The United States Navy in the Pacific Theatre
While the domination of the Germans in Europe began to grow, so did the Pacific territory of their allies, the Japanese. Beginning with the conquest of small resourceful islands, Japan soon moved to assert an attack on the vulnerable United States. Shortly after sunrise off the coast of the island paradise called the Hawaiian Islands, the greatest surprise attack in the history of the world commenced. The date was December 7, 1941 and three hundred Japanese pilots flew south to decimate the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. A total of eighteen U.S. ships were damaged or destroyed, 1,896 men were killed, and 161 airplanes were destroyed (Keegan 34). By sheer luck, however, all of the nation’s aircraft carriers were out at sea and missed intended destruction and thus, foiling the Japanese plan. The battered fleet had taken catastrophic losses but was determined to defend the western coast of the United States (Wikipedia). From the first hours of conflict in the Pacific, the United States Navy was essential in providing ultimate victory over Japan.
Almost immediately the navy began to salvage and rebuild the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese failed to take advantage of the situation and bomb the oil fields, dry-docks, and naval facilities on Oahu. The damaged ships from the Pearl Harbor attack were repaired or salvaged in dry-dock. The fortune of the USS Lexington and USS Enterprise being out at sea during the attack provided the Navy with strength to check the marauding Japanese advancement in the Pacific. The first victory for the navy came with the Battle of the Coral Sea where the Japanese attempted to cut off Australia from the aide of the United States. As General Hideki Tojo said, “Australia and New Zealand are now threatened by the might of the Imperial forces, and both them should know that any resistance is futile. If the Australian Government does not modify her present attitude, their continent will suffer the same fate as the Dutch East Indies.” Japan advanced toward Australia, attacking the Solomon Islands and Port Moresby in the Coral Sea along the way. The U.S. brought in the Yorktown and Lexington air craft carriers to aid the Allies in their fight against the Japanese, and eventually in the first major Allied Forces’ victory in the Pacific at the Battle of Coral Sea (Overy 95).
The next victory came at the Battle for the Midway Islands. After the Battle of the Coral 
Sea, the Japanese felt good about further invasions in the Pacific. On June 5, 1942, a large task force spearheaded with four naval carriers moved east to capture the islands and provide a base to attack the Hawaiian Islands and mainland United States. Again the navy stopped advancement by men of the rising sun. The navy sunk all four of the Japanese carriers but only lost the USS Yorktown. The navy saved Midway, Hawaii, and essentially the western seaboard from Japan. Once again the navy halted the Empire of Japan along with eastern advancement (Carnes 751).
At both the Coral Sea and Midway, the aircraft carrier proved an essential tool for victory. The age of the big gunned battleships was ending and first realized after the British heavily damaged an Italian fleet in the Mediterranean. The Japanese took the concept and put it 
on a larger scale in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The greatest luck fell on the Pacific fleet when all of its carriers were out at sea on December seventh. The survival of the ships allowed the navy to stop the advancement of Japanese in later battles. Carriers had revolutionized naval warfare and can be seen with the outcome of the battle of Midway. All ships sunk were due to bombs or torpedoes dropped from aircraft, not from ships firing rounds at each other. The ability for a mobile air base also helped the navy operate in the vast waters of the Pacific. This tool would be essential in providing air support later on in the campaign (Wikipedia).
Throughout the next few years the navy would find themselves aiding in close air and ground support as the marines and army stormed beaches on the island hopping campaign. Destroyers and Battleships provided artillery support for the beachheads and inland defenses. These vessels would bombard installations prior to troop deployment to soften up the enemy. The ships also provided protection for the invasion forces that captured the islands. Carriers were again vital for success. “Large-scale amphibious operations, part of an island-hopping strategy, supported by carrier-borne aviation, carried the Americans back across the Pacific” (Palmer).They provided mobile airbases for planes to bombard the places were the battleships could not target. Fighters also provided protection and quickly gained air superiority over any conflict. Aircraft also provided much needed reconnaissance over enemy troop movement and to take photos of certain installations (Wikipedia). The navy’s Hospital Corp provided the medical facilities for injured troops from the battles. Aboard a hospital ship men could be treated and transported back to the nearest base or to the mainland. “I took sick call every morning and treated the troops on the ships. We had guys heading back from the battles that needed some medicine or bandages.” The hospital ships were so advanced they could even provide a place where doctors could perform complex surgery if necessary. “The Hanna was the newest ship in fleet and specially designed to treat soldiers.” (Robisch) With so much versatility and capability one can understand why the navy quickly sailed into Tokyo Bay.
As the war progressed, so did the dominance of the United States in the Pacific. Japan came to know that it as in jeopardy of defeat, but vowed not to lose its Imperial House. Since they rejected the United States’ plan at Potsdam, the U.S. planned to attack Japan. The navy was prepared for the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world. The cost of life however, to take mainland Japan was too high and the Air Force came to deliver the final blow to the crumbling empire. Hiroshima was the initial target of the bombings, and was demolished on August 6, 1945. Nearly 140,000 people were killed, 20,000 of which were school children (Futrell 2750), and successfully destroyed Hiroshima’s major army garrison. The second bomb, originally intended for Kokura, was redirected to be dropped on Nagasaki. Only 23,745 deaths were inflicted due to Nagasaki’s mountainous terrain (Futrell 2753). “The devastation of the atomic bombs could not be differentiated from that of hundreds of B-29 bombs” (Butler). The two bombings were enough to persuade the Japanese Imperial House to comply with the Potsdam Conference, leaving the countries it occupied in Asia.
On September 2, 1945, the Japanese formally surrendered to the allies after the dropping of two atomic bombs. Aboard the battleship the USS Missouri, the Japanese 
surrendered to supreme allied commander Douglas McArthur and a representative of each allied nation. “You could still see the war’s effects nearly a year after the war because of ocean mines, destroyed cities, and the United States’ post-war presence” (Butler). The Japanese gained most control of the Pacific Ocean in the early Stages of World War II. It gained resources and inflicted damage on many small island countries, and bombed Pearl Harbor. The United States had sought vengeance for the atrocity of Pearl Harbor, and acquired it in the Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, and the bombings in Japan. Without the United States’ presence in the Pacific in World War II, the Japanese would have never been ousted from power. From the first to the last minutes the navy became involved in the global conflict. Though battered and beaten by an unorthodox surprise attack, like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, the navy sailed across the pacific to ultimate victory.
Works Cited
Butler, James. Personal Interview. 16 April 2006.
Carnes, Mark. The American Nation. New York: Live Right Publishing Company, 2003
Futrell, Dr. Frank. “Hiroshima.” World War II. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1996. 2748-2755.
Keegan, John. The Second World War. New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1989
Lloyd, K. “Battle of Midway, 4-7 June 1942.” Naval Historical Center. 19 April 2006
<http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/midway.htm>
Overy, Richard. Why the Allies Won. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1995
“Pacific War.” Wikipedia. 16 April 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_War/.
Palmer, Michael. “The Navy: The Oceanic Period, 1890-1945.” Department of Navy Historical Center. 19 April 2006. < http://www.history.navy.mil/history/history3.htm>.
Robisch, Robert. Personal Interview. 9 April 2006.
Stone, M. P. W. “A Brief History of the U.S. Army in World War II.” U.S. Army Center for Military History. 18 April 2006. http://www.worldwariihistory.info/WWII/introduction.html
By: J.R. Robisch and Jim Kauffman