Battle of Midway and Guadalcanal

Japanese Possessions 6 December 1941

Japanese Possessions 1 August 1942

How Long Did It Last? The Battle of Midway lasted from June 3-6, 1942

Description of Battle A naval battle that was fought around the Midway Islands on the Pacific Japan was on the offensive Planned to capture Midway as an advance base and entrap and destroy U.S. Pacific Fleet

Description of Battle continued… U.S. Pacific Fleet surprised Japan by sinking 4 of Japan’s carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor 6 months before After Americans and allies took the offensive.

Events Leading Up to Battle One month after the battle of the Coral Sea 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard worked around the clock to repair everything and get ready for another battle Japan suffered losses of ships that needed replacing due to the participation of the Battle of the Coral Sea

-They thought this could work from previous mistakes by the U.S. Goals for Japan Eliminate the U.S. as a strategic power in the Pacific Knock the U.S. out of the Pacific War Lure U.S. aircraft carriers into a trap -They thought this could work from previous mistakes by the U.S.

Goals for the U.S. They had a chance to redeem themselves -They proved the Japanese wrong -American code breakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack -They were able to warn the U.S. Navy and they set up an ambush of their own

Losses of Japan Losses of Japan 3,057 Japanese died 4 sunken carriers Total of 2,181 casualties 2 heavy cruisers Total of 792 casualties Floatplanes were also lost

Outcome of War The U.S. Navy won Japanese public were kept in the dark after their defeat Japanese navy realized they need to change after what happened in battle As a result, Japanese naval air groups declined overall quality during the war After the war, Japanese continued to try to advance in the S. Pacific with their new adjustments

Battle of Midway Japanese Objectives: Capture Midway Use Midway to launch air strikes on Pearl Harbor Eliminate the bombing threat to the home islands Lure the remnants of the U.S. Pacific Fleet into battle and destroy it

Results of Midway: Tactical Victory for United States U.S. lost fleet carrier Yorktown Japanese lost fleet carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu and heavy cruiser Mikuma Heavy cruiser Mogami seriously damaged Strategic Victory for United States Ended Japanese naval supremacy in the Pacific Proved to be the turning point in the Pacific war Gave the United States the strategic initiative

NEW U.S. STRATEGY Japanese Islands Island Hopping The Japanese had firm control of hundreds of islands in the Pacific To attack each would take a tremendous amount of time and cost many lives Island Hopping General Douglas MacArthur decides to “hop” from one island to another attacking certain ones Hopes this will cut off the islands from Japanese reinforcements 1st target: Guadalcanal

BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL Guadalcanal Battle of Guadalcanal Japan was planning on making it a huge air base Called “Island of Death” by Japan Allies (U.S. & Australia) need to attack before that happens Battle of Guadalcanal MacArthur attacks and Allies easily take control of the air base Battle become brutal after that Six months of fighting later, the Japanese abandoned the island having lost 24,000 soldiers

The Battle of Guadalcanal A 1942-1943 battle in which Allied troops drove Japanese forces from the Japanese island of Guadalcanal Battle lasted for 6 months and was fought on both the land and at sea After losing more than 24,000 out of 36,000 troops, the Japanese abandoned the “Island of Death” Hell was red furry spiders as big as your fist…enormous rats and bats everywhere, and rivers with waiting crocodiles. Hell was the sour, foul smell of the squishy jungle, humidity that rotted a body within hours…Hell was an enemy…so fanatic that it used its own dead as booby traps. Ralph G. Martin

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