Lesson 20 - WW II: War in the Pacific - War in the 20th Century

INTA 4803 TP WAR IN THE 20th CENTURY

WW II: War in the Pacific -
Turning the Tide

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"When we get done out here, the only place
Japanese will be spoken will be in hell."

Admiral William F. (Bull) Halsey Jr. (1882-1959)
On returning to Pearl Harbor December 8, 1942, aboard USS Enterprise

Lesson Objectives

• Describe and analyze the timeline of events in the Pacific war.

• Analyze the Japanese and American strategies for the war in the Pacific and Asia and be able to relate the lessons learned to current U.S. security strategy..

• Describe how each phase of the American strategy in the Pacific war supported each of the subsequent phases of the strategy.

• Analyze the impact of the military revolution during the interwar years on the war in the Pacific theater.

• Describe the Battle of Midway and analyze its strategic significance and the role of signals intelligence in the outcome.

• Describe the US submarine capaign against Japan and analyze its impact on the defeat of Japan.

Study Guides

• What were the four components of the U.S. Strategy against Japan?

• Describe how each component of the U.S. strategy was executed.

• What was the strategic impact on Japan of the Doolittle Raid?

• Outline and analyze the events leading up to the Battle of Midway.

• What role did signals intelligence play in the Battle of Midway?

• What was the strategic significance of the Battle of Midway and its unintended consequences for the US?

• What role did the campaign against Japanese shipping have on the outcome of the war?

Assignment

Readings:
"Victory At Sea"
David M. Kennedy
The Atlantic Monthly, March 1999
• READ: pp. 55-67 (Begin at "The Philippines")
• READ: pp. 72-76 (Begin at "Leyte Gulf ...")

United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (Pacific War)
Washington, DC
1 July 1946

This is a superb summary of the Pacific War and provides detail to supplement the narrative of the Kennedy reading (above). I urge you to read it in its entiriety, but be sure to pay particular attention to:
     • Introduction
     • Japan's Original Strategic Plan
     • Japanese Overextension thru Turning the Tide
     • Destruction of the Japanese Merchant Fleet
     • Conversion of Japanese Air Forces to Kamikaze Forces
     • Economic Effects of Air Attacks Against the Japanese Home Islands thru Japan's Struggle to End the War

Supplemental Resources:

Pacific War Animated Maps
History Animated

U.S. Navy in World War II
      This is a portal to online versions of histories of the Navy in WW II, including"
        • US Navy at War 1941-1945, Official Reports of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (CNO)
        • Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945
        • Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II
        • Office of Naval Intelligence Combat Narratives

U.S. Marine Corps in World War II
      This is a portal to online versions of official histories of the Marines in WW II, including"
        • History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
        • U.S. Marine Corps Historical Monographs
        • Marines in World War II Commemorative Series

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