WWII in the pacific (Rebekahs)
Dutch Harbor
took place on 3-4 June 1942, when the Imperial Japanese Navy launched two aircraft carrier raids on the United States Army barracks and the US Navy base at __(term)__, during the Aleutian Islands Campaign of World War II.
Port Moresby
It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942-43 in World War II, as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas.
"Magic"
Like Ultra and Enigma by the Germans. A similar break into an important Japanese cypher (PURPLE) by the US Army Signals Intelligence Service started before the US entered the War. Product from this source was called __(term)__. It was the highest security Japanese diplomatic cipher.
"Long Lance"
The Type 93 (designated for Imperial Japanese calendar year 2593) was a 61 cm (24 in)-diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the __(term)__ by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given it after the war by Samuel Eliot Morison, the chief historian of the U.S. Navy, who spent much of the war in the Pacific Theater. It was by far the most advanced naval torpedo in the world at the time.
Sullivan Brothers
The __(term)__ were five siblings who were all killed in action during or shortly after the sinking of the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52), the vessel on which they all served, around November 13, 1942, in World War II. As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers two years later), the U.S. War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. Which is a policy that states a family bloodline will continue by ensuring that family members are separated so as to insure that there be a sole survivor in the family.
Battle of Savo Island
The battle took place on August 8-9, 1942 and was the first major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign, and the first of several naval battles in the straits later named Ironbottom Sound, near the island of Guadalcanal. The battle was the first of five costly, large scale sea and air-sea actions affecting the ground battles on Guadalcanal itself, as the Japanese sought to counter the American offensive in the Pacific.
USS Wasp
Was hit with torpedoes and caused a huge fire during Guadalcanal
USS San Francisco
a New Orleans-class heavy cruiser, was the second ship of the United States Navy named after the city of __(term)__. She saw extensive action during World War II and earned 17 battle stars during World War II. For her participation in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, she was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. For the same action, three members of her crew were awarded the Medal of Honor: Lieutenant Commander Herbert E. Schonland, Lieutenant Commander Bruce McCandless, and Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Reinhardt J. Keppler (posthumous). Admiral Callaghan was also awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumous).
Guadalcanal
codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of __(term)__ in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
Battle of the Coral Sea
fought from 4-8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first ever fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
Battle of Midway
is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) attack against __(term)__ Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan has called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War. The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy __(term)__ Atoll as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle Raid. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji and Samoa.
USS Lexington
known as "The Blue Ghost", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of __(term)__. She was originally to have been named Cabot, but she was renamed while under construction to commemorate USS __(term)__ (CV-2), lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. The "ghost" portion of the nickname comes from the fact that the Japanese believed that they had sunk the __(term)__ no less than four times during the course of the war, leading Tokyo Rose to give the ship its nickname.
USS Hornet
the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign she was involved in the Capture and Defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she was irreparably damaged and sunk. Hornet was in service for a year and six days and was the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire.
Naval Battles of Guadalcanal
took place from 12-15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied (primarily United States) and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands during World War II. The action consisted of combined air and sea engagements over four days, most near Guadalcanal and all related to a Japanese effort to reinforce land forces on the island. The only two U.S. Navy admirals to be killed in a surface engagement in the war were lost in this battle
Henderson Field
took place from 23-26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and Allied (mainly United States (U.S.) Marine and U.S. Army) forces. The battle was the third of the three major land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marine and Army forces, under the overall command of Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 17th Army, under the command of Japanese Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake. The U.S. forces were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded __(term)__ on Guadalcanal, that had been captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Hyakutake's force was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off of the island.
Battle of Cape Esperance
took place on 11-12 October 1942, and was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy. The battle was the second of four major surface engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign and took place at the entrance to the strait between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Saburo Sakai
was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. __(term)__ was the Imperial Navy's fourth-ranking ace and Japan's second leading fighter pilot to survive the war.
Executive Order 9066
was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones. Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the way for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.
Battle of Bloody Ridge
was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces. It took place from 12-14 September 1942, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
SBD Dauntless
was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver. The aircraft was also operated by the United States Army as the A-24 Banshee. Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, it was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during World War II.
Hiei
was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston, she was the second launched of four Kongō-class battlecruisers, among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. US forces sank her on the evening of 14 November 1942. During the naval battles of Guadalcanal.
Tokyo Express
was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The tactic involved loading personnel or supplies onto submarines and fast warships (e.g., destroyers), and using the warships' speed capability to deliver the personnel or supplies to the desired location and return to the originating base all within one night so Allied aircraft could not intercept them by day.
