Theobald, Admiral “Fuzzy” Theobald, knew that two Japanese attack forces steamed north through the Pacific in late May, headed for Alaska. Bull Halsey had sent him north to stop them. He deployed his few ships in an arc across the water to face them, but the arc covered way too many miles of water. The …
Category Archives: Dutch Harbor
Sucker Punch
Thousand-mile Arc A sucker punch with many moving parts, the Japanese plan for June 1942 aimed simultaneously at Midway Island in the South Pacific and at the Aleutians in the North Pacific. The Japanese hoped to ambush the American carrier fleet at Midway, and they wanted a foothold in the Aleutians. In Alaska they would …
Thousand-mile Arc
A thousand-mile arc, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands extend across the North Pacific; beginning in Alaska; ending perilously close to Japan. The thousand-mile chain offered Japan a military route to the North American Continent and concerned American leaders knew they couldn’t defend against that route; couldn’t get enough men, machines and material from the Lower 48 to …