Download or read book Showdown in the Pacific War written by Ronald E. Martell and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2015-03-06 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Showdown in the Pacific War: Nimitz and Yamamoto This unique book combines a carefully researched history with an easy to read analysis of the war in a fictional meeting between staff officers close to Admirals Chester Nimitz and Isoroku Yamamoto. They trace the events leading to the Pacific War and the heroic struggles following the attack on Pearl Harbor to the eclipse of the Japanese war machine at Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, and beyond. Showdown reveals Yamamotos opposition to Japans waging a war it could not win along with his planning of her early successes and Admiral Nimitzs patient and careful reversal of the Empires offensives. Showdown presents an even-handed view of the nations that waged combat in the early stages of historys most famous naval war. Ron Martell has given us a new and very interesting look at World War II in the Pacific. Instead of simply retelling history, he puts the reader in a fictitious yet plausible latter-day conference between two of the conflicts high-ranking adversaries, key staff officers of the American and Japanese navies.. . . Its a genuine page-turner for any fan of World War II history. Ronald Russell, author of No Right to Win: A Continuing Dialogue with Veterans of the Battle of Midway. Showdown in the Pacific is a thoroughly enjoyable read. . . . If someone asks me for a single book to read on how the Pacific War started and then was fought for the first 18 months, I will heartily recommend this one. Thom Walla, Editor and Host of The Battle of Midway RoundTable.
Download or read book Midway written by Jay Wertz and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the attack on Pearl Harbor the U. S. Pacific Fleet was bent but not broken. The fact that the fleet's aircraft carriers were away from base at the time of the attack helped the navy under new commander Admiral Chester Nimitz react to further Japanese expansion in the Pacific. American task forces staged a series of raids, mostly ineffective except in letting the Japanese know that their continued aggression would not go unchecked. Then came the Battle of Coral Sea, the first naval battle fought entirely in air-to-sea actions - the opposing ships never saw each other. Through experience gained in this battle and advances in code breaking by U. S. Navy cryptologists, the Pacific Fleet was ready for Japan's attack on the American base on Midway on June 5, 1942. Navy fliers attacked the Japanese carriers and sunk four of the six present. And while America lost some ships as well, the two-day battle so damaged the Combined Fleet that the Japanese were never able to mount another strategic offensive in the Pacific. All the preparations, actions, personalities and results of the Battle of Midway are chronicled in graphic story form in Midway - The Battle That Changed the Pacific War.
Download or read book Midway written by Mark Stille and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-09-12 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed re-examination of Midway, one of the most significant battles in the Pacific Theater of World War II. In April 1942, the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy was at the zenith of its power. It had struck a severe blow against the US Navy at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, before spearheading the Japanese advance through Southeast Asia and rampaging across the South Pacific. Only a few months later, in June 1942, the US Navy managed to inflict a decisive defeat on this mighty force off Midway Atoll and the strategic initiative in the Pacific Theater passed to the US Navy. Midway is the most famous naval battle of the Pacific War, and one of the most mythologized. The traditional view of the battle, popularized in its immediate aftermath and surviving through to the present day, is of a heavily outnumbered American force snatching victory in the face of overwhelming odds. This view is simplistic and, in many respects, wrong. Pacific War expert Mark Stille provides a detailed analysis of this pivotal battle, and argues that Midway was neither a miraculous American victory, nor a product of good fortune, but that the plans, personalities, doctrines, ships and weapons of the two sides meant that a Japanese defeat was the more likely outcome. This new study provides an unparalleled level of insight and thorough analysis into one of the decisive moments of the Pacific War.
