Who had overall command of the US Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 and later signed the Japanese surrender document in 1945?
"Midway order of battle This is the order of battle for the World War II Battle of Midway. Ships involved in the Midway operation The Japanese forces (the ""Combined Fleet"") actually consisted of two different fleets detailed to two separate operations, namely Operation AL (for the Aleutians) and Operation MI (for Midway). The US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas were under the overall command of Admiral Chester Nimitz. Task Force 17 (Rear Adm. Frank J. Fletcher in ""Yorktown"") Task Force 16 (Rear Adm. Raymond A. Spruance in ""Enterprise"") Submarines Operational command under Rear Admiral Robert H. English (Commander, Submarine"
"decisive battles of naval history. Midway Atoll was saved as an important base for American operations into the Western Pacific Ocean. Of greatest importance was the crippling of the Japanese carrier strength, a severe blow from which the Imperial Japanese Navy never fully recovered. The four large carriers took with them to the bottom about 250 naval aircraft and a high percentage of the most highly trained and experienced Japanese aircraft maintenance personnel. The victory at Midway was a decisive turning point in the War in the Pacific. On 16 June 1942, Captain Charles Perry Mason became commanding officer of"
"while providing invaluable battle experience for the commanders and sailors of the U.S. Navy. During the third week of May 1942 U.S. naval intelligence units confirmed that the Japanese wouldby early Juneinvade Midway Island. Capturing and occupying Midway was the brainchild-plan of Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. With it he intended to significantly expand the Imperial Japanese Navy's outer defense perimeter across the central Pacific; and, he believed, this very powerful stroke against Midway would so severely threaten Hawaii and Pearl Harbor that the U.S. government would be induced to sue for peace (see Battle of Midway:"
"Japanese fleet. The battle began on 4 June 1942. By the time it was over, the Japanese had lost four carriers, as opposed to one American carrier lost. The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific because the United States had seized the initiative and was on the offensive for the remaining duration of the war. Following the resounding victory at Midway, the United States began a major land offensive. The Allies came up with a strategy known as Island hopping, or the bypassing of islands that either served little or no strategic importance"
"on Japan in the production of ships, planes, guns, and all the other matériel of war. The Battle of Midway infused the U.S. Pacific Navy with confidence. And with this battle the American forces gained, and afterwards continued to gain, hard combat experience; so the Japanese lost that crucial advantage as well. Shortly after the Midway battle, Spruance became chief of staff to Admiral Nimitz, and in September 1942 was appointed as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. In August 1943 Spruance was placed in command of the Central Pacific Force, which, on April 29, 1944, was redesignated"
"Battle of Midway on June 4–7, 1942, which ultimately tilted the balance of power in the Pacific towards the US. As a strategic blow intended to prevent American interference in the Dutch East Indies for six months, the Pearl Harbor attack was a success, but unbeknownst to Yamamoto, it was a pointless one. In 1935, in keeping with the evolution of War Plan Orange, the US Navy had abandoned any intention of attempting to charge across the Pacific towards the Philippines at the outset of a war with Japan. In 1937, the US Navy had further determined even fully manning"
"the islands and destroy the remaining United States Navy forces in the Pacific. In order to deceive the American Pacific Fleet, an attack was ordered to take place in the Aleutians, thus beginning the Aleutian Islands Campaign. During the Battle of Midway, Japanese forces were repulsed in a decisive action, meanwhile on 6 June, Japanese naval forces under Boshirō Hosogaya landed troops unopposed at Kiska and Attu islands. A force consisting of 1,140 infantry under Major Matsutoshi Hosumi took control of the island and captured Attu’s population, which consisted of 45 Aleuts and two white Americans, Charles Foster Jones (1879-1942),"
"in the Pacific theater. While the Battle of Midway was a crushing defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, it did not stop Japanese offensives, which continued both at sea and on the ground. The victories at Milne Bay, Buna–Gona, and Guadalcanal marked the Allied transition from defensive operations to the strategic initiative in the theater, leading to offensive campaigns in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Central Pacific, which resulted in the surrender of Japan, ending World War II. On 7 December 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The"
"and , were sunk, along with the loss of hundreds of Japanese aircraft, losses that the Japanese would never be able to replace. The U.S. lost the aircraft carrier , along with a number of its carrier- and land-based aircraft that were either shot down by Japanese forces or bombed on the ground at the airfields. The Battle of Midway was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean. Starting in July 1942, one of the Fulton-class submarine tenders was always stationed at the atoll to support submarines patrolling Japanese waters."
