Toward discovery of several Naval history and heritage foundation books, While researching this interesting topic about the US Navy, i discovered several authors who Published books on the complete history, on the United States Navy, dating back to the Continental Navy of the American revolution, to a present day Stance on one of the most vital
Military Branches serving our nation today, with said branch hosting one of the most important
Missions to this nation today, which is to hold and maintain a Naval force capable of conducting Amphibious assaults onto a congested, and possible defended enemy shore, a type of warfare
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Historical context:
The 20th century saw as previously stated a very large build up, in amphibious operation partly due to
The unique battlefields that plagued US military high command…. As stated in the US Navy heritage
Foundation history book, the war against japan called on new pioneering technologies to retake the
Pacific, from the japanese empire, which since 1937, had dominant control of the little over half of the
Asiatic region, by 1941. After the surprise attack at Pearl harbor on Dec. 7th 1941, and the US entry
into World War Two, the US faced the gargantuan challenge of having to fight the japanese empire over
Control of strategic islands. A fight the US military was vastly unprepared upon its entry into the war.
Indeed in the First year of the war the United States Navy suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of
japanese, until 1942 when the US Navy realized it would require a new type of Warfare to win this
gruesome conflict, and the solution was Amphibious warfare. Amphibious wasn’t anything new to the
Navy it had been practised countless times before, dating back to the civil war, and even
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Others amphibious invasions in Europe included the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and North Africa.
Without an adequate amphibious assault it is arguably agreed that the United States most likely would
not have been as successful in its war effort against the Axis Powers. 75 years later and today we see a
US Navy and Marine corps who seem to have veered away from large amphibious assaults. In the
present day the US currently only has 29 amphibious assault ships readily available compared to the
thousands we once operated in ww2, and the cold war, in addition to the fact that the LST a vital
amphibious asset has been terminated from US navy registry, along with the unpleasant fact the modern
day US Navy/Marines will be using amphibious vehicles designed in the 1950’s and 60’s well into the
2030’s due to lack of initiative, and lack of funding. My personal view is that we should refocus
To begin, the attack on Pearl Harbour was devastating to U.S. naval capabilities in the Pacific at the onset of their entry into the war. Japanese officials had grown tired of the U.S. oil embargo, which was meant to limit their territorial expansion and aggression in South-East Asia as well as China, and as negotiations weren’t reaching any conclusions they decided that the only course of action was a first strike on the aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbour to cripple U.S. naval capability in the Pacific (Rosenberg 1). The attack, which lasted about two hours, had resulted in the sinking of four battleships, among ...
After a quick examination of the recurring theme of Japanese military arrogance, I will argue that the three most compelling strategies that the Japanese could have pursued in the spring of 1942 were, one – to consolidate the most important resource gains that were already made; two – commence immediate planning for a strong anti-submarine warfare campaign; and three – coordinate significant operations with Japan’s Axis partners, particularly in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Asia theaters of conflict.
Weigley, Russel F. History of the United States Army. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1st Edition, 1984.
Guadalcanal: The First Offensive. Washington: Center Of Military History, 1949. Mueller, Joseph N. The Marines Strike Back.
starts out with Marine Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith on the bridge of the command ship Mt. Olympus, off Iwo Jima on the morning of 23 February 1945 with Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal who said that the raising of our flag atop Mt. Suribachi means there will be an Marine Corps for the next five hundred years. Smith commented “When the war is over and money is short they will be after the Marines again”, and a dozen Iwo Jimas would make no difference. The resolute general was voicing the frustrations of the many generations of Marines before him who had learned through hard experience that fighting for the right to fight often presented greater challenges than fighting their country’s enemies.