Download or read book The Turning Points in the Pacific written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-25 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes soldiers' accounts of the fighting *Includes bibliographies for further reading Although not as well-remembered as D-Day or even the attack at Pearl Harbor that preceded it, the Battle of Midway was one of the most unique and important battles fought during World War II. In fact, the turning point in the Pacific theater took place between June 4-7, 1942 as a Japanese fleet moved a sizable fleet intending to occupy Midway Island and draw the American navy near. Instead, American aircraft flying from three aircraft carriers that had been away from Pearl Harbor in December 1941 got a bearing on the Japanese fleet and sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers, permanently crippling Japan's navy. The Battle of Midway was one of the first major naval battles in history where the enemy fleets never actually saw or came into contact with each other. By the time the Battle of Midway was over, the defeat was so devastating that it was actually kept secret from all but the highest echelons of the Japanese government. Along with the loss of hundreds of aircraft and over 3,000 men killed, the four Japanese aircraft carriers lost, when compared to America's one lost carrier, was critical considering America's huge shipbuilding superiority. However, the Battle of Midway could also have easily turned out differently. Japan began the battle with more carriers, more and better aircraft, and more experienced crews than the Americans, and if the battle of the Coral Sea was any indication, the two sides had irrefutable proof of the dominance of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific. The implications of earlier clashes were now starkly underlined, and the fighting was now clearly about timing. The carrier fleets were incredibly powerful and crucially important, yet at the same time they were hugely vulnerable weapons systems. The protagonists at Midway were putting into practice a newly emerging naval doctrine, one which ultimately meted out a terrible punishment to the side that miscalculated. Carrier versus carrier combat had come of age. The Guadalcanal Campaign, which ran from August 1942 to February 1943, was a bitter and protracted struggle that also happened to be a strange and transitional confrontation quite unlike any other in the long Pacific War. In conjunction with the American victory at the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal represented the crucial moment when the balance of power in the Pacific tipped in favor of the Allies, but the idea that Guadalcanal would be such a significant battle would have come as a surprise to military strategists and planners on both sides. Eventually, nearly 100,000 soldiers fought on the island, and the ferocity with which the Japanese fought was a fitting prelude to campaigns like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The campaign would include six separate naval battles, three large-scale land clashes, and almost daily skirmishing and shelling. Not surprisingly, the campaign exacted a heavy toll, with more than 60 ships sunk, more than 1200 aircraft destroyed, and more than 38,000 dead. While the Japanese and Americans engaged at sea and in the skies, of the 36,000 Japanese defenders on the ground, over 30,000 of them would be dead by the end of the Guadalcanal campaign, while the Americans lost about 7,000 killed. By the end of the fighting, the Guadalcanal Campaign had unquestionably become a turning point in the Pacific War, representing both the last gasp of the Japanese offensive and the first stirrings of the American onslaught. The Turning Points in the Pacific comprehensively covers the events leading up to the campaign, analyzes the decisions made by the battles' most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the American victories. Along with a bibliography and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about Guadalcanal like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Silver Waterfall written by Brendan Simms and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2022-05-17 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eighty years after the stunning and decisive battle, a revelatory new history of Midway The Battle of Midway was, on paper, an improbable victory for the smaller, less experienced American navy and air force, so much so that it was quickly described as “a miracle.” Yet fortune favored the Americans at Midway, and the conventional wisdom has it that the Americans’ lucky streak continued as the war in the Pacific turned against the Japanese. This new history demonstrates that luck, let alone miracles, had little to do with it. In The Silver Waterfall, Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor show how the efforts of America’s peacetime navy combined with creative innovations made by designers and industrialists were largely responsible for the victory. The Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber, a uniquely conceived fighting weapon, delivered a brutally accurate attack the Japanese quickly came to dread. Told through a vivid narrative, Simms and McGregor show how the course of the war in the Pacific was dramatically altered, emphasizing the crucial combination of a culture of innovation, a brilliant contribution from immigrants, and a vital intelligence coup that allowed the navy to orchestrate the devastating attack on the Japanese and dominate the Pacific for good.
Download or read book Refighting the Pacific War written by James C Bresnahan and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Refighting the Pacific War looks at how World War II in the Pacific might have unfolded differently, giving historians, authors and veterans the opportunity to discuss what happened and what might have happened. Contributors to this alternative history include noted military historians William Bartsch, John Burton, Donald Goldstein, John Lundstrom, Robert Mrazek, Jon Parshall, Douglas Smith, Peter Smith, Barrett Tillman, Anthony Tully, and H. P. Willmott. In all more than thirty Pacific War experts will provide commentary, employing a roundtable panel discussion format. The reader will hear from the experts on how history could and could not have been altered during the course of the war in the Pacific. With multiple opinions, the reader will be provided with an interesting collection of divergent views about the outcome of the war. Refighting the Pacific War focuses largely on naval battles and campaigns, including Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. While the main concentration is on the major naval actions, the book also delves into key island battles, like Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, as well as pre-war and post-war political issues The panelists debate questions like whether the Japanese could have inflicted even greater damage on the U. S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and how Yamamoto might have won at Midway and how such a victory might have impacted the direction of the war. The book extensively studies the opening year of the war when the Japanese war machine seemed unstoppable. Also explored is whether the Pacific War was inevitable and whether the conflict could have ended without the use of the atomic bomb.Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.), provides the book's Introduction.