"Raymond A. Spruance Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral in World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. At Midway, Spruance scored the first major victory for the United States over Japan; most historians consider Midway the turning point of the Pacific War. Official Navy historian Samuel Eliot Morison characterized Spruance's performance as ""superb"", and said that he ""emerged from this battle one of"
"in history. The Imperial Japanese Navy had the advantage, taking the Philippines as well as British and Dutch possessions, and threatening Australia but in June 1942, its main carriers were sunk during the Battle of Midway, and the Americans seized the initiative. The Pacific War became one of island hopping, so as to move air bases closer and closer to Japan. The Army, based in Australia under General Douglas MacArthur, steadily advanced across New Guinea to the Philippines, with plans to invade the Japanese home islands in late 1945. With its merchant fleet sunk by American submarines, Japan ran short"
"of war number one, Lt. Kazuo Sakamaki, whose midget submarine had run aground off Barbers Point, Oahu, on 7 December 1941. In April, ""U. S. Grant"" resumed trips to Alaskan ports carrying troops from Seattle to American bases on the Alaskan mainland and in the Aleutians and continued this vital routine until the spring of 1942. The Battle of the Coral Sea during May 1942 convinced the Japanese that a thrust at Midway Island was imperative, in an attempt to draw out the American fleet - particularly the dwindling number of vital aircraft carriers. Consequently, a powerful Japanese fleet sailed"
"4–7, 1942, the United States Navy decisively defeated a Japanese naval force that had sought to lure the U.S. carrier fleet into a trap at Midway Atoll. The Japanese fleet lost four aircraft carriers to the U.S. Navy's one American carrier and a destroyer. After Midway, and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas. Military historian John Keegan called the Battle of Midway ""the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval"
"was ""sunk"" at Pearl Harbor. It is correct to say that American industrial might was a deciding factor in World War II, and Admiral Yamamoto knew that a prolonged war for Japan was a losing war. The Battle of Midway, together with the Guadalcanal campaign, marked the turning point in the Pacific. Between June 4–7, 1942, the United States Navy decisively defeated a Japanese naval force that had sought to lure the U.S. carrier fleet into a trap at Midway Atoll. The Japanese fleet lost four aircraft carriers to the U.S. Navy's one American carrier and a destroyer. After Midway,"
"which the Imperial Japanese Navy lost all four of the aircraft carriers it had committed to the battle in a crushing defeat. On 4 June 1942, Roberts pressed home the attack on the Japanese aircraft carriers despite formidable opposition, contributing importantly to the success of the squadron and the entire task force, but did not return to ""Enterprise"". Presumed dead, he was declared missing in action on 5 June 1942. For his heroism at Midway, Ensign Roberts was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS ""John Q. Roberts"" (DE-235) was named for Ensign Roberts. She was"
"George D. Murray George Dominic Murray (July 6, 1889 – June 18, 1956) was an admiral in the United States Navy and early naval aviator. Murray was born in Boston, Massachusetts, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1911 and became a naval aviator in 1915. During World War II, he commanded the aircraft carrier , from 21 March 1941 to 30 June 1942, which included the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and the Battle of Midway. At the end of the war, he was the commander of the Mariana Islands, and accepted the Japanese surrender of the Caroline Islands aboard"
"in the Pacific, Japan also launched an attack on the American-held Midway Atoll. With the assistance of the Magic cryptanalysis project, Admiral Chester Nimitz led an American force that defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway, marking a major reversal of fortune in the Pacific War. In August 1942, the United States launched an invasion of the Japanese-held South Pacific island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; Japanese and American forces contested control of Guadalcanal until February 1943. After the Battle of Guadalcanal, the U.S. adopted an island hopping strategy in order to avoid entrenched Japanese garrisons. By"
"summer of 1942, the Japanese had conquered Burma, Siam, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines. The decisive naval/aerial Battle of Midway that took place in early June 1942, however, changed the momentum of the war. Japan was put on the defensive as the Americans pursued their policy of island hopping at their leisure. Tokyo was repeatedly firebombed in 1945 and in the early spring and summer of 1945, Iwo Jima and Okinawa were seized by the Americans. Finally, the death agony of the Empire of Japan came in August 1945. On August 6, an atomic bomb was dropped on"
"R. Hamilton in command. Richard Alonzo Jaccard Richard Alonzo Jaccard (July 1, 1918 – September 15, 1942) was born in Troy, Missouri and lived in Manhattan, Kansas. Jaccard enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve October 29, 1940. He later underwent flight training and upon graduation was commissioned Ensign September 27, 1941. Reporting to famed carrier in April 1942, Ensign Jaccard took part, June 4, 1942, in one of the most important battles in all naval history, the Battle of Midway. As American carrier groups moved to meet the Japanese thrust at Midway Island, Jaccard, as part of Scouting Squadron 6"
"into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway. The consequences were most severely felt in China, where Japanese reprisals cost an estimated 250,000 lives. Doolittle, who initially believed that the loss of all his aircraft would lead to his court-martial, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two ranks to brigadier general. The raid had its start in a desire by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, expressed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a meeting at the White House on 21 December 1941, that Japan be bombed"