In the beginning of the 21st Century the U.S. Marine Corps stands at a strength of approximately 200,000 personnel. The Marines are also equipped with tanks, helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and specialized ships, manned by the U.S. Navy, to transport them to various destinations. These numbers constitute a larger force than the entire armed forces of many countries and the U.S. Marine Corps is considered the junior service of the U.S. military. The Defense Act of 1947 guaranteed the continuing existence of the Marine
World War II, along with its numerous battles, brought great tension between two of the strongest countries during the 1940s: the United States and Japan. Conflict between these two countries started with Japan’s push past Chinese borders into Manchuria in search of the natural resources Japan lacks. At first, the United States avoided military action with Japan by waging economic warfare on them. This economic pressure included the passing of the Neutrality Act, which prohibited the sale of weapons to nations at war (Nash 513). Additionally, the United States placed oil embargoes on Japan hoping it would force Japan to shut down military operations in China. Japan, at a critical decision point, decided to bomb the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941 at 6 a.m., Japan pilots bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, taking out the United States’ strongest battleships, killing thousands of people, and destroying hundreds of planes (Sherman). The day after Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. Over the next few years, the United States and Japan fought fierce battles for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. One of the most important battles during the United States and Japanese war was the Battle of Midway. Japan was destroying the United States at sea, until the Battle of Midway gave the United States Pacific Fleet an edge on Japanese forces. The Battle of Midway was the most important naval engagement of World War II: it was a decisive battle that allowed the United States to be the dominant naval power in the Pacific and it marked a turning point in World War II for the United States.
Morison, Samuel, E. (1960). Victory in the pacific, 1945 – history of the united states naval operations in world war ii. (Vol. 14, p. 389). Boston: Little Brown.
The U.S. Navy nurtured into a challenging power in the years previous to World War II, with battleship construction being revived in 1937, commencing with the USS North Carolina . It was able to add to its fleets throughout the early years of the war when the US was still not involved, growing production of vessels both large and small. In a conflict that had a number of amphibious landings, naval superiority was important in both Europe and the Pacific. The mutual resource...
Blair Jr., Clay, (1975). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, p. 78. p. 1072. Buell, Thomas B. -. (1987)
Over the year and a half between Pearl Harbor and Midway the United States made headway with various technological and military advantages. One of the most important of which was the code breaking efforts of Commander Joseph J. Rochefort Jr. “Most of the U.S’s information [on Japan] came from Rochefort. R...
On November 10, 1775 the Second Continental Congress established what was to become one of America’s greatest traditions. This signing ignited the founding of the continental Marines; the two battalions with which it was to be made of was led by Captain Samuel Nicholas. On land, sea, and air; the Marine Corps has always been an unstoppable force. The only purpose the Marines had during the early existence of it was to mount ships. They were the one jumping from ship to ship like pirates, disabling enemy naval forces. However, Marines became specialized in amphibious assaults during both World War I and World W...
...g in Action and then presumed dead. The troops paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country. Every one of their names deserves to be placed on the wall. The United States Maritime Service Veterans (USMSV) is an organization that was formed to inform the U.S. Government and the public about the United States Maritime Service. The USMSV strives to gain recognition for all of the men who served their country during wartime and national emergencies. The massive impact that the Merchant Marines had on the United States Navy during World War II and the Vietnam War is considered to be one of the largest impacts that the in Naval History. They Merchant Marines were undoubtedly the largest make up of the shipping throughout these two wars. The U.S. wartime merchant fleet was one of the largest contributions made by any nation to the ultimate winning of World War II.
December 7, 1941, the day of the infamous Pearl Harbor, changed the American life as they knew it. Almost nothing had been the same after that day. It entered the United States into World War II and affected the Japanese-Americans way of life. The United States want to be an isolationist country did not last long which contributed to the attack of Pearl Harbor and the peace negotiations between Japan and the United States did not help at all and were instead used as a devious plan for the Japanese.
Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, through dedication to his mission and the welfare of his marines, was a visionary leader even by today’s standards. In his youth, Chesty attempted to join World War I before he had reached the required age. He attended Virginia Military Institute, but dropped out after one year to satisfy his urge to experience combat. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as a private and remained enlisted for only a year before his commissioning as a lieutenant. Unfortunately, the war ended before he was able to experience combat. When a force reduction ensued after the end of the war, Lt Puller was sent to the reserves and given the ...