America`s War in the Pacific. 1/10

[Music] many american ships have been sunk on the high seas one american destroyer was attacked on september 4. another destroyer was attacked and hit on october 17th 11 brave and loyal men of our navy were killed by the nazis today in the face of this newest and greatest challenge of them all we americans have cleared our decks we figured that um we figured uh it would they'd go to war with germany first and uh most guys thought that they would declare war on germany to help england since they were helping england so much uh the guys in the atlantic was already at war with germany the destroyers it was convoying these uh supply ships to england i mean uh they were fighting an undeclared war in the north atlantic up over the german u-boats and they just thought about japan over there they was tied up with china and wasn't a whole lot going on there and nobody dreamed that they'd ever attacked the united states or at least ones i knew didn't the planes and submarines that attacked the united states pacific fleet at the pearl harbor naval base in hawaii were in a very real sense launched 88 years earlier in 1853 four american warships under the command of commodore matthew perry dropped anchor in the fortified harbor of uraga perry demanded that he be allowed to deliver a message from president fillmore to the ruling shogunate although he was granted an audience he was unable to convince the japanese to open their ports to s ships he returned the following year this time with seven ships and repeated his demands faced with perry's persistent diplomacy and a clear display of naval superiority the shoguns had no choice but to yield at the time japan was a world unto itself having isolated itself from political commercial and religious influence from beyond its shores for more than two centuries now the barriers had been irrevocably breached just three years later american consul townsen harris was escorted into the audience room of what is now the imperial palace in tokyo he would begin negotiations that would lead to a full-fledged trade agreement between the u.s and japan ironically the date of harris's arrival was december 7 1857 the effect of this sudden change on japan was enormous due in large part to their inability to maintain japan's policy of isolation the shogunate was overthrown within a decade and the emperor was returned to power however what seemed like capitulation to the western world was in fact altogether different and beyond the scope of the westerners understanding in opening herself to other cultures japan was actually preparing to dominate even before the fall of the shoguns japanese leadership began to plot maneuvers that would place them in a position of power both in asia and the world as one japanese councilor put it the nations of the world will come to look up to our emperor as the great ruler of all nations and they will come to follow our policy and submit to our judgment this was in fact a restatement of the policy of hako ichiu articulated 1200 years earlier by emperor jimu bring all the corners of the world under one imperial roof simply put rule the world [Music] the early 20th century found the united states in a race with the rest of the world for influence in the pacific america england russia france holland and japan all vied for territorial holdings in the region [Applause] [Music] having rested the philippines in guam from spain the u.s also controlled midway samoa and the hawaiian islands in addition all of these nations were competing for power in china in 1900 the boxer rebellion led to the killing of missionaries diplomats and other foreigners living in china and opened the door for other nations to send in an expeditionary force of 19 000 soldiers [Music] in the treaty that resulted britain was the clear winner and although it would maintain a military presence the u.s had clearly lost influence in [Music] china this fact coupled with having her resources in the pacific consumed at an unexpected rate trying to put down an independence movement in the philippines induced the u.s to order all its territories in the pacific closed to foreign investment the japanese in particular took offense to this move but said nothing japan had become the first asian power in modern times to defeat a european power in armed conflict in 1905 it defeated russia at port arthur and admiral togo's fleet decimated the russian baltic fleet in the sushima straits on the 27th of may this coupled with the 1894 defeat of china in a battle for influence in korea made it clear that the japanese were the preeminent power in asia to achieve all this after existing for centuries as a closed feudal society had taken japan fewer than 50 years she was now a thoroughly modern nation but she had achieved her success by following an ancient code in her two great military victories japan had made good use of an old martial principle of the samurai win first fight later the outbreak of the european war in august 1914 provided the japanese with yet another opportunity to expand their interest on the asian mainland japan's decades-old treaty with england did not specifically apply to european hostilities the okuma cabinet in power in tokyo was quick to declare war on germany seeing an immediate opportunity to gain a foothold in china proper by annexing german leaseholds and concessions in china within two weeks after their declaration of war against germany on 23 august japanese forces landed on the shandong peninsula and immediately moved toward qingdao and jajo bay japan took the german colony of chow chow in the chinese province of shantung then in quick succession the mariana marshall and caroline islands japanese warships cruised the pacific looking for german ships but never engaged any all the while japan worked to consolidate her territorial gains by signing secret agreements with all the major powers except the united states the surrender of germany restored peace to the world but the treaty did little more than set the stage for future conflict the treaty of versailles which the united states refused to sign allowed japan to keep almost all her possessions the united states on the other hand steered for itself a course of isolationism on which it would remain for 20 years the news in 1921 that britain was not anxious to renew the anglo-japanese treaty and that she and the u.s wanted japan to cut back her navy was seen as an insult at the washington naval disarmament conference in 1921 and 22 the japanese delegation fought in vain for parity with the british and americans they finally accepted a 553 ratio with reluctance yet now the imperial japanese navy was the third largest in the world her army was second only to france also the british and americans were limited to their existing bases but japan had control over a large number of ex-german islands in the western pacific the british reserved the right to fortify singapore and the americans had pearl harbor but it was clear that both navies would find it very difficult to wage an effective naval war against japan in common with the other navies the japanese set about planning a new generation of warships to comply with the limitations with boundless self-confidence they tried to produce ships which were superior to all possible opponents the result was a series of unorthodox warships which incorporated speed gun and torpedo armaments which were a cut above all other navies the long lance oxygen driven torpedo was faster and had greater range than any other used in the world's navies the long lance delivered an 1100 pound warhead at a speed of over 40 miles per hour from a distance of over 22 miles another great advantage was that the oxygen bubbles dissolved and left no tell-tale wake the very existence of this rugged and reliable weapon was an important tactical advantage for the japanese in the pacific in 1942 and 43. another example of japanese foresight and weapons development was the introduction of a dual purpose gun mount for destroyers it took six years before the americans could develop a similar weapon the japanese laid down their first aircraft carrier in 1919. the first effective fleet carriers were the akagi and kaga both salvaged from other classes of ships after the signing of the washington treaty as completed they both displaced twenty nine thousand six hundred tons and carried sixty aircraft like the american saratoga and lexington they took maximum advantage of the claws in the treaty about armament and had 8-inch guns this was a dubious asset on any aircraft carrier since any other ship within range of the guns could destroy the thinly armored carriers an even larger type taiho was ordered in mid-1941 the most important difference was the inclusion of an armored flight deck similar to that of the contemporary british illustrious class despite all the expansion the number of carriers remained too low for comfort the japanese made provisions for future needs by designing fleet support vessels such as submarine tenders which could be converted to carriers throughout the 1920s and 30s japan continued to chip away at the chinese province of manchuria open war between the two nations finally came in 1936. for five years china's appeals to the united states fell on isolationist ears on december 12 1937 the gunboat uss pennai was cruising the yangtze river providing a protective shield for u.s citizens and diplomats living in the region at 1 38 in the afternoon under clear skies just hours after having been stopped boarded and released by a japanese motor launch the panay was attacked by japanese bombers at the time of the attack the pinay had a pair of 250 square foot american flags draped over its arms the bombing and strafing continued for 20 minutes during which time finai took 12 direct hits and sang when it was over three sailors were dead 45 were wounded [Music] it is a matter of common knowledge that japan's policy is fundamentally inspired by a genuine desire to guarantee peace in the far east and to contribute to the maintenance of peace throughout the world despite evidence to the contrary the japanese government declared the attack a mistake outraged president roosevelt demanded that there be a serious reprisal for the action but the isolationist tendencies of americans prove too strong and the congress did not act the day following the sinking of the pnai japanese troops attacked the chinese city of nan king once in the city japanese commanders let their troops run wild through the streets in what would become known as the rape of nanking over the next several weeks they systematically looted and burned the city and surrounding towns destroying more than a third of the buildings japanese soldiers raped tortured and murdered the citizens of the city in the end more than 40 000 chinese were killed following the nan king massacre the u.s government placed a so-called moral embargo on shipments of scrap iron and steel to japan the greatest point of contention between japan and united states prior to world war ii was over china the japanese had invaded manchuria in 1932 and then went into northern china in 37 and then in the southern part a little bit later and the united states had tried sanctions against japan uh for instance cutting off oil shipments cutting off scrap steel a number of things to encourage the japanese to leave the chinese alone [Music] by 1940 the japanese government had set itself on course that seemed certain to lead to war with the united states [Music] the conquest of manchuria was completed and a puppet government was installed which took its orders from tokyo chinese citizens were forced into slave labor in support of the japanese advance into the rest of china [Music] in addition in an effort to secure the natural resources it needed to fuel its aggression japan had seized control of a number of pacific islands the spoils of these conquests began to make their way to factories in japan still they needed more despite their successes the offensive in china had stalled with little progress being made since 1938 with hitler and mussolini firmly in control of the european continent an alliance with these sworn enemies of britain and america seemed only natural in september 1940 japan germany and italy signed the tripartite pact the windfall of this agreement was that it cleared the way for an invasion of another source of natural resources french indochina somewhere in the atlantic britain's prime minister winston churchill meets president roosevelt a hand class that ushers in one of the most dramatic conferences between the leaders of nations ever recorded here