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Geography and History Activity
America and World War II, 1941–1945
Island Hopping
Advancing on Japan
The war in the Pacific involved a major geographic obstacle: the Pacific
Ocean. In order to attack Japan, U.S. forces would have to advance across
thousands of miles of ocean and attack heavily fortified Japanese positions
on small, strategically important islands. The U.S. strategy involved a twopronged advance. The U.S. navy would island hop through the central
Pacific while the Army advanced through the Solomon Islands, New
Guinea, and the Philippines. Tarawa was the U.S. navy’s first objective. The
Japanese base there had to be captured in order to put air bases in the
nearby Marshall Islands. After the Marshall Islands, the U.S. navy targeted
the Mariana Islands. The U.S. military planners wanted to use the Marianas
as a base for a new heavy bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. From airfields
in the Marianas, the B-29s would be in range of the Japanese mainland
and could begin a bombing campaign intended to end the war.
SOVIET
UNION
MONGOLIA
CHINA
Chongqing
eR
gtz
Yan
INDIA
Sakhalin
MANCHURIA
Beijing
.
R.
Yellow
Nanjing
Lashio
ril
Ku
Sea of
Japan
Hiroshima
Aug. 6, 1945
Shanghai
Okinawa
Hong
Kong
BURMA
SIAM
(U.K.)
Aleutian
Attu
May 11–27, 1943
Nagasaki
Aug. 9, 1945
Okinawa
Apr. 1–
June 22, 1945
Philippine
E
S
40°N
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Midway
June 4–7, 1942
Iwo Jima
Feb. 19–March 26, 1945
Sea
N
W
Wake Island
Luzon
Is.
Kiska
Is.
Japan surrenders
on battleship Missouri
Sept. 2, 1945
Tokyo
Pearl Harbor
(U.K.)
Saipan
June 15–July 9, 1944
Manila
PHILIPPINES
Marshall
March 4, 1945
Leyte Gulf
Islands
South
Oct. 23–26, 1944 Guam Guam
Feb. 1944
China
July
21–
(U.S.)
FRENCH Sea Mindanao
Aug. 10, 1944
Ma
INDOCHINA
Palau Is.
cA
rth
Tarawa
u
Singapore
Ha
lsey r
(U.K.)
Nov. 20–23, 1943
Borneo
Nauru Gilbert
Hal
(U.K.)
Is.
s
(THAILAND)
Bangkok
v.
No
itz,
m
i
N
Hawaiian
Islands
20°N
43
19
EQUATOR
0
0°
at
m
Su
0
Batavia
Java
Ellice
1,000 miles
1,000 km
0
Miller projection
on
Is.
Is.
Guadalcanal
Aug. 7, 1942– Feb. 9, 1943
Coral Sea
May 4–8, 1942
Coral
Sea
Darwin
100°E
ol
om
S
INDIAN
OCEAN
NEW GUINEA
ey
ra
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Island Hopping in the Pacific, 1942–1945
New
Hebrides
20°S
AUSTRALIA
120°E
140°E
160°E
180°
Japanese Empire and
conquests
Farthest extent of
Japan’s conquests,
July 1942
Allied forces
Major battle
Atomic bombing
160°W
Caption: This map shows the naval and army advances across the Pacific from 1942–1945.
United States History and Geography: Modern Times
143_144_USHG_ESSG_Ch12_L2_663482.indd 143
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NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Geography and History Activity Cont.
netw rks
America and World War II, 1941–1945
The Difficulties of Island Hopping
By the fall of 1943, the U.S. navy was ready to launch its island-hopping
campaign, but the geography of the central Pacific posed a problem. Many of
the islands were coral reef atolls. The water over the coral reef was not always
deep enough to allow landing craft to get to the shore. If the landing craft ran
aground on the reef, the troops would have to wade to the beach. Wading
ashore under enemy fire led to very high casualty rates among U.S. troops.
Directions: Answer the questions below in the space provided.
Understanding Concepts
1.
What geographic challenge led to the use of island hopping?
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________________________________________________________
2.
What were some of the dangers posed by the island hopping strategy?
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3.
What did the United States gain by capturing the Mariana Islands?
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Applying Concepts
4.
How do you think U.S. bombing of the Japanese mainland contributed
to the end of the war in the Pacific?
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________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
5.
Do you think the United States was justified in the use of atomic
weapons in the Pacific? Why or why not?
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________________________________________________________
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United States History and Geography: Modern Times
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
________________________________________________________