United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific
Strategy and Command: The First Two Years
by Louis Morton
1962
. . . to Those Who Served
The Pacific World—The Ocean and Its Islands—The Great Powers in the Pacific
Part One: The Road to War
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Pacific Strategy
Early Plans for Defense—The ORANGE Plan—RED and RED-ORANGE—Strategic Dilemma
Chapter 2: Japanese Policy and Strategy, 1931–July 1941
Japanese Expansion—Economic and Military Preparations—Japan Moves South
Chapter 3: Europe versus the Pacific
Strategic Adjustment, 1938–1940—The Critical Summer of 1940—Shift to the Atlantic, September 1940–January 1941—RAINBOW 5
The July Crisis—America Faces the Far East—The Plan for War
Chapter 5: The Decision for War
Tojo Takes Over—The Progress of Negotiations—The Die Is Cast—Conclusion
Part Two: The Defensive: Pearl Harbor to Midway
Chapter 6: The First Weeks of War, 7–26 December
The Japanese Offensive: First Phase—Meeting the Emergency
Allied Strategy—The ABDACOM Interlude
The Siege of Bataan—Strategy and Logistics—Command
Chapter 9: Australia and the Line of Communication
The Northeast Area—The Line of Communications—The Japanese Threat—Pacific Build-up
Chapter 10: The U.S. and Japanese High Commands
The Washington Command Post—The Japanese High Command
Chapter 11: Organization AND Command of the Pacific
The Problem of Responsibility—The Southwest Pacific and Pacific Ocean Areas—The South Pacific Area
The Fall of the Philippines—The Tokyo Raid—Coral Sea and Midway
Part Three: Seizing The Initiative
Chapter 13: Planning the Offensive
Early Plans—Strategy and Command—Compromise: The 2 July Directive
Chapter 14: Preparations and Problems
Logistics and Strategy—The Pacific Versus Europe—MacArthur Prepares—Final Preparations
Chapter 15: Crisis in the Pacific, August–November 1942
Emergency Measures—The Debate Over Priorities—The October Crisis—The Shipping Crisis—The Crisis Ends
Chapter 16: Command and Cooperation
Army-Navy Relations in the South Pacific—The Southwest and Central Pacific—A Unified Command for the Pacific
Chapter 17: Japanese and American Plans
The Japanese Regroup—Tasks Two and Three: The Indivisibility of Strategy and—Command
Chapter 18: The Pacific in Grand Strategy
Strategic Concepts—The Casablanca Conference—Strategy for 1943
Chapter 19: Means and Ends: The March 1943 Directive
Theater Plans—The Pacific Military Conference
Chapter 20: Cartwheel and the I-Go Operation
CARTWHEEL—The I-GO Operation
Part Four: Emerging Patterns
Chapter 21: The North Pacific and the Soviet Union
Strategic Background—The Aleutians
Chapter 22: The Revival of Orange
The Central Pacific War—The Philippines in Central Pacific Strategy—The Japanese—The Central Pacific in Long-Range Strategy
Chapter 23: Central Pacific Timetable
The TRIDENT Conference—The Marshalls Plan—Alternate Proposals—Gilberts-Nauru Plan
Chapter 24: Organizing for the Offensive
The Problem—Theater Organization—The Joint Staff
Chapter 25: Operations and Plans, Summer 1943
CARTWHEEL Begins—Strategic Forecast, August 1943
Chapter 26: Review and Adjustment
Ships and Plans—Strategic Role of the North Pacific—CARTWHEEL and RENO
Chapter 27: The Japanese Revise Their Strategy
The New Operational Policy—The Decision Is Made—The New Strategy in Action
Chapter 28: The Execution of Strategy: Pacific Operations, August–December 1943
New Georgia—Salamaua to Sio—The Gilbert Islands—CARTWHEEL Completed
Chapter 29: Prospects for the Future
The Pattern of Pacific Warfare—The Prospects for Japan—Long-Range Plans for the Defeat of Japan—Operations for 1944
Appendix A: Directive to the Supreme Commander, ABDA Area, 3 January 1942 (ABC-4/5)
Appendix D: Directive to the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Ocean Area, 30 March 1942 (ccs 57/1)
Appendix V: “ELKTON” III, General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area, 26 April 1943
