Existing comment:
World War II
Production of Victory:
Valor and skills are vital in war, but it has the production capacity of the United States, the "Arsenal of Democracy," that led to victory over the totalitarian regimes of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Even before the American entry into the war, the United States provided war materials to Great Britain, sustaining it as the sole defense against Nazi aggression. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, American industry burgeoned, producing the ships, planes, tanks, and weapons needed by the men and women who fought, and won, the two ocean war.
1939-1945
US Ships:
On the eve of war, the combined forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and the Asiatic Fleet were out matched by the Japanese Navy. Americans were reluctant to acknowledge the facts: the Mitsubishi A&M "Zero" carrier borne fighter and the "Long Lance" torpedo were the best weapons of their class in the world. Moreover, the Japanese Navy had trained rigorously for war.
| United States | Japan |
|---|
| Battleships |
9 |
0 |
9 |
10 |
| Carriers | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Heavy Cruisers | 12 | 1 | 13 | 18 |
| Light Cruisers | 9 | 2 | 11 | 17 |
| Destroyers | 67 | 13 | 80 | 111 |
| Submarines | 27 | 28 | 55 | 64 |
| Total Ships | 171 | 230 |
Isaac C. Kidd (1884-1941):
Rear Admiral Kidd mostly served in battleships, culminating his career with his role as Commander, Battleship Division 1 in USS Arizona.
When the attack began, Kidd rushed to the ship's bridge. He was killed in the explosion that destroyed the ship. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life..."
USNA 1904
Cassin Young (1894-1942):
Young followed a typical career path in the battleship navy. At the time of Pearl Harbor, he commanded repair ship Vestal, which was moored alongside the battleship Arizona. Young was at his station on Vestal's bridge when Arizona blew up. The concussion blew him into the harbor waters. Swimming back to his ship, he determined that Vestal was sinking. He got his ship underway and beached it where it could be more readily salvaged.
Cassin Young was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. He was killed in action during the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal, only days after taking command of San Francisco.
USNA 1916
USS Arizona (BB-39):
Arizona operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, during World War I and then spent most of the interwar period training in both the Atlantic and Pacific. On 23 January 1941, Rear Adm Isaac Kidd assumed command of Battleship Division 1, breaking his flag in Arizona.
The ship was at her quays in Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. Eight bombs hit the ship within minutes, sinking Arizona was a loss of more than 1100 men. The ship was never raised. A memorial to those lost in the attack lies athwart her hull.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37):
Struck by three torpedoes in the first minutes of the attack, Oklahoma began to roll over. She then was hit by two more. Within twenty minutes, Oklahoma lay on her side, her masts keeping the ship from capsizing completely.
A massive salvage operation began in March 1943, and by December the battleship was uprighted. Decommissioned, Oklahoma was sold in December 1946. As Oklahoma was being towed to San Francisco the following May, the tow line broke and the ship sank.
7 December 1941:
Three hundred fifty-three aircraft from six Japanese carriers struck the military bases on Oahu, Hawaii, with devastating swiftness. The fleet moored in Pearl Harbor was the focus of the attack but installations at Kaneohe, Ewa, Wheeler, Hickam, and Bellows fields also were hard hit.
When the attack ended, many of the United States Navy's battleships -- the pride of its fleet -- lay in the mud of Pearl Harbor. Most of the aircraft at Navy, Marine Corps, and Army bases were destroyed. But fuel dumps and repair facilities were nearly untouched ... a critical mistake.
Destroyers Downes and Cassin were in Dry Dock 1 with the battleship Pennsylvania. When the dry dock was flooded to quench an inferno caused by a bomb, Cassin slipped off her keel blocks and came to rest against Downes. All three of the ships would be repaired and returned to service.
The Japanese launched 353 aircraft to attack the military facilities on Oahu; only 29 aircraft were lost.
Kido Butai:
The Japaneswe carrier task force that attacked Pearl Harbor was one fo the most experienced and successful naval forces of the Pacific War. Comprised of six carriers, supporting vessels, and more than 350 aircraft flown by the cream of Japanese naval aviation, the Kido Butai ranged over the Pacific and Indian Oceans, nearly unstoppable for six months following Pearl Harbor. Skilled, daring, and determined, Japanese pilots flew the best aircraft of their type. The Hawaii Operation exhibited daring thinking and detailed planning of brilliant leadership.
Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943):
It is an irony of Pearl Harbor that the man who planned the attack was one of those most opposed to war with the United States. He realized that Japan would have to win the war in six months or it would lose to the vast resources that the United States would bring to bear. Given the task, Admiral Yamamoto planned the attack with skill and daring. But many of his operations were complex and required fine coordination. He led the Imperial Japanese Navy through the battles for Midway and the early stages of the Solomon's campaign. He would be killed when his plane was shot down over Bougainville on 18 April 1943.
