Figure 1.--This is primarily a view of the South Pacific where most of the naval battle were fought. There is a huge area not depicted to the north. mThe Pacific is by far the world's largest ocean. The expanse and the distances involved are beyond the experience of most people. The Pacific is also the world's deepest ocean but that was not a factor in the Pacific War--the overriding factor was the imense area involved. The Battle of the Atlantic was fought over a small area beyond air cover -- the Mid-Atlantic Gap or Black Pit. In the Pacific, it was not a small area of the Pacific beyond air cover -- it was virtually the entire expanse. This is why the Pacific War became island hopping campaigns beginning with Guadalcanal in the Solomons--the furthest point of Japanese expansion. he islands were needed to expand air cover. Given the huge expanse it is stunning that when American carriers suddenly appeared at just the precise time and place (Coral Sea and Midway) to engage Imperial Navy thrusts, the Japanese did not immediately understand that their codes had been broken.

The Pacific is by far the world's largest ocean. The expanse and the distances involved are beyond the experience of most people. Only people who have flown from the States to Australia and New Zealand begin to get some idea of the distances involved. The great expanse is only broken by tiny islands and atolls, around which is where the major battles of the Pacific War were fought. The Pacific is both the largest and deepest of the five oceans. It extends from the Arctic Ocean south to the Antarctic. It is ringed by Asia and Australia in the west and North and South America in the east. The separation of Asia and the Americas is immense. There is a reason that Columbus not only made it home, but crossed the Atlantic several times. But Magellan did not even make it all the way across the Pacific. The Pacific is also the world's deepest ocean but that was not a factor in the Pacific War--the overriding factor was the immense area and thus distances involved. Ironically, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor suceeded because The U.S. Navy believed that the Pacific distances made an air attack impossible. And the Japanese believed that the distances made an attack on their own insular country impossible. Even a child can marvel at the lack of insight o think that Japan could attack the Americans, but the Americans could not attack Japan. Actually, at the time of the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack, work on the American long-range B-29 Superfortress was already underway. The Pacific exceeds 165 million square kilometers. The numbers alone are difficult to comprehend. The Pacific encompases an area exceeding that of the earth's entire land mass. This is about a third of the world's surface and about half of the water surface and total quantity of free water. The oceanic pole of inaccessibility is in the Pacific Ocean. The Battle of the Atlantic was fought primarily over a small area beyond air cover -- the Mid-Atlantic Gap or Black Pit. In the Pacific, it was not a small area of the Pacific beyond air cover -- it was virtually the entire expanse. This is why the Pacific War became an island hopping campaigns beginning with Guadalcanal in the Solomons--the furthest point of Japanese expansion. The islands were needed to expand air cover. Here the Japanese had an advantage because of the longer range of their aircraft. It was an advantage, however, that did not provide them the capability to deliver a knock-out blow and prevent America from mobilizing for war. There are several marginal seas in the Pacific, including the Bismarck Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Java Sea, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, Solomon Sea, South China Sea, and the Tasman Sea. This includes the area of the Western Pacific where most of the Pacific War battles were fought. The only exception is when the Imperial Fleet ventured east to attack the British in the Indian Ocean (April 1942). Given the huge expanse it is stunning that when American carriers suddenly appeared at just the precise time and place (Coral Sea and Midway) to engage Imperial Navy thrusts, the Japanese did not immediately understand that their secret codes had been broken. And even more mystifying after studing the matter, dismissed even the possibility. The Allied fight back began at Guadalcanal in the Solomons, at the extrenme east of the global imagge here (figure 1). Guadalcanal was a small island like many Pacific islands that almost no one in America or Japan had ever heard of before the War, but dominated newspaer headlines for several months. Fierce naval battles were fought around Guadalcanal. The Japanese scored some major successes, but in the end had to withdraw what was left of their starving troops from the island. The Americans capitalized on the huge distances and the Japanese need to supply isolated Pacific garrisons by waging a submarine campaign on Japanese sea lanes, destroying their maru (merchant) fleet. This was largely achieved by the realtively small American submarine force. Japam could feed its armies by seizing food from the local population in China and Southeast Asia. On small Pacific islands this was not possible and by the end of the War, bypassed Japanese garisons throughout the Pacific were starving. Japan had a sizeable and potent submarine fleet of their own, but ignored the German advice and declined to attack the vulnerable American sea lanes

Created: 2:34 AM 8/18/2022
Last updated: 3:47 PM 1/26/2024