🔗=============================> The World War II Japan Module <=============================🔗
subpages: Overview Japan Ascendant Japan Lashes Out Japan Overreaches South & Southwest Pacific
North Pacific Central Pacific Philippines Liberated Iwo Jima & Okinawa Japan Overpowered
Pacific Base Areas Navy War Ground War Air Force War China-Burma-India Theater
subpages: Overview Japan Ascendant Japan Lashes Out Japan Overreaches South & Southwest Pacific
North Pacific Central Pacific Philippines Liberated Iwo Jima & Okinawa Japan Overpowered
Pacific Base Areas Navy War Ground War Air Force War China-Burma-India Theater
🔗====================>> The WWII Japan > Japan Lashes Out Submodule <<======================🔗
Subpages: Pearl Harbor Guam & Wake Malaya & Singapore Netherlands Indies Philippines Melanesia
Other Links: Naval War with Japan
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Subpages: Pearl Harbor Guam & Wake Malaya & Singapore Netherlands Indies Philippines Melanesia
Other Links: Naval War with Japan
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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Japan Lashes Out, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 8 Jun 2025
Some webpages are incomplete.
Major Japanese advances during the first six months of the War with Japan
Some webpages are incomplete.
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 Netherlands Indies.
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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 protecting access to 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:
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Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > 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 WWII Australia sea route map is taken from https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/AAF-IV-1.html.