The Navy Holds

[Music] SP ET [Music] [Music] prior to the 20th century a naval war fought across the vast reaches of the Pacific would have been a physical impossibility but with the advances in the employment of power in the field of Transport the Pacific Ocean gradually shrank to an area which could be traversed by a considerable force of fighting ships as the 20th century progressed the US Navy was well aware that the Pacific was becoming a most strategically important body of water arriving in Hawaii some 2 weeks after the attack at Pearl Harbor Admiral Chester W Nimitz assumed command of the Pacific Fleet for the next 3 and A2 years he faced the overwhelming job of fighting the Japanese in an allout War under handicaps of Staggering proportions we were faced with a gigantic job the Pacific Ocean encompasses almost 70 million square miles to wage war across this trackless Battle Ground was an enormous task for any Fleet or combination of fleets with our crippled Pacific Fleet the job in early 1942 was all but impossible but with every available ship and every officer and man in the Pacific Fleet dedicating himself to the task we were determined to carry the war to the heart of the enemy's Homeland the enemy had scored a devastating blow at Pearl Harbor but it was a blow from which we would recover from which we must recover the US Navy and the Pacific turned to and set about countering that blow Japan strikes on December 8th turned World War II into a truly global conflict they have certainly embarked Upon A a very considerable undertaking after the outrages they have committed upon us at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Islands in the Philippines in Malaya and the Dutch East Indies they must now know that the states for which they have decided to play are mortal many people uh have been astonished that Japan should in a single day have plunged into war against the United States and the British Empire what kind of a people do they think we are is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget the first move in the Navy's plan of attack called for the establishment of bases in the far reaches of the Pacific bases from which the Navy's warships and amphibious forces could attack the enemy in his own baywick during the early months of the war the establishment of those Advanced bases on islands with unfamiliar names was a matter of great urgency in as much as the islands were not many miles from enemy territory ples were the most important items of equipment the bases hurriedly rushed into operation in the South Pacific in those early months of the war were in great measure responsible for staving off the enemy and his drive toward austral Australia and New Zealand without those bases the us would have been at such a disadvantage that it is quite doubtful that the enemy could have been checked in the far Pacific but though planes did arrive at the new Pacific bases they were few in number because of shortage of shipping in the Pacific and because of the buildup of an offensive in the European theater the air bases in the Pacific were scantily stocked with planes when a small shipment of new planes did arrive they were quickly assembled and ready for their first takeoff the Army and its Air Force were convinced of the importance of these Island air bases which were often referred to as Unsinkable [Music] carrier Army and marine engineers and navy CBS worked under constant pressure on the construction necessary to put the new new Us South Pacific bases and operating condition everyone was well aware that he was involved in a Race Against Time for the enemy was in a good position to move a little farther south and overwhelm the US Island bases the engineer units accomplished almost impossible Feats of construction occasionally in their haste they suffered a setback in their progress [Applause] as the Japanese swept Southward and seized control of the Pacific Islands in their path they quickly built bases from which they could press the attack even further Japanese military strength on its newly captured islands in the early months of the war war was considerable and the first concern of the Japanese militarists in taking over a new island was the preparation of the facilities necessary for the operation of an air base but once the basic military requirements were satisfied the Japanese relaxed confident that they could hold their newly won territory without trouble in those early months of 1942 the aggressors had a fairly easy time of it there was even time for baseball a game they still loved even though it was the national sport of the hated American enemy the Japanese Navy was proud of its submarine service but somehow its Subs had not been used to any extent as Raiders of us shipping though the subs were well constructed the Japanese simply didn't know how to use them to maximum Advantage as an offensive weapon the Japanese militarist had paid relatively little attention to the importance of Supply in the maintenance of its far-flung conquests as they gradually awoke to their shortcomings on the planning level the Japanese Army command subsequently brought pressure to bear on the Navy to provide combat submarines