Download or read book Pacific Turning Point written by Charles Koburger and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1995-10-10 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first account of the naval battles that constituted the Solomons campaign from the beginning to the end.
Download or read book The Battle of Midway written by Craig L. Symonds and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A close-up look at the battle of Midway Island analyzes this crucial naval victory, which marked the turning point for the American fleet in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Download or read book Pacific Alamo written by John Wukovits and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2004-07-06 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It happened in the shadow of Pearl Harbor—mere hours after the first attack on the day that would “live in infamy.” But few know the full story of Wake Island. Now a prominent military historian, breaking new ground on the assault, relates the compelling events of that day and the heroic struggle that followed. Thanks to the brave Marines stationed there-and the civilian construction workers who selflessly put their lives on the line to defend the island-what was supposed to be an easy victory became a protracted and costly battle for Imperial Japan. This is the story of that battle, from survivors on both sides, and with a gallery of historic photos.
Download or read book The Battle of Midway written by Stephanie White and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2007-01-15 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For six months after its entrance into World War II, America suffered defeat after defeat against Japanese forces in the Pacific. However, America ended its string of losses in June 1942 during a three-day battle near the island of Midway. The stunning victory changed the course of the war in the Pacific. Carrier-based U.S. planes sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers, permanently damaging Japans fearsome carrier force and allowing the U.S. Navy to gain the strategic advantage.
Download or read book Shattered Sword written by Jonathan Parshall and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 734 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many consider the Battle of Midway to have turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange s bestselling "Miracle at Midway," Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement. Unlike previous accounts, "Shattered Sword" makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchida s "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan," an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle. The authors examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navy s doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading WWII naval historian John Lundstrom, "Shattered Sword" will become an indispensable part of any military buff s library. Winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and cited by "Proceedings" as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005."
Download or read book Battle of Midway written by John Grehan and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands on 7 December 1941, had severely damaged the United States Pacific Fleet but had not destroyed it, for the fleet’s aircraft carrier force had been at sea when the Japanese struck. This meant that, despite the overwhelming success of Japanese military forces across the Pacific, US carrier-based aircraft could still attack Japanese targets. After the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May 1942, in which both sides had lost one carrier, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, calculated that the US had only two serviceable carriers left. If those remaining carriers could be lured into a battle with the Combined Fleet and destroyed, nothing could stop the Japanese achieving complete control of the South Pacific. It would take the United States many months, even with its massive industrial muscle, to rebuild its carried fleet if it was destroyed, by which time Japan would be able to secure the raw materials needed to keep its war machine functioning and to build all the bases it required across the Pacific, which would enable its aircraft to dominate the entire region. Aware of the sensitivity of the Americans towards Hawaii after the Battle of Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto believed that if he attacked there again, the US commander, Admiral Nimitz would be certain to commit all his strength to its defence. Yamamoto selected the furthest point of the Hawaiian Islands, the Naval Air Station on the Midway Atoll, for his attack, which was beyond the range of most US land-based aircraft. Yamamoto launched his attack on 4 June 1942. But the US had intercepted and deciphered Japanese signals and Nimitz, with three not two aircraft carriers, knew exactly Yamamoto’s plans. Yamamoto had hoped to draw the US carriers into his trap but instead he sailed into an ambush. The four-day battle resulted in the loss of all four Japanese aircraft carriers, the US losing only one. The Japanese were never able to recover from these losses, and it was the Americans who were able to take control of the Pacific. The Battle of Midway, unquestionably, marked the turning point in the war against Japan.
