Scent of success comes in early June

The Pacific War began on Sunday morning Dec. 7, 1941, when carrier-based planes of the Japanese Combined Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo headed for targets at Pearl Harbor, Hickam and Willard Fields and Kaneohe Air Station, all on the island of Oahu. The man behind the strategy of attack was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet.

The attack was spearheaded by planes from four aircraft carriers: the Hiryu, the Soryu, the Kaga and the Akagi. After it was over, 18 US vessels, including eight battleships, had been sunk or damaged. More than 175 aircraft were destroyed on the ground, with another 158 crippled. Some 2,403 servicemen died and another 1,200 wounded. The strike was a complete success.

On Dec. 8, 1941, a day after Pearl Harbor, Japanese bombers and fighters based in Formosa swooped down on Iba Field in Zambales, destroying the base and its P-40 fighters. The formation then proceeded to the primary objective: Clark Field. Lined up wingtip to wingtip on the runway were 36 P-40 fighters and 17 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. After an hour of action, most of the bombers were destroyed or crippled, along with every P-40 aircraft. On the very first day of war in the Philippines, the Far East Air Force of General Douglas MacArthur was eliminated as an effective combat force.

On Dec. 10, Japanese torpedo bombers off the Malayan coast pounced on two major British warships: the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. A few hours later, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Pound, was on BBC radio announcing that “the Prince of Wales and the Repulse had been sunk.” Of the loss, Prime Minister Winston Churchill would say: “In all of the war, I never received a more direct shock.”

More bad news followed. Just 73 days after landing in north Malaya, Japanese troops, moving on trucks and using 18,000 bicycles, defeated a superior allied force of British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian units, leading to the capture on Feb. 15, 1942 of Singapore, the fortress known as the “Gibraltar of the East.” On April 9, 1942, Bataan surrendered with thousands of captive POWs sent on forced march to concentration camps. A month later, Lt. General Jonathan Wainwright would surrender Corregidor and all units under his command in the Philippines.

The attack that started on Dec. 7 in Hawaiian waters presaged six months of defeat and humiliation for the allies as Japan moved closer to establishing dominance in the Pacific. An air of gloom and despair settled over Washington and London during this period while euphoria swept Tokyo. Each fresh Japanese victory was celebrated by throngs of flag-waving citizens marching in the snow to the gates of the Imperial Palace. Perhaps the only bright spot on the horizon for the allies was the spectacular raid by Col. James Doolittle on Tokyo, using 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers on a one-way mission that would end in China. The raid caused tremendous loss of face and embarrassment for the Imperial Japanese staff, causing them to come up with more aggressive action against US aircraft carriers. The move would eventually lead to the Battle of Midway.

The next Japanese plan of action, known as the “Second Operational Phase,” focused on the capture of the island of Midway, close to Hawaii, hoping to lure the US fleet, particularly the aircraft carriers, into a decisive battle. “The seizure of Midway, threatening Hawaii, would effectively undermine America’s will to fight and pave the way for a possible negotiated peace” was the view held by naval leaders led by Yamamoto. In carrying out their next course of action, Yamamoto would sail as head of the battle force on the mammoth 73,000-ton battleship Yamato. In all, 162 ships of the imperial navy would be used in support of the operations. This included the four veteran carriers of the Pearl Harbor attack: the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, once again led by Admiral Nagumo. The Americans had only three carriers – the Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown – and a few other ships. But they had broken the Japanese naval code. It was a young navy commander, Joseph Rochefort, who provided the intelligence that would prepare the navy to stage an ambush on the Japanese carrier force.

On June 4, 1942, enemy air attacks on Midway started with an invasion force ready to land and occupy the island. From June 4 to June 7, the opposing forces carried out what some writers have called the “greatest naval battle in American history.” It was fought mainly by carrier-based naval air units and in the end, the four Japanese carriers that had celebrated the attack on Pearl Harbor just six months before, were sunk, along with 257 of their planes and 121 of Japan’s most skilled pilots. Stunned by his losses, Yamamoto turned around his battle force and returned to Japan.

The triumph of American carriers at Midway was the first decisive defeat suffered by the Japanese navy in 350 years. It put an end to the long period of Japanese offensive action and restored the balance of naval power in the Pacific. Incidentally, Admiral Raymond Spruance, considered by many as the hero of Midway, served as US Ambassador to the Philippines during the Quirino-Magsaysay era.

What if the results turned out differently, with Japan occupying Midway, and the US carrier fleet lying at the bottom of the ocean? The Philippines would probably have remained under Japanese occupation for many more years, if not forever. A weakened US fleet without its carrier force would have difficulty defending Hawaii, leaving the west coast of the United States practically defenseless against carrier-based air attacks. A negotiated peace settlement would not have been far-fetched.