for transportation of army supplies but the main elements of the Japanese Navy were used to full advantage Japanese Sailors were proficient in the performance of their assigned duties and possessed a strong fight Spirit not for over a century had the US faced an enemy Navy so tough and well Tred as the Japanese in February 1942 that Navy was at Peak strength ready and anxious to engage any Allied Naval units which could be located in late February two Japanese Naval forces proceeded Southward in a pincer movement against Java on February 27th in the Java sea the Japanese Fleet gained their opportunity on that afternoon the Japanese movement South was challenged by a rag tag Allied force of American Dutch Australian and English warships which had never operated as a unit the Japanese Naval forces went into action at once the Allied Fleet operating with little coordination was for doomed to defeat while losing no ships of their own the Japanese virtually annihilated the Allied Force sinking two Cruisers and three destroyers in the 8 hour long action and knocking out seven more Allied warships attempting to escape from that point on the Japanese held complete control of those Waters but the picture was not all black for the allies in late January fast us carrier forces were assigned to move into enemy controlled Waters and carry out a raid on the Marshall Islands a strong Link in Japan's outer defense ring early on the morning of February 1st the fleet was in position for the attack its planes and ships opened up against six atoles in the eastern and Central Marshals in command of task force 8 in that first daring raid into enemy territory Admiral bull Holly was overjoyed that he had been given this chance to hit back at the [Music] enemy the US striking Force damaged the number of enemy installations on several islands but perhaps even more important was the lift the raid gave to American Morale on the fighting fronts and in the US a few weeks later wake was hit in the first attack on that island which the Japanese had had such difficulty in seizing some two months earlier early in March Japanese positions in New Guinea came under attack by a fast us carrier Fleet which affected ly plastered the enemy at L and Salam stimulating as these raids were to American Spirits the US High command felt that something incredibly bold was needed in mid April 1942 the carrier Hornet moved steadily Westward equipped with a compliment of B25 bombers Army Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy dittle and the Hornets Captain Mark mitcher were collaborating on a top secret assignment a raid on Tokyo itself the Navy's task force 16 was commanded from the Enterprise by Admiral Hy whose fervent desire to strike further and further into enemy territory was being gratified never before had the Air Force even considered the possibility of flying a bomber the size of a bat25 off the deck of a carrier although the Air Force personnel had practiced taking off from a restricted space at a Florida base this was the first attempt at taking off from a real carrier deck every man in the fleet held his breath [Music] the 16 planes took off at intervals of several minutes early on the morning of April 18th 1942 ahead lay the job All American pilots on the Pacific dreamed of doing [Music] Admiral Hy called the flight one of the most courageous deeds in all military history the raid on the heart of the enemy's Homeland had an electrifying effect on the American people the strike group's Commander colonel dittle was justifiably proud of his team's performance a highly successful air raid on Tokyo was the result of weeks of careful preparation each pilot co-pilot Bombadier Navigator Gunner and the ground Crews were volunteers and were carefully trained for the specific Mission the men and the officers did a heroic job but the Japanese were still confidently undertaking to extend their area of control in the Pacific in an attempt to capture port morby on the Southeastern coast of New Guinea a Japanese Naval Force headed south from trook the fleet passed through the Solomon's area and moved toward Fort morby The Invasion Force included a powerful array of Japanese warships the battle of the Coral Sea represented a notable development in Naval Warfare in the struggle with Japan it proved a turning point for the US in the course of the war the Japanese Fleet moved steadily toward its objective meanwhile a US carrier task force was searching for the enemy Fleet contact was almost established several times the American planes were prepared for launching soon after Dawn on May 4th some were to attack a group of Japanese ships at tulagi but the Plan called for most of the US fighters to remain aoft over their own ships for their defense this Arrangement meant that the attack squadrons would be operating without fighter cover furthermore no orders were given directing the bombers and torpedo planes to make a synchronized attack even even by the standards of those early days of the war the attack could not be considered well organized but the command to hit the enemy's Naval units was carried out on schedule however inep the planning the US forces took the initiative with great