Appendix W: RENO III, Historical Record Index Card, GHQ SWPA, 20 October 1943
Tables
1. Japanese Military Budget, 1931–1940
2. Japanese Army Ground and Air Forces and Navy Air Forces, 1937–1941
3. Major Army Combat Forces for the Pacific, Present and Projected, April–May 1942
4. Army Strength in the Pacific, April 1942
5. Timetable of Pacific Operations, August 1943
6. Strength, U.S. Forces in the Pacific, 31 December 1943
7. Major U.S. Combat Forces in the Pacific, 31 December 1943
8. Major U.S. Combat and Air Forces in Pacific and European Areas, 31 December 1943
9. Japanese Shipping Losses, 7 December 1941–20 September 1943
10. Japanese Army Reinforcements, Central Pacific, September 1943–January 1944
11. Army (and AAF) Battle Casualties, Pacific Areas, December 1941–December 1943
12. Battle Casualties, Navy and Marine Corps, December 1941–December 1943
13. Specific Operations for the Defeat of Japan, 1944
Charts
1. Disposition of Major Japanese Forces for War, December 1941
2. Organization of ABDACOM, January–February 1942
3. The Washington High Command and the Pacific Theaters, December 1942.
4. The Japanese High Command
5. Command Organization in the Pacific, July 1942
6. Organization of Japanese Forces, Solomons–New Guinea Area, January 1943
7. Command Organization, South Pacific Forces, August 1943
8. Organization for Administration and Supply, U.S. Army Forces, South Pacific Area, July 1943
9. Organization of South Pacific Air Forces, Solomon Islands, July 1943
10. Command Organization, Southwest Pacific Area, July 1943
11. Organization for Administration and Supply, U.S. Army Forces, Southwest Pacific Area, July 1943
12. Organization of Japanese Forces, Southeast Area, July 1943
13. Command Organization, Pacific Ocean Areas, October 1943
14. Organization for Administration and Supply, U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area, December 1943
15. Headquarters Organization, CINCPOA-CINCPAC FLEET, October 1943
16. Organization of Japanese Forces in Pacific and Southeast Asia, November 1943
Maps
1. The Japanese Plan for War, December 1941
2. The ABDACOM Area, January–February 1942
3. The South Pacific Line of Communications to Australia, 1942
4. The Japanese Advance Into the Solomons–New Guinea Area, January–July 1942
5. The Battle Area, August 1942
6. The North Pacific
7. The Central Pacific
8. New Georgia Operations, 21 June–5 July 1943
9. Japan’s National Defense Zone, Southeast Area
10. South Pacific Operations, June–November 1943
11. Southwest Pacific Operations, September 1943–February 1944
12. Makin Atoll
13. Tarawa Atoll
14. Progress and Prospects, 31 December 1943
Maps I-III are in the Maps chapter at the end
I. The Japanese Offensive, December 1941–May 1942
II. The Pacific and Adjacent Theaters, April 1942
III. The CARTWHEEL Operations
Illustrations
Fujiyama—On Board the Powhatan—View From Manila Bay—Washington Conference, 1921–22—General Douglas MacArthur—Brig. Gen. Stanley D. Embick—Japanese Cabinet, March 1936—Japanese Troops Marching Through the Peiping Gate—Konoye Cabinet of June 1937—General George C. Marshall—Admiral Harold R. Stark—Brig. Gen. George V. Strong—General Teiichi Suzuki—Admiral Osami Nagano—Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short—Admiral Husband E. Kimmel—Japanese Mock-up of Ford Island and Battleship Row—General Hideki Tojo—Japanese Signs Proclaiming Economy Drive—Joint Board Meeting—Kurusu and Nomura—“Banzai!”—Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941—President Franklin D. Roosevelt—Admiral Ernest J. King—Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons—Admiral Chester W. Nimitz—Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson—Lt. Gen. H. ter Poorten—ABDA Command—Vice Adm. Conrad E. L. Helfrich and Admiral Thomas C. Hart—Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma—General MacArthur With Brig. Gen. Patrick J. Hurley—Brig. Gen. Alexander M. Patch, Jr—Forward Echelon of the 41st Division—Joint Chiefs of Staff—General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz—Vice Adm. Herbert F. Leary—Rear Adm. Robert L. Ghormley—Rear Adm. John R. McCain—Rear Adm. Aubrey W. Fitch—Rear Adm. Richmond K. Turner—Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright—Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle and Capt. Marc A. Mitscher—Explosion on the Lexington—Battle of Midway—Training on Australian Beaches—Brig. Gen. Thomas T. Handy—Rear Adm. Charles M. Cooke, Jr.—General MacArthur and Maj. Gen. George C. Kenney—Maj. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger and General Sir Thomas Blarney—A-20 Skip-Bombing an Enemy Freighter—B-17 Over the Solomons—New P-38’s at Nouméa—Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold—Admiral Nimitz at Nouméa—Ships at Nouméa—Damaged Supplies—Henderson Field—Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., and Maj. Gen. Millard F. Harmon—Lt. Gen. Hatazo Adachi—Lt. Gen. Haruyoshi Hyakutake—Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto—Lt. Gen. Hitoshi Imamura—Plenary Session at Casablanca—Conference at ALAMO Headquarters—Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt—Rear Adm. Thomas C. Kincaid—Planning the Kiska Operation—Vice Adm. Raymond A. Spruance—Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson, Jr.—Maj. Gen. Holland M. Smith—Rear Adm. John H. Hoover—Maj. Gen. Willis H. Hale—Fijian Commandos—Rendova Commanders—Rendova Landing Forces—Munda Airfield—On New Georgia—American Strategic Planners at QUADRANT—The Combined Chiefs of Staff at Quebec—Vice Adm. Jinichi Kusaka—Australian Troops Go Ashore Near Lae—Airborne Operations at Nadzab—LVTs at Tarawa—Landing Craft Moving in on Butaritari Island
United States Army in World War II
Stetson Conn, General Editor
Advisory Committee
(As of 5 April 1961)
Fred Harvey Harrington, University of Wisconsin
Mai Gen. Louis W. Truman, U.S. Continental Army Command
William R. Emerson, Yale University
Brig. Gen. Evan M. Houseman, Industrial College of the Armed Forces
Oron J. Hale, University of Virginia
Brig. Gen. Bruce Palmer, Jr., U.S. Army War College
W. Stull Holt, University of Washington
Brig. Gen. William A. Cunningham III, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Bell I. Wiley, Emory University
Col. Vincent J. Esposito, United States Military Academy
C. Vann Woodward, John Hopkins University
Office of the Chief of Military History
Brig. Gen. James A. Norell, Chief of Military History
Chief Historian, Stetson Conn
Chief, Histories Division, Col. Leonard G. Robinson
Chief, Publication Division, Lt. Col. James R. Hillard
Editor in Chief, Joseph R. Friedman