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Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. -
Battle of Wake Island
The Battle of Wake Island began simultaneously with the Attack on Pearl Harbor and ended on 23 December 1941, with the surrender of the American forces to the Empire of Japan. -
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Pacific Theater
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Battle of Guam
The First Battle of Guam, took place on 8 December 1941 on Guam between the Empire of Japan and the United States. The United States was defeated by Japanese forces which resulted in an occupation until the Second Battle of Guam in 1944. -
Doolittle Raid
The first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after Pearl Harbor. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
The battle lasted from May 4th to the 8th. It was a naval contest between the Japanese Navy and the Allied navy, consisting of the United States and Australia. It was the first time aircraft carriers engaged eachother. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the most important battle in the Pacific Theater. It lasted from June 4th to the 7th. The United States would use Midway as a submarine base and use the airstrip available there to get their bombers to Japanese controlled islands. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
Codenamed Operation Watchtower, it was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. -
Makin Island raid
The aim was to destroy Japanese installations, take prisoners, gain intelligence on the Gilbert Islands area, and divert Japanese attention and reinforcements from the Allied landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. -
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Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign
The Gilbert Islands would provide an base to launch planes out of for the Marshall Islands campaign. -
Battle of Tarawa
It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing -
Battle of Kwajalein
Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. -
Battle of Eniwetok
The invasion of Eniwetok followed the American success in the Battle of Kwajalein to the southeast. Capture of Eniwetok would provide an airfield and harbour to support attacks on the Mariana Islands to the northwest. -
Attack on Truk Island (Operation Hailstone)
A massive naval air and surface attack launched on February 17–18, 1944, by the United States Navy against the Japanese naval and air base at Truk. -
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan from 15 June – 9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was launched. -
Battle of the Philippine Sea
A decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. -
Second Battle of Guam
The Second Battle of Guam (July 21 — August 10, 1944) was the American capture of the Japanese held island of Guam, a United States territory (in the Mariana Islands) during the Pacific campaign of World War II. -
Battle of Tinian
The 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and artillery firing across the strait from Saipan. The battle saw the first use of napalm in the Pacific. -
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S. soldiers fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island. -
Battle of Angaur
The Battle of Angaur was fought on the island of Angaur in the Palau Islands from 17 September—22 October 1944. This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields, to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland
