Few people in The United States or Canada knew the Japanese posed a threat to America through the Aleutians—until, on June 21, 1942 the Navy issued a press release. “The enemy has occupied the undefended islands of Attu and Kiska…” Americans scurried for their globes and Atlases and few suddenly became many. Task Force 2 …
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Task force 2 still lurked, on June 4, 1942, in the fogbound waters of the North Pacific. Japanese Pilots from the first task force had bombed Dutch Harbor, not once, but twice. But task force 2 carried troops who intended to invade and occupy the Islands of Adak and Kiska—American territory. The Americans hadn’t heard …
Icy fog, on June 3, had defended Dutch Harbor more effectively than Admiral Theobald’s pilots and sailors. Half of the Japanese pilots couldn’t find the base. Theobald Did His Best But if icy fog helped the Americans, luck helped even more. Knowing little about the layout of the base, Japanese pilots engaged targets at random. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The war machine, the Japanese advance across the Pacific inspired the Alaska Highway Project. But the soldiers and civilians who went north to build the Highway, left the rolling catastrophe behind, struggled to keep up with news of the war. If few understood the complex geography of the Pacific, in early 1942 everybody understood …
Another task force still lurked off the Aleutians. The Japanese carrier task force had bombed Dutch Harbor, not once, but twice, completed their mission. But another Japanese task force, the one carrying invasion troops still lurked. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor The Japanese Came Back As the opposing forces in the Aleutians struggled through the …
The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor In late May two Japanese task forces had headed for the Aleutians and the United States Navy sent Admiral “Fuzzy” Theobald with a few ships to defend them. Japanese Plans Theobald deployed his ships in an arc facing south and west toward the oncoming Japanese force. He knew the futility …