Midway —screaming fighters, torpedo bombers, dying sailors and pilots, changed the course of WWII in the Pacific. But the great battle in the central Pacific had moving parts far to the north on the boundary between the North Pacific and the Bering Sea—Alaska’s Aleutian Island Chain. Even as a Japanese fleet tried to trap the …
Tag Archives: US Navy
Icy Fog Defended Dutch Harbor
Icy fog, on June 3, had defended Dutch Harbor more effectively than the American Navy’s pilots and sailors. Half of the Japanese pilots couldn’t find the base. And if icy fog helped the Americans, luck helped even more. Knowing little about the layout of the base, Japanese pilots engaged targets at random. Flames and billowing …
Task Force 2
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 Defended Dutch Harbor
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. …
The Navy Knew Japanese Plans
The Navy knew of the Japanese plans for the Aleutians. The string of islands known as the Aleutians curves like a samurai sword, south and then west from Alaska 1,100 miles into the North Pacific—marking the boundary between the North Pacific and the Bering Sea. Adak, Kiska and Attu, the islands at the point of …