Chapter 24: The United States in World War II section 1: The War in Europe and North Africa The Battle of the Atlantic

American morale was very low. It seemed that the Japanese couldn’t be stopped and that they would be off the coast of CA, OR, or WA any time now. On April 18, 1942 Army Air Force Lt. Col. James Doolittle led 16 B-25B Mitchell bombers launched from the carrier USS Hornet on a raid on the Japanese homeland. Although the raid did little damage, the psychological effect was tremendous. In the US it was the first good news of the war. In Japan it shocked the military; Japan had not been attacked since the 14^th century.

This led to some questionable decisions by the leaders of Japan.

The Japanese planned to take New Guinea as a stepping stone for the conquest of Australia. They sent a battle fleet to take Port Moresby on the southern coast of New Guinea.

Admiral Chester Nimitz sent two of his carriers to intercept the Japanese. In a 2 day battle the USS Lexington was destroyed along with a destroyer and a fleet oiler and the Yorktown was badly damaged. The Japanese lost a small carrier and 2 larger carriers were badly damaged, along with other ships.

The Japanese withdrew their fleet and it was considered a strategic victory for the US. The unique aspect was it was the first naval battle in history in which the competing fleets never saw each other.

Naval historian Samuel Elliot Morrison called the Battle of the Coral Sea the “Battle of Naval Errors”. There was little coordination between MacArthur and Nimitz. During the battle three army B-26 bombers attacked a Navy destroyer by mistake. Mac refused to admit his air force had made a mistake. Also some Japanese flyers mistook the Yorktown for their own carrier and attempted to land on it.

The Battle of Midway

As a result of Doolittle’s raid, the Japanese decided they had to destroy the American fleet once and for all.

The second phase was to invade Midway Island east of Hawaii. It was believed Nimitz would have to recall the fleet to protect Hawaii.

Fortunately, the US was reading Japanese code and figured out what the plan was to be.

The Yorktown which was damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, limped back to Pearl for repairs. Nimitz ordered the repairs to be done in 48 hr. or less (it was believed it would take 6 months for the repairs).

The other two remaining carriers, Enterprise and Hornet, set sail before the Yorktown to ambush the Japanese invasion fleet.

The next day the Japanese carriers launched an attack on Midway Is. to knock out its air defenses. The Japanese flight commander reported that it would take another attack to finish the job.

A squadron of torpedo bombers found the Japanese and attacked without fighter protection. All were shot down. But the Japanese fighter aircraft had left the fleet without air cover. Adm. Nagumo had ordered the returning bombers to be refitted with contact bombs for another attack on the island. A squadron of American fighter bombers found the Japanese carriers with planes refueling and bombs on deck with fuel lines everywhere. In short order 3 Japanese carriers (Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu) were on fire and sinking. Only the Hiryu remained. Planes from that ship found the Yorktown and badly damaged it. Another wave of American planes found and sunk the Hiryu. The Japanese had been handed a devastating defeat; more importantly many of the best and most experienced pilots had been lost.

Now that the Japanese navy was crippled, it was time to take on the Japanese on land.