Today at the beginning of class we watched the omaha beach landing in the critically acclaimed movie Svaing Private Ryan. We then wrapped up the presentation of our notes over the United States war in Europe. We then began the notes on the war with japan.
Us war in the Pacific against Japan
battles: philippines, iwo jima, okinawa, battle of coral sea, midway, doolittle's raid
navajo code talkers
atomic bombs on nagasaki and hiroshima
major generals in the united states that fought against japan
strategies
BATTLES
Philippines happened june,19-20,1944
it was a major naval battle
it took place during the Untied States amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the pacific war
the battle was the last of five major carrier versus carrier engagements between americans and japanese naval forces
major generals for america were Raymond A. Spruance and Marc A. Mitscher
the battles nickname was the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot
The Americans Won
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Philippine_Sea
Iwo Jima
fought february 19- March 26 1945
it was also called Operation Detachments it was a major battle in which the us armed forces fought for, the captured the island of Iwo Jima for the Japanese Empire.
Americans won
Commanders
Holland Smith
Marc Mitscher
Graves B. Erskine
Clifton Cates
Keller E. Rockey
Chester W. Nimitz
Raymond A. Soruance
strengths 70,000 U.S. Marines, Navy Army
Casualties
americans
6821 killed
2 captured but recovered
19,217 wounded one
escort carrier sunk
Japan
18,844 killed
216 prisoners
3,000 hiding
Battle of Okinawa
largest amphibious assault in the pacific war of WWII
began april 1945
lasted 82 days
fought on the ryukyu islands of okinawa
invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces
the battle was nicknamed “typhoon of steel” because of the kamikaze attacks
japanese surrendered less than 2 months after the end of the battle
the allies won
casualties: 77,166 japanese soldiers killed, 14,009 ally soldiers killed, 150,000 civilians killed
Doolittle's Raid
also known as Tokyo raid
took place on april 18th 1942
it was a air raid
commanders James H. Dolittle
3 dead
8 pows
15 b-25s
Coral Sea
-fought may 4-8th 1942 it was major naval battle
Commanders
-Frank J. Fletcher
-John Crace
-Thomas C. Kinkaid
-Aubrey Fitch
-George Brett
Strengths
-2 fleet carries
-9 cruisers
-13 destroyers
-2 oilers
-1 seaplane tender
-128 carrier aircraft
lost
-1 fleet carrier
-1 destroyer
-1 oiler
-69 aircrafts
-656 killed
Midway
was one of the most important naval battles of world war 2
between june 4 and 7 1942
Major Generals
Chester W Nimitz
Frank Jack Fletcher
Raymond A. Spruance
Casualties
1 carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
150 aircrafts destroyed
307 killed
Navajo Code Talkers
-Navajo indians were recruited for the US Marines as code talkers in 1942
-Philip Johnston came up with the idea to use the Navajo language for military purposes
-Navajo language was an unwritten language of extreme complexity
-By December 7, 1941, only 30 non-Navajo people (no Japanese) could understand the Navajo language
-The Navajo code was slightly different from their language (A Navajo soldier taken POW by the Japanese couldn’t understand the Navajo code)
-Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a 3-line english message in 20 seconds, much faster than encoding machines
-They were a part of every assault the Marines took conducted in the Pacific
-Navajo veterans were honored in 1992 for their contribution to US defense
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
Yance has island hopping
Island hopping was very difficult for most American fighters to do. It was very expensive, and Japan had control of many of the islands that the americans “Hopped” onto. After a little time the island hopping paid off because the USA gained control over many of the islands that Japan had control of at one time. The USA
Atomic Bombings (Manhattan Project)
-Idea of a nuclear bomb started around 1930
-Idea was never taken seriously, even with the support of Albert Einstein
“What would America want with such a weapon?” -Franklin Roosevelt
-War with Germany and Japan made it necessary to produce the weapon
-Robert Oppenheimer started the Manhattan Project
-Though the Axis had no chance of building an A-bomb (no scientists or resources), the Allies rushed research was based on the fear of them making one
-The project cost $2 billion and included 600,000 people for its research and production, yet it stayed completely secret
-The project ended on July 16, 1945 when they successfully tested a plutonium bomb in the New Mexican desert
source: The Usborne Introduction to the Second World War Internet - Linked. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2005. Print.
Atomic Bombings (Hiroshima & Nagasaki)
-Instead of invading Japan at the cost of American lives, it was decided to drop two Atomic bombs on Japanese cities
-The military supply base of Hiroshima was the first target; hit on August 6, 1945
-⅔ the city was destroyed, and about 80,000 died (another 80,000 died from radiation the following years)
-The weapons arsenal of Kokura was the next target, but thick clouds blocked the bomb-aimer’s view
-After flying another 100 miles Southwest, they dropped the bomb on the industrial city of Nagasaki; hit on August 9, 1945
-Nagasaki didn’t suffer as much damage as Hiroshima (less to destroy) but had just as many deaths
-Japan surrendered about a month after on September 2, 1945, ending the war
source: The Usborne Introduction to the Second World War Internet - Linked. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2005. Print.
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