the next day the atlantic charter with its eight points is formulated as they part hopes for a permanent peace rise in the hearts of the two great democracies of the world [Music] with the nazi-controlled vici government ruling over france and all of its territories the japanese demanded permission to station troops in indochina ostensibly these forces were to assure that there were no military goods passed over the border into china at first the vichy french resisted but soon gave way once these units were in place movement two and occupation of the south was inevitable in july 1941 japanese forces operating under the thin veil of a french japanese mutual defense pact entered south indochina the united states government was incensed and alarmed by this action it clearly indicated a change of direction for japanese aggression if they could not advance north into china they would move south toward allied possessions including the philippines [Music] president roosevelt already stoking the fires for a war with germany sought some form of retribution the immovable isolationist views of the american public held fast though and military action was out of the question still it was clear that japan's aggression could not go unanswered the united states froze all japanese assets in the u.s this was a blow to the economically strapped empire but the news got worse in addition to freezing the assets the united states placed an embargo on the shipment of oil to japan britain and the netherlands followed suit despite the fact that japan had stockpiled oil in anticipation of an embargo they had only enough to last 18 months and military leaders estimated the war in china would take three years to conclude clearly the situation was becoming critical [Music] japan's government angry with what it saw as unjustified interference in its own regional affair viewed the oil embargo as an act of war among the japanese high command it was now taken as a matter of fact that if the situation with the united states could not be settled with diplomacy it would have to be settled with military action tensions escalated rapidly [Music] from wrong residents in the united states i knew the great industrial capacities of your country [Applause] also i studied your method of working in the last war i knew that japan could not possibly make successful war against the united states most of the senior neighbor officers heard the same way and hence they wished me success in my mission as ambassador to the united states prior to the outbreak of war japan did make an attempt to estimate american industrial form but the estimation was superficial it would have been impossible for anyone to have visible visualized the production power of america once in the war it was necessary to do the best we could even though the japanese were potential was only good for about two years throughout the next few months of 1941 u.s and japanese diplomats negotiated in earnest japan asked the united states to lift the oil embargo which the united states refused to do unless japan agreed to halt its aggression against china the united states regarded japan's adamant refusal to budge on their stance as a sign of hostility like the japanese leaders roosevelt and others came to realize that war with japan was inevitable accordingly the u.s began fortifying its bases in the pacific general douglas macarthur began to organize his ground forces in the philippines into a formidable army his confidence in his troops grew daily as did his determination to meet any japanese attack head-on as the diplomats continued to talk both nations were preparing for war by this time the united states pacific fleet which usually operated out of california had already been in pearl harbor for more than a year hawaii was seen as the perfect location for the american forces in the pacific because of its location halfway between the united states west coast and the japanese military bases in the marshall islands this forward presence posed a formidable threat to the japanese if japan was to continue its expansion the fleet at pearl harbor would have to be dealt with [Music] in february the mighty u.s pacific fleet got a new commander admiral husband e he had many characteristics in common with japanese fleet commander admiral isoroku yamamoto although he lacked yamamoto's charisma and creative imagination the kentucky-born kimmel graduated from annapolis in 1904 the same year yamamoto graduated from the japanese naval academy itajima kimmel revealed a remarkable talent for gunnery and many of his early assignments were connected with that field [Music] in may 1925 kimmel was selected to attend the naval war college soon after graduation he was promoted and sent to the navy department in the policy and liaison division after three years there he returned to sea in command of a destroyer squadron his next command was captain of the battleship new york which was followed by an assignment back in washington as the navy's budget officer in 1938 he returned to sea in command of a cruiser division with the rank of rear admiral within a year he stepped up to commander cruiser battle forces this stainless career involved no experience with naval aviation in february 1941 he assumed command of the u.s pacific fleet with the rank of full admiral kimmel was devoted to the offensive he never visualized his fleet as taking a defensive posture throughout 1941 he worked himself and everyone else to the verge of exhaustion to prepare for the day all new was coming when his ships would sail forth to engage the enemy after the debacle at pearl harbor ironically enough the u.s pacific fleet ships and men were generally conceded to have never been in better fighting trim than under kimmel's leadership events pushed kimmel into command of the fleet a year earlier than planned his predecessor admiral james richardson was fired after opposing the white house on disposition and training of the fleet he was canned after only one year but not before he had established two dangerous precedents he put the fleet on an operating schedule so fixed that its movements were readily predictable and he considered torpedo nets around the ships an unnecessary precaution general walter short army commander in hawaii was atypical for a general officer he was not a west point