The US strategy of Island Hopping
Island Hopping - 1942-1945
The United States launched a counter-offensive on Japan after the Battle of Midway, this counter-offensive was known as Island Hopping. The strategy's focus was to gain US control of key Pacific islands to get close to Japan so that it would be in bombing range. This offensive was led by US General Douglas McArthur. The offensive began with the battles on the island of Guadalcanal, which the US was able to secure, along with other nearby islands. The US used amphibious vehicles to attack the weaker points on Japanese controlled islands, until they could get to their objective of securing and liberating the Philippines from the Japanese. The US got closer to the Philippines by gaining control of surrounding islands and battles ensued at the end of 1943 all across the Philippines until the Japanese surrendered the Philippines after a large loss of troops. From the Philippines, the US launched an attack on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the keys to winning the war and Japan's surrender. After seemingly endless bombings on the two islands, 70,000 American troops landed on the shores of Iwo Jima, and were able to overthrow Japanese control on the island. The US raised the flag on the island and then had their eyes set on Okinawa. The battle of Okinawa was set up into four phases by the US. The first three phases experienced mild casualties, but the fourth experienced severe casualties, and the Battle of Okinawa had become the bloodiest battle of the Pacific with 12,000 US casualties and 36,000 injuries. The US had won difficult battles by using the method of Island Hopping, and this strategy had payed off in the end, where the US was able to control and liberate the majority of the Pacific and began to prepare the atomic bomb for the final step to ending the war in the Pacific.