Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

BATTLE OF OKINAWA • 51
1942, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, the Dutch East
Indies, and the Malayan peninsula fell into Japanese hands. Japanese
forces seemed to advance almost at will.
Seen against this backdrop, the massive Japanese reverses in the
Battle of Midway of 4–6 June 1942 represented a significant turning
point in the war. Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto had long argued that seizure of the Midway
Atoll—which lay only 1,300 miles north of Hawaii—would “immobilize
the enemy fleet and simultaneously advance our strategic
bases.” In aiming at the destruction of the American fleet, Yamamoto
hoped to force Washington to the negotiating table. The chances of
victory at Midway may have been slight, but in Yamamoto’s estimation,
they represented Japan’s only chance of emerging victorious in
war over its infinitely more powerful enemy. The gamble did not pay
off. Admiral Chester Nimitz on 4 and 5 June 1942 caught the enemy
aircraft refueling on their carriers. More than 300 Japanese planes
were destroyed and four carriers were sunk. The heart of Japan’s carrier
striking force had been destroyed, and with it had gone many of
Japan’s best veteran pilots and naval crewmen.
In a word, the Battle of Midway decisively reversed Japan’s war fortunes.
Its production capacity was such that it was not easily able to replace
the ships and planes lost at Midway, which, in turn, meant that
the navy was largely unable to launch any new offensives. In short,
Midway put Japan on the defensive. This was a posture, which, given
America’s superior industrial strength and resource base, Japanese
leaders had sought desperately to avoid. So far as the American leadership
was concerned, Midway bought them breathing space in the Pacific,
which, in turn, allowed them to maintain their prioritization of the
defeat of Germany. See also PACIFIC WAR; WORLD WAR II.
BATTLE OF OKINAWA (APRIL–JUNE 1945). The three-month
Battle of Okinawa from 1 April to 21 June 1945 was one of the
bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the
last in a series of operations—including the capture of the Mariana
Islands (9 July 1944), the battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944), the invasion
of Luzon (commenced January 1945), and the battle of Iwo
Jima (February–March 1945)—preliminary to the assault on the
Japanese home islands. Well aware of that fact, the Japanese were