The Spear Blunted:
Exploitation of intelligence, superb tactical decisions, and luck limited American losses in the two battles of Coral Sea and Midway. At the same time, Admiral Yamamoto's plans were too complex. In attempting the invasions of Port Moresby and Tulagi, he lost carriers vital to Japan's plans at Midway. The result was an attack force weakened and unfocused. In the end, the Japanese spear had been blunted.
| Losses | U.S. | Japan |
|---|
| Coral Sea |
1 carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
1 oiler sunk
66 aircraft lost
543 men lost |
2 carriers damaged
1 light carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
144 aircraft destroyed
1074 men lost |
| Midway |
1 carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
150 planes lost
307 men lost |
4 carriers sunk
1 heavy cruiser sunk
253 planes lost
3500 men lost |
Blunting the Spear:
After Pearl Harbor, the Allies focused their main effort against Germany, fighting a defensive war in the Pacific. For six months, as Admiral Yamamoto predicted, Japanese forces were victorious everywhere. The combined efforts of Australia, Britain, the Dutch, and the United States were powerless to block the spear-like thrusts of Japan. Then, in rapid succession, the Japanese home islands were bombed, Japan's advance on New Guinea was turned back, Japanese naval aviation was decimated, and an Allied offensive begun in the Solomon Islands.
Frank J Fletcher (1885-1973, USNA 1906):
Fletcher, as a young officer, was awarded a Medal of Honor for actions at Vera Cruz in 1914. He commanded a destroyer in World War I, then served as chief of staff to the commander of the Asiatic Fleet and as aide to the Secretary of the Navy. Following a tour as commanding officer of the battleship New Mexico, Fletcher became commander of Cruiser Division 3, with the rank of rear admiral, in 1939.
As the operational commander of the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway, he played a pivotal role in securing American victory in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Norman Scott (1889-1942) USNA 1911:
During World War I, Scott was executive officer of the destroyer Jacob Jobes when a German U-boat sank that ship. After the war, he was naval aide to the President. Other career highlights included commanding the cruiser Pensacola in the 1930s and serving a tour as a Naval Academy instructor.
At the outbreak of World War II, Scott was serving in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Promoted to rear admiral, he commanded various task forces in the South Pacific until his death during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
San Francisco (CA-38):
The heavy cruiser USS San Francisco was pivotal to the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On 13 November 1943, the ship's navigation bridge sustained a direct hit. Three US Naval Academy graduates on the ship that day received Medals of Honor; one died in the attack.
Daniel J. Callaghan (1890-1942) USNA 1911:
During World War I, Callaghan served convoy duty on board the cruiser New Orleans, and after the war served in battleships Idaho, Colorado, and Mississippi. He was executive officer of Portland and on the staff of the Commander, Cruisers Scouting Force.
Following a tour as naval aide to President Franklin D Roosevelt, Callaghan was assigned as commanding officer of San Francisco. After a brief tour as chief of staff for Admiral Ghormley, he was promoted to rear admiral and returned to San Francisco as commander of the Support Group off Guadalcanal. Callaghan lost his life in the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal.
Herbert E. Schonland (1900-1984) USNA 1925:
Schonland was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on board San Francisco during the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal. When enemy gunfire killed Cassin Young and other senior officers, Schonland, informed that he was now the commanding officers, determined that the ship was in capable hands, and continued his efforts to direct damage control operations to save the ship.
Bruce McCandless (1911-1968) USNA 1932:
When enemy gunfire killed Cassin Young and San Francisco's other senior officers during the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal, McCandless, the senior surviving officer on the bridge, skillfully conned the ship out of further danger. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted to commander for his actions.
He continued to serve in San Francisco until he assumed command of the destroyer Gregory in 1944. His leadership during the Battle of Okinawa earned McCandless the Silver Star. He received the rank rear admiral upon his retirement in 1952.
Daniel V. Gallery (1901-1977), USNA 1921:
In September 1943, Gallery became commanding officer of the escort carrier Guadalcanal. The carrier was the center of the hunter-killer group that sank three German submarines and captured U-505. The group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for U-505.
Gallery later commanded the carrier Hancock and, during the Korean War, commanded Carrier Division Six.
The Other Enemy:
The Japanese were not the only enemy to be fought in the Pacific: the sea itself caused its share of destruction to the United States navy. On 17 December 1944, the Third Fleet was caught in a typhoon that sank three destroyers and severely damaged many other ships, including carriers. On 5 June 1945, the fleet encountered another typhoon. That day, USS Pittsburgh, the cruiser that had towed Franklin to safety, lost 33 feet of her bow.
Three destroyers (Spence, Monaghan, and Hull), 800 men, and more than a hundred aircraft were lost in December 1944 to a typhoon. With winds exceeding 120 miles per hour, the destroyers -- light on fuel -- rolled more than 70 degrees, were overcome and swamped. The Japanese nearly had their divine wind, their nature-borne kamikaze. |