Download Air Battles of World War II Pearl Harbour (December 7, 1941) A

Air Battles of World War II
Pearl Harbour (December 7, 1941)
A) –Japan attacked the U.S. Pacific Feet at Pearl Harbour
-the first attack was at 7:53am
-the second attack was at 8:55am, it was all over by 9:55am
-three hours later, Japanese planes began a day-long attack on American facilities in the
Philippines
B) Japan’s Technology:
- Two float planes
- Attacking air fleet
- High-level bombers, carrying
specially converted 16-inch naval
shells that could penetrate the
armoured deck of a battleship
- Modified Japanese aerial
torpedoes, allowing them to
launch in shallow water
U.S.A’s Technology:
- Aircraft Carriers
- Capital Ships (Battleships)
The U.S.A’s aircraft carriers and battleships were the targets of the Japanese. The
Japanese destroyed 188 aircraft carriers of the U.S., they sunk seven of their largest
warships that were in harbour.
C) http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm
D) Japan was victorious at the specific attack at Pearl Harbour as they imposed so much
damage onto the Pacific Fleet of the U.S. However, the U.S. struck back because they
weren’t as crippled from the attack as the Japanese had hoped and were able to
recover. This leads to the significance of the attack.
E) The attack on Pearl Harbour was significant because the Japanese sprung a surprise
attack on the U.S. at their naval port, Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. More than 2400
Americans were killed, 21 ships had either been sunk or damaged and over 188 aircraft
were destroyed.
Also, this attack led to more significant events.
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April 1942: U.S. launched “Doolittle Raid” on Tokyo (retaliation on Japan)
June 1942: U.S. Navy won decisive victory over Imperial Japanese Navy in Battle of
Midway.
Bibliography
"Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941," EyeWitness to History,
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (1997).
Burbeck, James. “Pearl Harbour: A World War 2 Summary”. The Wartimes Journal.
2003. Web. Dec 12, 2012. http://www.wtj.com/articles/pearl_harbor/
Newburyport Daily News. “Pearl Harbor Reminds us of our Nation’s Strength”. Daily
News. Dec 7, 2012. Web. Dec 12, 2012.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x520557864/Pearl-Harbor-reminds-usof-nations-strengths
Unknown. “Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941: Overview and Special Image
Selection”. Naval History& Heritage. Unknown. Web. Dec 12, 2012.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm
Unknown. “Pearl Harbor: Japan’s Greatest Victory or Most Profound Blunder”. Our Curious World.
Unknown. Web, Dec 12, 2012. http://www.ourcuriousworld.com/PearlHarbor.htm
The Learning Network. “Dec.7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor” The New York Times. Dec 7, 2011.
Web. Dec 12, 2012. http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/dec-7-1941-japan-attacks-pearlharbor/
Unknown. “Europe in World War 2: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Sunday, December 7, 1941.” The History Place.
1997. Web. Dec 12, 2012. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm
Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Attack on Pearl Harbor”. 20th Century History. Unknown. Web. Dec 12, 2012.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/Attack-Pearl-Harbor.htm
USS Utah (AG-16)
Capsizing off Ford Island, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, after being torpedoed by
Japanese aircraft
Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941
Torpedo planes attack "Battleship Row" at about 0800 on 7 December, seen from a Japanese aircraft.
Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941
Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48)
during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.
Battle of Taranto
November 11th – 12th 1940
British Battle Strengths
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Italian Battle Strengths
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21 torpedo bombers
1 air craft carrier
2 heavy cruisers
2 light cruisers
5 destroyers
6 battleships
9 heavy cruisers
7 light cruisers
13 destroyers
British losses
Losses
2 killed
59 killed
2captured
600 wounded
2 air craft shot down
1 battleship destroyed
2 air craft show down.
Long before WWI, Taranto was the port at which the Italian naval fleet was based. The point of
the attack was to diminish the Italian fleet in order for the British to remain dominant.
On November 11th, at 9:00pm, 12 British aircraft left to attack Taranto from the South West.
Approximately 90 minutes later, a second wave left to attack from the North.
In just one night, the Italian navy lost half its fleet.
Doolittle Raid
A) The United States attacked the Japanese Home Islands (specifically Honshu) during World
War II on April 18 1942. United States were led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle.
B) United States:
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16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched off the U.S Navy's aircraft carrier the
USS Hornet. They carried 4 specially constructed bombs, 3 of which were high
explosives and one was bundle of incendiaries.
80 airmen, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, and 8 destroyers.
Japan:
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Japan was unaware of the raid, therefore they did not react to the raid. They had an
unknown number of troops and homeland defense.
