The Naval Battles That Turned The Tide Of WW2's Pacific Theater | WWII In Colour | War Stories

Discover the pivotal naval battles, from the Coral Sea to the Battle of Midway, that turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. Witness Admiral Nimitz's strategic brilliance as US forces clash with the Japanese navy in a bid for supremacy. Explore the daring maneuvers, the courage of sailors and pilots, and the decisive moments that shaped the course of WW2.

War Stories is your one stop shop for all things military history. From Waterloo to Verdun, we'll be bringing you only the best documentaries and stories from history's most engaging and dramatic conflicts.

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[kittypretty]

The music in these videos is perfect. A sombre and serious music score. RIP to all those who died in war.

[charleslloyd]

My Father was aboard the Lexington at the Coral Sea. When the destroyer that fished him out of the water arrived at Pearl Harbor, He was debriefed by Admiral William Halsey's staff and placed on the Enterprise as a observer, He spent time on many ships going in harms way for the next three years. And made his first retirement after serving on the Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. Standing behind Admiral Bull Halsey. And reenlisted for Korea until 1985.

[grayfullbuster]

I always feel like the battles against Japan are overshadowed by the ones in Europe. The Korean war is hardly ever mentioned even. We should remember all these heroes who died for our freedom in both North America and Asia

[peterlovett]

This makes it sound as though the only reason the Japanese were not able to take Port Morseby was because of the arrival of US troops. Wrong. The Australian forces had already stopped the Japanese advance and was beginning to force them back. This also completely overlooks the defeat Australian forces inflicted on Japanese troops at Milne Bay, the first defeat of a Japanese army force in the war.

[robertdelacruz]

A very good summary of the Pacific War for the first year. It, however, was lacking in the discussion of the promised NAVAL battles during that period.

[Draconisrex]

The Battle of Coral see was not a draw. That's one of the common misconceptions of people who fail to look at the big picture. It stopped the Naval Invasion of Port Moresby and, consequently, kept the supply lines to Australia open. It ended one of Japan's three axes of advance even before the US went on the offensive and the Marines landed on Guadalcanal.

[wecuyler]

The Japanese didn't just wake "the sleeping giant", they went into his yard, and smashed his toys

[gregorylumpkin]

Personally, I think the tide really turned after Guadalcanal was secured, at great sacrifice to the USN, Army, Marines, and Australian units too. Just my opinion, debatable for sure.

[tommarin]

Always interesting to watch these documentaries.

[mohammedsaysrashid]

In Asian WW2, it started in 1937, not 1941 .US navel forces had the most advanced 11 aircraft carriers rathar than several escorting aircraft carriers .. Japan was spotted 👀 by US intelligences since 1925 ..Japan underestimated US navel fleets strengthen and wagered suicide adventures during WW2.

[ledenhimeganidleshitz]

No! FDR did not declare war. Congress declared war. That power is vested in Congress. I am disappointed in whoever wrote the script. Sad, because the rest is quite good!

[Rcoutme]

50:00 Arguably, December 1942 was NOT winter on Guadalcanal. Since it is south of the equator, it is the beginning of summer (although in that part of the Pacific they probably did not have well defined seasons anyways).

[Arizonawatercolors]

Guadalcanal was a turning point. First offensive battle won. My pops was in the 1st Marine Division to come ashore. Wounded twice, captured and escaped with another wounded marine just before their scheduled execution. The 6, 000 marines were left alone fighting 31.000 Japanese for a month until reinforcements arrived with 10, 000 body bags expecting the worst. The marines not only held the beaches but the airfield as well, completing their only two orders given to them before they left ship. With zero food and ammo left, they had to kill Japanese for their rice rations and rifles and ammo. The Japanese stated later that they had never realized Americans were so tough and called it the “Island of Death”. The 💙Japanese called G.I.’s “DOUJIN” or dirty fighters. The victory, I believe was the turning point of the war.

[edwinwhitaker]

" The American military ďiscovered many of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero's unique attributes when they recovered a largely intact specimen of an A6M2, the Akutan Zero, on Akutan Island in the Aleutians. During an air raid over Dutch Harbor on the 4th June 1942, one A6M fighter was hit by ground-based anti-aircraft fire. Losing oil Flight Petty Officer Tadayoshu Koga attempted an emergency landing on Akutan Island about 20 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor, but his Zero flipped over on soft ground in a sudden crash-landing. Koga died instantly of head injuries (his neck was broken by the tremendous impact) but his wingman hoped he had survived and so went against Japanese doctrine to destroy disabled Zeros. The relatively undamaged fighter was found over a month later by an American salvage team and was shipped to Naval Air Station North Island" (at San Diego, California) "where testing flights of the repaired A6M revealed both strengths and deficiencies in performance and design" (source Wikipedia). Two defects in Zero aircraft was the lack of self sealing fuel tanks and the absence of armour plating behind the pilot's seat.

[sharkman]

It's really pathetic when the truth is covered with fog. Part of preventing a war is seeing what war really is and means.

[ronaldfinkelstein]

Three US aircraft carriers in the Pacific, at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. Enterprise and Lexington were both delivering fighters, to Wake, and Midway. Saratoga was on the West Coast of the US.

[markrowland]

Many times more bombs on Darwin than Pearl. The fight back by Admiral Nimitz had long been in operation. The greatest concrete Batching plant was dispatched from the giant storage areas in the mid west. Planning had been helped by the Japanese deciding they had succeeded but Nimitz was jubilant upon seeing what was left undamaged.

[anti-Russia-sigma]

The 1st steps Japan took towards war wasn’t in 1940, as they have been fighting since 1937.

[utbs]

There are really only two things that sealed the Japanese Empire's defeat in 1945. They were the act of attacking US possessions in the Pacific including Pearl Harbor and then the US deciding to declare war and defeat Japan.
When the US decided to wage war, Japan was defeated. It was just a matter of time.

[GregWampler-xmhv]

I think the Brits are very good soldiers, sailors, and airmen but they never seem to tire of overestimating their selves and under estimating their enemy.