The goal was to dislodge the enemy and to secure airfields and supply bases that could serve as the launching points for future attacks. As they advanced westward toward Japan, Allied forces repeatedly bombed and stormed Japanese-held territory, targeting tiny islands as well as the jungles of New Guinea and the Philippines. The amphibious invasion soon became the hallmark of the Allied counterattack. In the southwest Pacific, Japan threatened American supply lines to Australia, complicating US plans to use Australia as a staging ground for offensive action.īut within months, the tide of battle started to turn as the United States and its allies in Australia and New Zealand first blunted Japan’s advance and then began a long counterattack across the Pacific. The Japanese amassed a vast new empire with a defensive perimeter that ranged from western Alaska to the Solomon Islands. Throughout the winter and spring of 1942 the war news reaching the United States from the Pacific was grim. But as US attacks on Japanese naval forces and merchant ships escalated from isolated raids to full-scale battles, the learning curve proved costly and deadly. Aircraft carriers and submarines mounted a serious challenge to Japan’s triumphant fleet and were critical to protecting mainland America. With its battleship fleet crippled in Hawaii, the US Navy turned to two surviving assets.
They aimed to destroy the US carrier fleet in a victory so decisive that the United States would negotiate for peace. The Japanese, meanwhile, sought to complete what they began at Pearl Harbor.
Yet, with much of the US fleet destroyed and a nation unprepared for war, America and its allies decided they needed to save Great Britain and defeat Germany first. Japan launched a relentless assault that swept through the US territories of Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines, as well as British-controlled Hong Kong, Malaya, and Burma. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war. On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, severely damaging the US Pacific Fleet. Primary Image: The US pursued a two-pronged offensive across the central and southwest Pacific to roll back the Japanese advance.
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