C) The one major event that took place was the actual raid. It occurred on April 18 1942. The
raid took only 1 day and was finished after that. The only other major event that happened that
was after the initial raid, after the bombers landed in China 250,000 Chinese civilians were then
killed by Japan as retaliation for helping the US do this.
D) The United States ended the raid with 3 dead and 8 prisoners of war, while losing all of their
B-25s. Japan had about 50 dead and 400 injured. The United States won, as it was a raid and the
Japanese were unaware of the attack. The raid caused negligible damage, but boosted American
morale as it casted doubt on Japan military leadership, especially after the Pearl Harbour attack.
E) The significance of this raid was like mentioned before, boosted American morale and casted
doubt on Japanese military leadership. This was important to them after having being attack at
Pearl Harbour.
The Raid on Schweinfurt
A. American’s bombing German town of Schweinfurt
a. Point at which the American’s realised long-distance fighters were needed to
escort bombers
b. Destruction of important ball baring factories
B. American’s Tech:
a. Boeing B-17 Flying fortress allowed daylight bombing
b. P-51 Mustang
C. German Tech:
a. Luftwaffe aircraft
b. Flak guns
C. 1943 August 17th First air raid on Schweinfurt and Regensburg. October 14th another raid
on Schweinfurt, high level of losses. February 24th Another bombing raid on Schweinfurt.
July 21st and October 9th more raids. 1945 April 1st-April 31st Final raid launched against
Schweinfurt.
D. American Victory, as it crippled the German military production
E. The crippling of the German military allowed the war to be won sooner with less
casualties
Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944)
A) The attackers in this battle were the United States and the defenders were the Japanese. The
objective of the U.S. was to take over the Marianas, and get closer to Japan in order for them to
plan and launch an air attack and invasion of Japan.
B)
Strengths of the United States
Strengths of Japan
The U.S. had 7 fleet carriers, 8 light carriers, 7
battleships, 28 submarines, and 79 warships
Japan had 5 fleet carriers, 4 light carriers, 5
battleships, 43 other warships.
The U.S pilots had 600 hours of training
The United States attack in the Marianas,
which resulted in the Japanese travelling
further for fuel
F6F Hellcat fighter plane -reliability
Pilot training centre graduated many pilots
TG 58-1, 58-2, 58-3, 58-4 had the carriers
hornet, yorktown, bunker hill, Essex,
enterprise, and Lexington had a total aircraft
count of 734.
Weaknesses of the United States
Weaknesses of Japan
-both the United States and Japan were
fighting with their air force, rather than the
U.S. having an advantage of an air attack on
the Japanese navy
- the Japanese thought that the U.S. would be
on the offensive and hoped that the U.S.
would attack in the Carolines or Palaus, as this
was closer to the Japanese source of fuel.
Had previous carrier losses from the Battles of
Coral Sea and Midway (1942)
Japanese pilots had 50 hours of training
Experienced pilots had died during the battle
of midway and Guadalcanal campaign
The Japanese pilot training centre only
graduated a small number of pilots
C) Timeline: (1944)
June 15,
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The U.S invaded the island of Saipan in the Marianas islands region of the north western
Pacific Ocean, below Japan in the Philippine Sea.
June 19,
5:03am – the U.S. launch morning air patrols
5:50am – Japanese sea patrol spotted the U.S. TF-58
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The Japanese patrol contacted via radio, the headquarters in Guam to notify of an
attack by the U.S.
Then this patrol ship persisted to attack the U.S. patrol but was shot down by U.S.
aircraft.
The U.S. then persisted to attack Guam before Japanese air forces in Guam were able to
launch. Bombed the Japanese air force on the ground in Orote field.
Some Japanese planes managed to get in the air, but 35 were shot down.
Then the F6F hellcats were called back to their naval carrier; because the Japanese fleet
formed an attack on the U.S. naval carriers.
68 Japanese aircraft were sent to attack the U.S. fleet
The U.S launched all of their fighter planes in order to reach the Japanese aircraft before
they could bomb the U.S. carriers.
The U.S. one with only losing 1 fighter plane, whereas Japan lost 25.
The remaining Japanese aircraft bombed the U.S. fleet causing a few American
casualties, however there was minimal damage.
Japanese lost a total of 3 carriers, about 550-600 aircraft from June 19-20.
D) Why was the U.S victorious?
- loss of over 300 Japanese aircraft on the first day (June 19).
- the U.S had more pilots and a higher number of experienced pilots
- had more carriers in total than the Japanese
E) What is the significance of this battle?
- the last major carrier vs. carrier battle of the Pacific War.
- the U.S. gained the island of Guam
- the Japanese lost most of their air force