing their planes on the naval ships ensuring destruction. The Allies took Philippines, but still could not launch air strikes against the Japanese mainland as it was out of range of Allied bombers. However, in between Japan and Philippines was the small island of Iwo Jima, concentrated with Japanese forces. Iwo Jima became of strategic importance as it could provide a launching pad to the Allied air fleet to bomb Japan and consequently support invasion. By this time the Japanese forces were fairly weakened and could not be reinforced or supported by air and naval forces due to Allied air superiority. They were outnumbered as well and there was no way to retreat. The plan was to fight till last man and cause as much casualties to Allies as possible. Japanese Lieutenant General Kuribayashi appreciated the situation and planned for well dug in defensive positions. Pill boxes were built and bunkers were interconnected with a network of underground tunnels. The island was bombarded with artillery and air strikes, but the dug in positions were not affected. The defensive plan was to allow shore landings and let soldiers come in before opening fire from well hidden positions. The first wave was surprised by these positions and caused panic. Artillery positions were dug in natural caves and controlled the area from high ground. The bunkers took 36 days to clear and achieved their objective to cause as much Allied casualties as possible. Japanese fought till last men and only 216 prisoners were taken out of 22,000, whereas, the Allies suffered 6,000 casualties.6 The Battle of Okinawa was fought under similar circumstances as Iwo Jima, with an aim to secure a base near Japanese mainland to support invasion. Okinawa was considered as a last strategic point before the invasion. 110,000 Japanese troops were in defensive position against 249,000 Allied troops. Excessive kamikaze attacks were used against the invading force including personnel carriers and ships. Out of 110,000 only 7,400 Japanese soldiers surrendered, whereas, the Allies suffered 12,605 casualties.7 The Allies were in close proximity of Japanese mainland by 1945 after capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Japan was bombed and military along with industrial installations were hit to soften it before the invasion. Furthermore, defeat of the Axis on the European front left Japan isolated against the Allies. The Soviets invaded Japan from the north and the Allies encircled south east. On 6 August 1945, atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima followed by another explosion three days later in Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on 14 August 1945 and in effect finished the Second World War. Bibliography Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack.Hearings before the Joint Committee of the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 31. Washington: United States Government Press, 1946. Hoyt, Edwin. Pearl Harbor Attack.New York: Sterling Publishing, 1991. Bradfor, James. Atlas of American Military History.New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Chun, Clayton. The Doolittle Raid 1942: America’s First Strike back at Japan. New York: Osprey Publishing, 2006. Healy, Mark. Midway 1942: Turning Point in the Pacific. New York: Osprey Publishing, 1993. Cardullo, Bert. Screen Writings: Genres, Classics, and Aesthetics, Volume 2.New York: Anthem Press, 2010. Willmott, Hedley. The Great Crusade: A New Complete History of the Second World War, Revised Edition. Virginia: Potomac Books, 2008. Read More