8.5 WWII 1942-1945 Flashcards
BATTLE of midway 4-6 June 1942
Yamamotos objective: lure US away and destroy carrier forces, confidently divided his forces
BATTLE OF MIDWAY 4-6 JUNE 1942 US Advantages vs disadvantages
US advantages: airfield on Midway island, unsinkable carrier, decoding of Japanese communications
DISADVANTAGES: heavily outnumbered, aircraft susceptible to attack by Japanese “Zeros”, Japanese technologically superior aircraft
battle of midway 4-6 june 1942 significance
- turning point of the pacific war, naval intelligence paramount
- tacticical/strategic victory for US fleet
- end of Japanese offensive
- allies shifted to offensive
Casualties: Japan: 4 CVs, 1 CA, and 322 A/C lost
allies: 1 CV, 1DD 147 A/C lost
Operation torchNov 1942- May 1943
western Naval task force
Drew German Resources off western front. weakened them from cross channel invasion
D-DAY 8 NOVEMBER 1942
the target is casablanca
Guadalcanal
Tactical: all components of Navy contributed
Operational: both sides suffered heavy losses, US loses more tonnage at sea over 5k sailors, Japan loses more lives and leaves Solomon islands
strategic: King enabled more resources to Pacific, Casablanca talks, Britain concedes that America need focus Pacific, Starts offensive drive in Philippines
south pacific Feb 1942- nov 1943
New Guinea: Navy supported Army leap frog operations w/ limited resources, protect Port Moseby
solomon islands: Joint advance to isolate Japanese base at rabaul, marines & army “island hopped” over Japanese strong holds
Operation Vengeance april 18 1943
Assassination of ADM Yamamoto, success of Naval Intelligence: intercepted yamamoto’s itinerary, dispatched fighter aircraft to intercept Yamamoto’s flight from Japanese hqq to rabaul
operation Husky July 1943
Landings: American (west coast), British (eastern coast) invasion eroded italian support for Germany, Mussolini overthrown
operation Avalanche Sep 1943
Landings: american (salerno) British (toe of italy),
allied forces push German forces to Gustav Line and stalemated at that point
allies gained Naples, italy 1 oct 1943
gilbert islands Tarawa 20 Nov 1943
Objective: gain airfield to launch further attcacks, 1st major island en route to Philippines, 4,500 heavily entrenched Japanese 3 days cost US marines over 3k
marshall islands, Kwajalein 31 Jan 1944
LESSONS learned from tarawa: better intel on reefs and tide, longer pre-invasion bombardment, improved accuracy by giving ships/aircraft specific targets, better command and control of task forces.
total marshall losses less than 1st day of tarawa
operation overlord: D-DAY
6 jun 1944 5k ships, 150k allied troops,
Landings: american utah/omaha omaha faced heavy resistance
British: gold/juno/sword
Operation overlord: Dragooon
6-24 jun 1944
7k allied vessels, over 714k men, 11k vehicles, and 250k tons of supplies, 27 jun 1944: cherbourg captured, allied forces move into northern france
15 Aug 1944: Dragoon, invasion of southern france, troops from italy used
25 Aug 1944 Paris liberated
Mariana islands June 1944
Saipan and Tinian captured: air bases for B-29 raids on japan
“the great marianas turkey shoot”
Battle of Philippine Sea 19-20 June 1944: 346 Japanese planes down, proximity fueses, 3 Japanese carriers sunk by 2 subs
Classic Mahanian engagement
Return to the philippines
US advance continued 8 months after Marianas: Palau and Morotai islands 15 sep 1944: Philippine airstrike wipes out 200 aircraft
21 Octo 1944: GEN Macarthur landed ashore on Leyte, Japan initiated plan SHO-1
battle of Leyte gulf 24-25 Oct 1944
LARGEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY: allowed allied recovery of philippines,
IJN (IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY) defeated ,breakdown 3 separate engagements effectively ending: IJN’S control of the sea, Japanese attacks, Kamikaze attacks increased
Which battle allowed Admiral King the ability to argue for more resources in the Pacific Theater?
Guadalcanal
What were some lessons learned from the failures at Tarawa?
1.Longer and more directed pre-invasion shore bombardment
2.Better command and control of operations
3.Naval intelligence should inform decision making and not be ignored
What are the four major fleet engagements of the Pacific Theater?
Coral Sea
Midway
Philippine Sea
Leyte Gulf
IWO-JIMA feb to march 1945
“Iwo Jima was the most savage and most costly battle in the history of the Marine corps” GEN smith
emergency landing field, and fighter escort base
Midway between marianas and tokyo
supported B 29 strategic bombing of Japan
26k casualties
“uncommon valor was a common virtue” -ADM NIMITZ
OKINAWA april to jun 1945
provided staging area of japan
Heavy resistance with Japanese kamikaze attacks: 34 US ships sunk, 368 ships damaged, 4900 killed in action, 4800 sailors wounded,
carrier groups began raids on Japanese islandsd - US est complete control of sea and air
Sub campaign late war
americans used unrestricted warfare, overcame faulty torpedoes, fleet sub concept, wolfpack placed with 3 in a task force, applied with tenders
War termination
12 apr 1945: FDR DIES
30 apr 1945: hitler commmits suicide
4 May 1945: donitz sues for peace
7 May 1945: general alfred jodl surrenders
Midnight 8 may 1945 war ends in EUROPE
ATOMIC BOMBS
manhattan project: president Truman ordered 2 bombings: Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945 and 9 Aug 1945 nagasaki
Japan surrenders
officialy surrenders Sep 1945 on USS MISSOURI, macarthur commanded army occupation of Japan
What was the significance of the Battle at Iwo Jima?
(1) Emergency landing field and fighter escort base
(2) Midway between Marianas and Tokyo
(3) Support B-29 strategic bombing of Japan
(4) 26,000 casualties
c. Explain the importance of Okinawa in relation to the fight in WWII?
(1) Provided staging area for invasion of Japan
(2) Heavy Japanese resistance with Kamikaze attacks
(a) 34 U.S. ships sunk
(b) 368 ships damaged
(c) 4,900 Sailors killed in action
(d) 4800 Sailors wounded
(3) Carrier groups began raids on Japanese islands
(a) U.S. established complete control of the seas and air
What was the major factor(s) that led to the surrender of Japan during WWII? Explain.
(1) The atomic bombings that the U.S. conducted on Japan
(a) Hiroshima, 6 Aug 1942
(b) Nagasaki, 9 Aug 1942
