Transcript 6 The Pacific Campaignx

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. Sixtyeight 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
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the American
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military base on Oahu, Hawaii by the Japanese.
 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.
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 Maps
1.
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.