Pacific Ocean theater of World War II

File:Pacific WWII command.svg

The Western Allies' command structure in the Pacific

File:Carrier shokaku.jpg

Japanese naval aircraft prepare to take off from an aircraft carrier

File:Guadalcanal-wounded1942.jpg

U.S. 5th Marines evacuate injured personnel during actions on Guadalcanal on November 1, 1942

File:SBD VB-16 over USS Washington 1943.jpg

An SBD Dauntless flies patrol over USS Washington and USS Lexington during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, November 12, 1943

File:USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes.jpg

USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes in thirty seconds on 11 May 1945 off Kyushu

The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the Pacific War, the war between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. It included the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas (command). which included most of the Pacific Ocean and its islands.

The Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Borneo, Australia, most of the Territory of New Guinea, and the western part of the Solomon Islands were under a different Allied command.

History

On March 30, 1942, US Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas. In the other major theater in the Pacific region, known as the South West Pacific theater, Allied forces were commanded by US General Douglas MacArthur. Both Nimitz and MacArthur were overseen by the US Joint Chiefs, and indirectly by the British-American Combined Chiefs of Staff.

Most Japanese forces in the theater were part of the of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which was responsible for all Japanese warships, naval aircraft, and marine infantry units. The Rengō Kantai was led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, until he was killed in an attack by U.S. fighter planes in April 1943.Template:Sfn Yamamoto was succeeded by Admiral Mineichi Koga (1943–44)Template:Sfn and Admiral Soemu Toyoda (1944–45).Template:Sfn The of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was responsible for Imperial Japanese Army ground and air units in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. The IJN and IJA did not formally use joint/combined staff at the operational level, and their command structures/geographical areas of operations overlapped with each other and those of the Allies.

In the Pacific Ocean theater, Japanese forces fought primarily against the United States Navy, the U.S. Army, which had 6 Corps and 21 Divisions, and the U.S. Marine Corps, which had only 6 Divisions. The United Kingdom (British Pacific Fleet), New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and other Allied nations, also contributed forces.

Major campaigns and battles

• Pacific theater
  • Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941Template:Sfn
  • Battle of Wake Island 7–23 December 1941Template:Sfn
  • Philippines campaign 8 December 1941 – 8 May 1942
    • Battle of Bataan
    • Battle of Corregidor
  • Battle of Ambon
  • Battle of Timor
  • Battle of Rabaul
  • Battle of the Java Sea
  • Bombing of Darwin
  • Battle of the Coral Sea 4–8 May 1942
  • Doolittle Raid 18 April 1942Template:Sfn
  • Battle of Midway 4–7 June 1942Template:Sfn
  • Guadalcanal campaign 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943
    • Battle of Savo Island
    • Battle of Cape Esperance
    • Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
    • Battle of Tassafaronga
  • New Guinea campaign
  • Solomon Islands Campaign
  • Battle of the Bismark Sea
  • Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign 1943–44
    • Makin Island raid 17–18 August 1942Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Tarawa 20 November 1943Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Makin 20–23 November 1943
    • Battle of Kwajalein 14 February 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Eniwetok 17 February 1944Template:Sfn
  • Attack on Truk Island 17–18 February 1944
  • Mariana and Palau Islands campaign 1944
    • Battle of Saipan 15 June 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of the Philippine Sea 19–21 June 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Guam 21 July 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Tinian 24 July 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Peleliu 15 September 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Angaur 17 September 1944Template:Sfn
    • Battle of Leyte 17 October 1944
    • Battle of Luzon 9 January 1945
  • Battle of Iwo Jima 19 February 1945Template:Sfn
  • Battle of Okinawa 1 April 1945Template:Sfn
• North Pacific theater
  • Aleutian Islands Campaign 1942–43
  • Battle of the Komandorski Islands 26 March 1943Template:Sfn

Bibliography

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