Pacific Ocean theater of World War II

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the Pacific War, the war between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. It was defined by the Allied powers' Pacific Ocean Area command, which included most of the Pacific Ocean and its islands, while mainland Asia was excluded, as were the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Borneo, Australia, most of the Territory of New Guinea, and the western part of the Solomon Islands.
It officially came into existence on March 30, 1942, when US Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed Supreme Allied Commander Pacific Ocean Areas. In the other major theater in the Pacific region, known as the South West Pacific theater, Allied forces were commanded by US General Douglas MacArthur. Both Nimitz and MacArthur were overseen by the US Joint Chiefs and the Western Allies Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCoS).
Most Japanese forces in the theater were part of the of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which was responsible for all Japanese warships, naval aircraft, and marine infantry units. The Rengō Kantai was led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, until he was killed in an attack by U.S. fighter planes in April 1943. Yamamoto was succeeded by Admiral Mineichi Koga (1943–44) and Admiral Soemu Toyoda (1944–45). The of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was responsible for Imperial Japanese Army ground and air units in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. The IJN and IJA did not formally use joint/combined staff at the operational level, and their command structures/geographical areas of operations overlapped with each other and those of the Allies.
In the Pacific Ocean theater, Japanese forces fought primarily against the United States Navy, the U.S. Army, which had 6 Corps and 21 Divisions, and the U.S. Marine Corps, which had only 6 Divisions. The United Kingdom (British Pacific Fleet), New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and other Allied nations, also contributed forces.
Major campaigns and battles
Pacific Theater
Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941
Battle of Wake Island 7–23 December 1941
Philippines campaign 8 December 1941 – 8 May 1942
Battle of Bataan
Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Ambon
Battle of Timor
Battle of Rabaul
Battle of the Java Sea
Bombing of Darwin
Battle of the Coral Sea 4–8 May 1942
Doolittle Raid 18 April 1942
Battle of Midway 4–7 June 1942
Guadalcanal campaign 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943
Battle of Savo Island
Battle of Cape Esperance
Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
Battle of Tassafaronga
New Guinea campaign
Solomon Islands Campaign
Battle of the Bismark Sea
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign 1943–44
Makin Island raid 17–18 August 1942
Battle of Tarawa 20 November 1943
Battle of Makin 20–23 November 1943
Battle of Kwajalein 14 February 1944
Battle of Eniwetok 17 February 1944
Attack on Truk Island 17–18 February 1944
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign 1944
Battle of Saipan 15 June 1944
Battle of the Philippine Sea 19–21 June 1944
Battle of Guam 21 July 1944
Battle of Tinian 24 July 1944
Battle of Peleliu 15 September 1944
Battle of Angaur 17 September 1944
Battle of Leyte 17 October 1944
Battle of Luzon 9 January 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima 19 February 1945
Battle of Okinawa 1 April 1945
North Pacific Theater
Aleutian Islands Campaign 1942–43
Battle of the Komandorski Islands 26 March 1943
References
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Pacific theater of World War II, Ocean
Theaters and campaigns of World War II
Military history of Japan during World War II
World War 2