Despite the tactical victory, the battle proved to be a strategic loss. This engagement, the first naval battle where opposing ships never saw each other, showcased how naval warfare was evolving, and how significant the aerial dimension of battle was becoming to naval success.Īfter Coral Sea, the Japanese pulled back to regroup. Navy met the Japanese at the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8, 1942. As the Japanese continued to expand in the Pacific, the U.S. The Doolittle Raid forced the Japanese to realize their home island was still under threat. While the Doolittle Raid was neither tactically or strategically effective, it provided a much needed morale boost to the Americans at home, and a wake-up call to the Japanese. Jimmy Doolittle flew B-25’s off Navy carriers and dropped bombs on Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, American pilots under Lt. carriers proved to be a blunder by the Japanese, and kept the Pacific fleet in the fight. Luckily for the U.S., on the day of the attack the carriers were not docked at Pearl Harbor, and Nagumo failed to follow up his attack and destroy them. His goal had been to destroy the carriers, but at the time battleships were considered the primary naval weapons, and the Japanese admiral on site, Chuichi Nagumo, was more conservative minded. Isoroku Yamamoto, who had planned the Pearl Harbor attack, represented a new way of thinking in naval warfare, viewing the carriers as a key component. ships, and destroying over 300 aircraft, the Japanese failed to cripple the U.S. Despite the Pearl Harbor attack causing 2,403 deaths, sinking 20 U.S. fleet stationed there in order to give Japan a free hand to expand their Pacific empire. The Japanese goal had been to destroy the U.S. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy conducted a surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor.
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