F [Music] [Applause] determination the burden of the search for the main body of the Japanese Fleet fell principally on the carrier planes operating from New York town and Lexington since landbased Allied planes were only moderately helpful in spotting the enemy Fleet as it proceeded toward New Guinea [Music] the US planes continued the search for several days while the American planes were flying toward the enemy surface force a group of Japanese planes was searching for the US ships the pilots in both groups were hunting for big game the enemy's warships so they were not interested in looking for enemy planes [Music] when the Japanese Pilots spotted their targets us Gunners were waiting for them [Music] [Music] units of the Japanese Fleet were also discovered and zigzagged frantically to evade the American planes attack [Music] [Music] the US planes sank a Japanese light carrier early in the engagement but during the two days of the main phase of the battle Japanese planes met with great success in their strikes at the American Fleet their principal targets were of course the carriers at 11:18 a.m. on May 8th Japanese planes attacked the Lexington the loss of the Lexington was a heavy blow to the the already crippled us Pacific Fleet in the key naval battle of the Coral Sea losses were almost evenly divided as far as ships were concerned but the Japanese invasion Force had been successfully put to Route all the ships sunk in this first battle in a new kind of Naval engagement were hit by planes the surface ships never exchanged a salvo the plan shot down constituted a considerable percentage of the carrier attack groups the Japanese failed to realize that their plans for future attacks against US forces in the Pacific were no longer a Japanese secret shortly before the Battle of Carl SE the US Navy had succeeded in Breaking the Japanese code this fortunate turn of events came at a point when the US Pacific Fleet was in feeble condition to fight a war across the stretches of that vast ocean as in the case of the Coral Sea the US Navy had Advanced information on the next Japanese strike a planned attack on Midway Island Western most Outpost of the Hawaiian archipelago America's spent Pacific Fleet raced up from the south to meet the Japanese Naval Attack Force the US Fleet reinforced by ships from the states engaged the Japanese force which had been counting on sneaking in unopposed off Midway Island in in addition to its carriers the US had the advantage of having Midway itself as an added launching platform the Army Air Force had sent 18 b7s from Oahu to Midway just a few days before the enemy force was expected offshore the aircore units reinforced the Island's defense complement which consisted of a marine Garrison and a marine Air Group the fighting men on the island Reed themselves for a spirited battle as the expected enemy attack grew near on May 30th 1942 Midway based planes began flying search missions for several days they continued the hunt [Music] [Music] finally on June 3rd and 4th the search proved successful American planes from Midway were reinforced by carrier aircraft and the most important single Naval engagement of the war in the Pacific was [Music] [Music] begun most of it was fought in the air [Music] the Japanese carrier-based planes sped to the attack intent on knocking out the American Air strip and imp placements on Midway but their arrival came as no surprise to the Troops on the island [Music] the island and its Garrison took a heavy pounding but successfully with stod the Intensive raid during the frenzied 3-day battle the Japanese ships maneuvered desperately in an attempt to evade American planes which were performing magnificently in the decisive [Music] engagement American carrier-based aircraft assist assisted by landbased planes turned the tide of war in the Pacific off the island of Midway Japan's sweep of aggression in the Pacific was brought to a sudden jarring halt at Midway US Navy marine and Air Force pilots radically changed the complexion of the engagement which the Japanese Navy had fully expected would be another Triumph for the emperor [Music] us torpedo planes off the carriers made heroic low-level attacks on the enemy ships supporting us planes scored several [Music] hits all the Japanese heavy carriers which participated in the Battle of Midway were put out of action during the engagement the sea and air surrounding Midway were once again clear of the enemy the US Fleet lost the York toown but made the Japanese pay heavily the American victory ended the threat to Hawaii and the west coast of the US the Battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat the Japanese Navy had suffered in 350 years at Midway the new important role of air power in Naval Warfare was [Music] accentuated the US Pacific Fleet still faced a gigantic job of fighting the jeps across the far-flung Pacific but the Outlook had become much brighter 2 months later at an island in the South Pacific most people had never heard of the first ground offensive by American forces in any theater was launched against the enemy on August 7th 1942 US Marines invaded gule canal [Music] [Applause] for fre andice [Music] [Music]