How the US won the Pacific theatre of WWII

Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces in 1941, the United States entered World War Two on the side of the Allies.

While it was decided that America would help support Britain in Europe, its primary focus was on defeating the Empire of Japan in the Pacific region.

As a result, the Pacific Theater of World War II was one of the most important of the war for America.

This is where the United States and Japan fought for control of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The most difficult aspect of this part of the war was the vast open spaces each side had to cover in order to engage each other.

Since most of this theatre of the war was fought on the ocean, the control of the various Pacific islands became the most important strategic objective for American forces.

While we won't have enough space to cover all of the battles in this region between 1941-45, this article will explore the three most significant sea battles in this theater: Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal.

The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought from May 4–8, 1942. By the end of April 1942, the Japanese were ready to seize control of the Coral Sea in order to extend their defensive perimeter in the South Pacific.

This was the first naval battle in history where both sides fought without ever sighting each other's ships.

The Japanese navy intended to sail around the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea and capture its capital city of Port Moresby.

The Allied fleet, under the command of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, decided to stop them.

On the 3rd of May, the Japanese had landed troops at Tulagi and sent their ships into the Coral Sea.

Then, on May 5 and 6, 1942, opposing carrier groups sought each other out and relied upon scouting aircraft to locate enemy ships.

Then, on the morning of May 7, the two fleets finally located and attacked each other.

The Shoho was was attacked by U.S. Navy dive and torpedo bombers from the Lexington and the Yorktown and sunk soon after.

Also, the American forces significantly damaged the Japanese carrier Shōkaku.

Another Japanese carrier, the Zuikaku, suffered heavy losses to its air group, which, along with the damage to Shōkaku, prevented both carriers from participating in the later Battle of Midway.

For the US, the USS Lexington was heavily damaged and later scuttled after fires broke out, while the USS Yorktown was damaged but later repaired at Pearl Harbor.

In the end, the Japanese withdrew, and the Allies claimed victory. As a result, the United States and Australia were able to prevent the Japanese from advancing further south toward Port Moresby in New Guinea, and saved Australia from a possible invasion.

Despite the setback in the Coral Sea, the Japanese planned to use their fleet to destroy the American fleet.

The Japanese set a trap for the United States: they planned to attack the island of Midway, hoping that the United States would come to defend it.

However, the US Pacific Fleet’s commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz, had been warned of Japanese attack plans since the Japanese secret military code had been cracked. 

This was largely due to the work of American codebreakers at Station HYPO at Hawaii, who decrypted Japanese communications.

As a result, the US fleet knew in detail the Japanese movements and were able to lay a counter-trap for them.

Nimitz chose to deploy three carrier groups (USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and the hastily repaired USS Yorktown) to ambush the Japanese fleet at Midway.

The Battle of Midway was fought from the 4-7th of June in 1942. It was one of the most important battles of the war and is often referred to as 'the turning point of the Pacific War'. 

On the morning of the 4th of June, American dive-bombers from the USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown critically damaged three Japanese carriers (Kaga, Akagi, and Soryu) in the space of about five minutes.

Over the course of the battle, the Japanese lost four carriers, 248 aircraft and over 3,000 men.

In comparison, the Americans lost one aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, which had been damaged on June 4 and again on June 6, by a Japanese submarine, before finally sinking on June 7.

Ultimately, the United States Navy defeated the Japanese fleet near Midway Atoll, halting the Japanese advance in the Pacific and turning the tide of the war in favor of the Allies.

However, following Midway, the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942, saw the Japanese fleet inflict significant damage on American carrier forces, yet they failed to achieve a decisive victory.

The Battle of Guadalcanal was fought from August 1942 to February 1943. It was a land and sea battle between Japan and the United States for control of the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands chain. 

In early August 1942, the United States had landed Marines on the island of Guadalcanal and were trying to build an airstrip, named Henderson Field.

However, the Japanese were trying to stop them. 

Throughout August, the Japanese navy and air force continually bombed and attacked the American forces who had no place to hide on the small island.

The Japanese made several attempts to land soldiers on Guadalcanal, but they were always fought off.

Once the airstrip was operational, a mixed group of U.S. Marine, Navy, and Army Air Force aircraft named the 'Cactus Air Force', provided crucial air support.

During September, the Japanese began using fast destroyers to shell the island and dropping supplies in order to reinforce their troops on Guadalcanal under cover of darkness.

These attacks came so regularly, that they were nicknamed the 'Tokyo Express' by the US forces.

While these attacks resulted in some American casualties, it did not achieve any significant goals and, by November, the Japanese finally gave up trying to take the island.

By February 1943, the Japanese withdrew from Guadalcanal. 

The Guadalcanal campaign was brutal. The Japanese losing approximately 25,000 men and the Americans losing around 7,000, which made it one of the bloodiest campaigns in the Pacific Theater.

In the end, the United States was victorious, and they were able to complete the construction of the airstrip, called Henderson Field, on the island.

Its completion allowed the US to launch more effective operations in the Solomon Islands and beyond.

By this point, the USS Enterprise had become one of the most decorated American warships of World War II.

It had been pivotal in both the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal where it delivered critical air support and helped to secure key victories.