Download or read book MacArthur at War written by Walter R. Borneman and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 697 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive account of General Douglas MacArthur's rise during World War II, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals. World War II changed the course of history. Douglas MacArthur changed the course of World War II. Macarthur at War will go deeper into this transformative period of his life than previous biographies, drilling into the military strategy that Walter R. Borneman is so skilled at conveying, and exploring how personality and ego translate into military successes and failures. Architect of stunning triumphs and inexplicable defeats, General MacArthur is the most intriguing military leader of the twentieth century. There was never any middle ground with MacArthur. This in-depth study of the most critical period of his career shows how his influence spread far beyond the war-torn Pacific. A Finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History at the New York Historical Society
Download or read book Saipan 1944 written by John Grehan and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A chronological account of the battle with more than 200 photographs, including graphic images of the fighting and the huge naval bombardment. After the astonishing Japanese successes of 1941 and early 1942, the Allies began to fight back. After victories at Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Midway and other islands in the Pacific, by 1944, the Japanese had been pushed back onto the defensive. Yet there was no sign of an end to the war, as the Japanese mainland was beyond the reach of land-based heavy bombers. So, in the spring of 1944, the focus of attention turned to the Mariana Islands – Guam, Saipan and Tinian – which were close enough to Tokyo to place the Japanese capital within the operational range of the new Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The attack upon Saipan, the most heavily-defended of the Marianas, took the Japanese by surprise, but over the course of more than three weeks, the 29,000 Japanese defenders defied the might of 71,000 US Marines and infantry, supported by fifteen battleships and eleven cruisers. The storming of the beaches and the mountainous interior cost the US troops dearly, in what was the most-costly battle to date in the Pacific War. Eventually, after three weeks of savage fighting, which saw the Japanese who refused to surrender being burned to death in their caves, the enemy commander, Lieutenant General Saito, was left with just 3,000 able-bodied men and he ordered them to deliver a final suicide banzai charge. With the wounded limping behind, along with numbers of civilians, the Japanese overran two US battalions, before the 4,500 men were wiped out. It was the largest banzai attack of the Pacific War. As well as placing the Americans within striking distance of Tokyo, the capture of Saipan also opened the way for General MacArthur to mount his invasion of the Philippines and resulted in the resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister Tojo. One Japanese admiral admitted that ‘Our war was lost with the loss of Saipan’. This is a highly illustrated story of what US General Holland Smith called ‘the decisive battle of the Pacific offensive’. It was, he added, the offensive that ‘opened the way to the Japanese home islands’.
Download or read book The Great Pacific War written by Hector Charles Bywater and published by . This book was released on 1925 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Although this book portrays the course of an imaginary war between the United States and Japan, it has not been written to support the view that such a conflict is either close at hand or inevitable. No doubt there are elements of danger in the immigration controversy, while further causes of friction may attend the growth of American commercial enterprise in the Far East."--Preface.
Download or read book Dogfight over Tokyo written by John Wukovits and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an expert in the Pacific theater of World War II comes the tragic story of the pilots who fought the last fight of the war during the first hour of peace When Billy Hobbs and his fellow Hellcat aviators from Air Group 88 lifted off from the venerable Navy carrier USS Yorktown early on the morning of August 15, 1945, they had no idea they were about to carry out the final air mission of World War II. Two hours later, Yorktown received word from Admiral Nimitz that the war had ended and that all offensive operations should cease. As they were turning back, twenty Japanese planes suddenly dove from the sky above them and began a ferocious attack. Four American pilots never returned—men who had lifted off from the carrier in wartime but were shot down during peacetime. Drawing on participant letters, diaries, and interviews, newspaper and radio accounts, and previously untapped archival records, historian and prolific author of acclaimed Pacific theater books, including Tin Can Titans and Hell from the Heavens, John Wukovits tells the story of Air Group 88's pilots and crew through their eyes. Dogfight over Tokyo is written in the same riveting, edge-of-your-seat style that has made Wukovits's previous books so successful. This is a stirring, one-of-a-kind tale of naval encounters and the last dogfight of the war—a story that is both inspirational and tragic.
Download or read book D Day in the Pacific written by Harold J. Goldberg and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2007-05-02 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The narrative moves smoothly and crisply. There is effective treatment of strategy, preparations, and then the invasion and battle for Saipan itself.” —Spencer C. Tucker, author of American Revolution In June 1944 the attention of the nation was riveted on events unfolding in France. But in the Pacific, the Battle of Saipan was of extreme strategic importance. This is a gripping account of one of the most dramatic engagements of World War II. The conquest of Saipan and the neighboring island of Tinian was a turning point in the war in the Pacific as it made the American victory against Japan inevitable. Until this battle, the Japanese continued to believe that success in the war remained possible. While Japan had suffered serious setbacks as early as the Battle of Midway in 1942, Saipan was part of her inner defense line, so victory was essential. The American victory at Saipan forced Japan to begin considering the reality of defeat. For the Americans, the capture of Saipan meant secure air bases for the new B-29s that were now within striking distance of all Japanese cities, including Tokyo. “Harold Goldberg’s riveting story of this conflict brings the dead back to life by blending rigorous research with dramatic narratives by hundreds of survivors. He has written a superb account of a pivotal, little-known, and heart-breaking battle.” —Col. Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (ret.),author of Storm Landings “Using recent interviews he conducted with extant US veterans, [Goldberg] skillfully develops the soldiers’ view of the battle for Saipan in an engaging, clearly written and interesting volume.” —The Journal of Military History
