Island Hopping
After the bombing of pearl harbor and the United States declared war against Japan. They needed some way in order to get a foot hold on some of the islands where the Japanese had a head start. To do this they decided the best course of action was to take one island at a time. This way they could establish forward bases for their bombers and fighters instead of trying to rival the whole of the Japanese navy at once. Most of the battles in the pacific theater were over control of islands as the boats were only half the battle. The planes were needed to destroy ships at long range and those planes needed a place to stay. The reason island hopping was the best strategy the U.S. could muster is that the Japanese had a head start in the war. The U.S. did not have any of the air bases that the Japanese had already set up when preparing for war. If it weren't for this strategy the U.S. would not have any power to keep on the later battles or to begin to push back the Japanese military after the battle of midway (the first battle of the pacific theater that the U.S. could go on the offensive after.
WW2 In the Pacific. Digital image. Maps in Motion. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/socialstudies/in_motion_10/tav/TAV_741.swf>.
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