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Attack on Pearl Harbor
On this day, the Japanese forces bombed America's air force and naval bases on the island of Oahu, most notably at Pearl Harbor. The attack lasted for 2 hours, claiming the lives of over 2,000 american servicemen, 20 ships and 300 aircraft. This attack led America to declare war on Japan. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
Australian and United States forces pushed the Japanese out of the Coral Sea when they attempted to invade Australia. The battle was the first battle only between aircraft carriers and saw significant damage to Japan's most powerful carriers. The carriers were so battered, they never participated in the defense of Midway. -
Battle of Midway
This victory for United States forces enabled them to move on the offensive in the Pacific. While Japanese aircraft assaulted the island, U.S. forces surprise attacked the defenseless fleet. Japan's crippled navy crawled away with four aircraft carriers sunk and countless aircraft destroyed. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
The six-month campaign mainly saw U.S. and Japanese forces battling over the island's critical air-base. Over 36.00 Japanese troops and 44,000 American troops were deployed on the island and U.S. forces were finally able to force the Japanese into retreat. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
This decisive battle disabled the Japanese navy and hampered them from distributing valuable goods between the empire. It was disputably the largest naval battle in history. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle for Iwo Jima was fought to capture a valuable air base for to enable bombing-runs on Japan's home-islands. The battle was fought on grueling inhospitable terrain and saw extremely tough resistance. Only 1,038 of the 21,000 Japanese defenders survived. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the last actual battle of World War II. The island was raided by U.S. forces and saw 82 horrifying days of brutal warfare. The battle saw almost 50,000 casualties while Japan had almost 70,000, along with civilian deaths. -
The Atomic Bombings
With the bloodbath at Okinawa in mind, the United States decided it was in its best interest to drop the atomic bomb over Japan in order to end the war. On August 6, they did just that, and bombed Hiroshima. Japan still held firm and the U.S. struck again on August 9, in Nagasaki. The 2 bombs accounted for massive amounts of destruction and countless deaths from the bombings themselves plus many more from radiation exposure. -
Surrender of Japan
On this day, the formal surrender of Imperial Japan was accepted by General Douglass MacArthur aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo bay, effectively ending World War II.
