THE PACIFIC CAMPAIGN

Activator

How do countries justify starting wars? Are surprise attacks ever completely unseen?

Standard

The student will demonstrate an understanding of the global political, economic, and social impact of World War II.

a. Describe the major conflicts and outcomes; include Pearl Harbor, El-Alamein, Stalingrad, D- Day, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, and the end of the war in Europe and Asia.

EQ

EQ: How did World War II establish the United States as a leading player in international affairs?

Agenda

Activator Holocaust Enemy at the Gates clip President Roosevelt’s Declaration of

War Pacific Campaign

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred without warning on December 7, 1941.

The attack lasted 110 minutes, from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.

A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded.

The Japanese lost 65 men, with an additional soldier being captured.

Japan and the Attack on Pearl Harbor Plans for a surprise attack against the United

States were begun as early as January of 1941.

The Japanese used the codename "Operation Hawaii" for the attack on Pearl Harbor. This later changed to "Operation Z."

The Japanese specifically chose to attack on a Sunday because they believed Americans would be more relaxed and thus less alert on a weekend.

The Japanese attack force stationed itself approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The Japanese launched their airplanes in two waves, approximately 45 minutes apart.

The first wave of Japanese planes struck Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. The second wave reached Pearl Harbor around 8:40 a.m.

When Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida called out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!") upon flying over Pearl Harbor, it was a message to the Japanese navy that they had caught the Americans by surprise.

The main target of the Japanese was to be the aircraft carriers; however, since all three U.S. aircraft carriers were out to sea, the Japanese focused on the battleships.

There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day, which included all the battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet except for one (the Colorado).

Seven of the U.S. battleships were lined up in "Battleship Row."

To aid their airplanes, the Japanese sent in five midget subs to help target the battleships. The Americans sunk four of the midget subs and captured the fifth.

All eight U.S. battleships were either sunk or damaged during the attack. Amazingly, all but two (the Arizona and the Oklahoma) were eventually able to return to active duty.

When the Japanese left Pearl Harbor at 9:45 a.m., the Americans didn't realize the attack was actually over. They expected another wave to hit.

The day following the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that December 7, 1941 would be "a date that will live in infamy."

The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor – a surprise attack on the American military base on Oahu, Hawaii by the Japanese.

Declaration of War

Declaration of War

Three Biggest Mistakes an Attack Force Ever Made

Admiral Chester A. Nimitz “On Sunday, December 7th, 1941,

Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. 

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat, you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters every where you looked.

  As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Admiral Nimitz’s reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make.” Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, “What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?”

Nimitz explained . . . .

Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.

Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was looking out for America.

Japanese Victories

At almost the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, Guam and Wake Island, and invaded Thailand.

Guam and Wake Island fell easily and then the Japanese attacked the Philippines

After seizing Hong Kong, they continued to strike against British possessions with the goal of a strike against India, Britain’s largest colony.

Geography Skill Builder: Interpreting Maps1. Location: Which battle was fought in the most northern region?2. Movement: From what two general directions did Allied forces

move in on Japan?

Allies Strike Back

April, 1942 Colonel James Doolittle and 16 B-25 Bombers bombed Tokyo Did little damage but improved morale

Slowly the Allies began to stop the advance at the Battle of the Coral Sea

Japan next tried to attack Midway Island. The Allies defeated the Japanese and crippled their fleet. The Battle at Midway turned the tide of the War in the Pacific.

The Allies go on the Attack Douglas MacArthur (commander of

the Allied forces) developed a strategy to “island hop” instead of storming each island on the way to Japan. Allied victories: Guadalcanal – allies strike before Japan

can complete an air base Battle of Leyte Gulf –Japanese navy lost

disastrously leaving only the Japanese army and kamikazes (pilots who would crash their planes into Allied ships) to affect the war

March, 1945 – American Marines took Iwo Jima

April, 1945 – Americans took Okinawa (only 350 miles from Japan)

Americans warned Japan unless they surrendered they could expect a “rain of ruin from the sky.”

August 6 – The Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

The Japanese surrendered September 2, 1945.