graduate since receiving a direct commission in 1902 he had served in posts from the philippines to alaska and was with pershing in mexico [Music] he was competent and conscientious but oddly enough although george marshall had spelled out to short in unmistakable terms that the hawaiian department's primary duty was to protect the fleet in hawaii short looked upon the fleet as protection for the island and believed that the japanese would attack if at all only when the fleet was well out to sea this mistaken attitude left the u.s air force's sitting on the runway wingtip to wingtip on that fateful morning with the stroke of a pen president roosevelt sets in motion the nation's machinery was drafting all men between the ages of 21 and 35. october 16th on this day millions of american youth in every corner of the nation register for military service history repeats itself a world war drama is reenacted the same fishbowl from which capsules were drawn for the wartime draft of 1917 again serves for the country's first peacetime call [Music] millions for artillery millions for tanks and anti-tank guns [Music] while american plants are turning out other thousands for britain american army airmen were the first to experiment with parachutes for war years before russia and germany made use of them in actual conflict as japan casts its lot with the access powers the united states feeds the building of its first two ocean navy in spring of 1941 admiral yamamoto began mapping out his pearl attack plan and showing it to other japanese officials the basic concept was to injure american military power in the pacific to such an extent that japan would be able to overrun a vast territory and then the united states would ultimately decide on a negotiated peace rather than a protracted war japan could not grab this territory in the pacific if a large enemy fleet was in the same waters at the same time america had the only other large fleet and most of it was based at pearl harbor [ __ ] that fleet and japan could take whatever it wanted in the pacific the primary targets of the attack were to be the american aircraft carriers intelligence indicated that although groups of ships regularly left the port to engage in exercises most of the time the entire fleet was docked in the harbor all available modes of bombing were to be used in the attack and the attack force had to be equipped to refuel the attack aircraft at sea in order to assure success all u.s aircraft would have to be destroyed to prevent aerial opposition furthermore a strong fighter element would be included in the attack as air cover for the japanese carriers finally the attack would be most effective if it could be carried out in daylight yamamoto preferred sunrise by october of 1941 the japanese had concluded that they would have to go to war with the united states as diplomatic negotiations continued yamamoto was instituting his plan to immobilize the u.s fleet with a surprise attack [Music] [Music] japan went to war primarily to obtain essential oil and raw materials from the southern delos area her military strength was disposed towards to occupy that area and protect lines of communication between it and the empire despite some opposition by the general staff soon extensive training exercises were underway but pearl harbor was not the only target of the imperial navy even going to get a beer because i was too young could buy no beer my senior year i decided i would join the navy and see the world through a porthole went back to you're going to pearl harbor hawaii i said where in the eck yes i'd have pearl was the perfect location for the american forces in the pacific halfway between the united states west coast and the japanese military bases in the marshall islands to the japanese this fleet posed a formidable threat to their ambitions in the pacific to combat this threat admiral isaroku yamamoto commander of the japanese fleet devised a plan that was worthy of his poker player reputation he ordered three major attacks and several minor ones on american and british forces in the pacific the first by a number of hours was pearl harbor the objective was to [ __ ] the only force in the pacific that could interfere with the other two attacks on the philippines and malaya surprise was essential in the pearl harbor attack this was not just because the attack itself was unexpected putting the defender at a disadvantage but also attacking a major naval base with carrier aircraft in broad daylight had never been done before and no one was sure how successful it would be on paper it appeared it would work colonel billy mitchell father of the american air corps proved that during his fight with the u.s navy he persuaded the army to allow him to demonstrate the capabilities of air power against naval targets he was given the captured german capital ship the austrisland and told to try to sink this unsinkable ship [Music] mitchell's squadron was successful at destroying the austrisland and several other ships in later tests but by proving that surface fleets were obsolete he also sank his own career the british had also proven this point rather successfully in a nighttime air raid on the italian fleet in toronto harbor on november 11th and 12th 1940 it was a raid that crippled axis naval power in the mediterranean sea the experienced and history savvy officers of the japanese fleet knew that the first time anything is tried particularly something risky the unexpected can be expected vice admiral chuichi nagumo's force would include six heavy aircraft carriers carrying 300 planes accompanied by 24 supporting vessels and a fleet of submarines with training completed the carrier task force left japan under a veil of radio silence u.s intelligence followed its movements for a time but lost track before its destination could be determined the die had been cast on december 5th 1941 general douglas macarthur who had continued his preparations for an attack on the philippines said nothing would please me better than if they would give me three months and then attack here he was to get neither wish

Channel: Andrew Curtis

Views: 70,101

Rating: 4.7605839 out of 5

Keywords: war in the pacific, war in color, pacific war

Id: 4SOGTbwaQXo

Length: 39min 27sec (2367 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 15 2021