The Pacific WarThe Pacific War

What major battles happen between Japan & the US in the Pacific?

Allies Strike BackAllies Strike Back• April 1942: US Col. James Doolittle leads bombing attack on Tokyo

• Little damage is done, but shows Japan is vulnerable to air attacks

• Battle of the Coral Sea – May 1942: Japan advancing south, planned attack of Australia

• Five-day battle using aircraft carriers, US is able to stop a Japanese invasion for first time in the war

• Battle of Midway – Japan planning on attacking Midway Island

• After breaking a Japanese code, forces led by Admiral Chester Nimitz launch surprise attack on Japanese fleet

•Dive bombers & torpedo planes destroy four aircraft carriers & 250 planes, turning point in war

•Gen. Douglas MacArthur begins using a strategy called “island hopping”, go from island to island take less defended islands first

•Battle of Guadalcanal - US getting closer to Japan, code-breakers find out Japan is building an airbase on the island of Guadalcanal

•Aug 1942:US wins six-month battle killing 24K of the 36K Japanese troops (“death island”)

•Next, MacArthur liberates Philippines, keeping his promise to return

The Japanese Defense•Start using a new technique called kamikaze

•424 pilots sink 16 ships in Battle of Leyte Gulf, but battle still a loss for Japan