Japan Lashes Out

Pearl Harbor - US Battleships

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII > WWII - Japan > Japan Lashes Out, updated by RAC 16 May 2022. Some webpages are incomplete.

Links to subordinate webpages:

Pearl Harbor 1941
Guam and Wake Island (Dec '41)
Malaya and Singapore Lost (Dec '41 - Feb '42)
The Dutch Indies Lost (Dec '41 - Mar '42)
The Philippines Lost (Dec '41 - May '42)
New Guinea & The Solomon Islands (Jan '42 - Aug '42)

Major Japanese advances during the first six months of the War with Japan

In December 1941, Japan launched a coordinated series of suprise attacks in the Central Pacific and in eastern and southeastern Asia. For the next five months, the Japanese military was successful beyond their expectations in portions of the central, south, and southwestern Pacific and in southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the Dutch Indies.

7 Dec: Japanese air attack on United States military bases on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, especially Pearl Harbor.
8 Dec: First Japanese bombing of Wake Island in the mid-Pacific. Wake defenders repelled the first landing on 11 Dec. Wake fell on 23 Dec.
8 Dec: Japanese attacked Guam, a US territory in the Mariana Islands. Guam fell on 10 Dec.
8 Dec: Hong Kong, then a British colony, invaded. Hong Kong fell on 25 Dec.
8 Dec: Japanese landings began in Malaya, then a British colony. Japanese then advanced down the Malay Peninsula to the strait opposite Singapore, then a British colony.
8 Dec: Half of Philippine Air Force destroyed in air raids eight hours after the Pearl Harbor attack.
15 Dec: Japanese landings began the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Resistance ended on 9 Mar 1942.
22 Dec: Japanese major landings in the Philippines begin on Luzon Gulf north of Manila.
8 Feb 1942: Japanese launched an offensive on the island fortress of Singapore. Singapore fell on 15 Feb.
3 Apr: Japanese launched their final offensive against American and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula. Bataan fell six days later. Survivors walked into captivity under extremely brutal conditions.
6 May: Organized resistance in the Philippines ended with the surrender of the island of Corregidor.
by June 1942: Japanese overrun most of Burma.

Japanese Empire - Mid 1942

The First American Carrier Raids

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the American aircraft carriers based at Pearl were at sea, and thus survived. In Februrary and March of 1942, US carrier and cruiser forces made a series of attacks on Japanese positions in the central and southwest Pacific. Although these air raids and shore bombardments failed to inflict major damage, they did not incur major losses and served as valuable training exercises.

1 Feb '42 - Marshall & Gilbert Islands, USS Enterprise & USS Yorktown
20 Feb '42 - off Rabaul
24 Feb & 4 Mar '42 - Wake & Marcus Islands
10 Mar '42 - Lae & Salamaua, New Guinea - USS Lexington & USS Yorktown

Preserving the Australian Lifeline

In early 1942 it became apparent that neither the Philippines or the Dutch Indies could be held. Thus attention turned to the protection of the giant island nation of Australia, most of whose combat troops were away fighting with England against German and Italian forces.

The sea links to Australia from the west coast of the United States and from the Panama Canal were in jeopardy. Thus, as the first ground troops were dispatched from the United States west across the Pacific, priority was given to protecting these sea links.

About the accompanying map:

Triangles denote bases developed to provide support and security for shipping.
Until the later part of 1944, Brisbane, Australia and the French colony of New Caledonia were major rear-area American bases.

The arrows denote the WWII sea route from Hawaii to Australia.

Sources for the Japan Lashes Out webpage:

The webpage header photo Pearl Harbor - US Battleships is courtesy of dailymaverick.co.za.
Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean (https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/e/early-raids-pacific-ocean.html)
The WW II Australia sea route map is taken from https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/AAF-IV-1.html.