"the Empire of Japan capitulated to Allied demands, signing the instrument of surrender to the allied powers aboard ""Missouri"" on 2 September 1945. Between 1945 and 1950 the US fleet of battleships had been entirely decommissioned; however, ""Missouri"" was spared this fate due to the influence of President Harry S. Truman, a native Missourian, who refused to allow the battleship to be decommissioned, and against the advice of Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan, and Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfeld, Truman ordered ""Missouri"" to be maintained with the active fleet partly because"
"Allies. The surrender ceremony was held on September 2, aboard the United States Navy battleship USS Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities. On September 12, 1945 a surrender instrument was signed at the Municipal Building. This was followed by a celebration at the Padang, which included a victory parade. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi. A British military"
"joint Anglo-Confederate task force as a result. The Bahamas are next to fall, the U.S. Marines being forced to fight island by island before surrendering. Stalemate characterizes the war in the Pacific throughout most of 1941. The first major clash between Japan and the U.S. comes at the Battle of Midway (which takes place on December 7, 1941, the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor in our timeline). During the battle the USS ""Remembrance"", transferred to the Pacific after the loss of Bermuda, is sunk and the island itself taken. Although Japan suffers one carrier sunk and another damaged,"
"and Asiatic Fleets, and had not lost a fleet ship larger than minesweepers and submarines. In June 1942 Fletcher was the Officer in Tactical Command at the Battle of Midway with two task forces, his usual TF 17 with quickly repaired ""Yorktown,"" plus TF 16 with and . Vice Admiral William Halsey normally commanded this task force, but became ill and was replaced by Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance. When aircraft from four Japanese carriers attacked Midway Island, the three US carriers, warned by broken Japanese codes and waiting in ambush, attacked and sank three enemy carriers – , , and"
"slave labor to Siberia, where many perished. Aoki died in 1967. Taijiro Aoki Aoki graduated from the 41st class of Naval Academy at Etajima in December 1913. His classmates included Ryūnosuke Kusaka, Masatomi Kimura and Raizō Tanaka. Aoki was promoted to captain in 1937, and was made commander of the seaplane tender . He subsequently served as commandant of the naval aviation training schools at Yokosuka and Tsuchiura. On 25 April 1942, Aoki was made the captain of the aircraft carrier . He was in command of ship at the time of her sinking at the Battle of Midway on"
"the Pacific War ended. However, as Imperial Japan actually surrendered on 15 August, this day became known in the English-speaking countries as V-J Day (Victory in Japan). The formal Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on 2 September 1945, on the battleship , in Tokyo Bay. The surrender was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with representatives of several Allied nations, from a Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijirō Umezu. Following this period, MacArthur went to Tokyo to oversee the post-war development of the country. This period in Japanese history is known"
"assumed command of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific as part of the Pacific Theatre of Operations, with headquarters on Guam, in July 1945. From this command, Spaatz directed the strategic bombing of Japan, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Spaatz had been present at Reims when the Germans surrendered to the Americans on May 7, 1945; at Berlin when they surrendered to the Russians on May 9; and aboard the battleship in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered on September 2. He was the only man of general rank or equivalent present at all three"
"to depression. The Allies – the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, China, as well as Poland, Canada and other countries – fought the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies saw Germany as the main threat and gave highest priority to Europe. The U.S. dominated the war against Japan and stopped Japanese expansion in the Pacific in 1942. After losing Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines to the Japanese, and drawing the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), the American Navy inflicted a decisive blow at Midway (June 1942). American ground forces assisted in the"
"the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur issued General Order No. 1, which directed Japanese forces to surrender to the Allied Powers and facilitate the occupation of Japanese territories by the Allied Powers. In the Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951 and coming into effect in 1952, Japan renounced sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu, but left their final disposition unsettled. The archipelago has been administered by the Republic of China since 1945. Boat people from Vietnam who were taken in by Taiwan's ships in the South China Sea were sent"
"was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military award for valor. Fleming's citation, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt reads: The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to CAPTAIN RICHARD E. FLEMING UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE for service as set forth in the following CITATION: For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Flight Officer, Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron TWO FORTY-ONE during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway on June 4 and 5, 1942. When his squadron Commander was shot"
"from Midway, enabling a Japanese victory. Because their ciphers were broken, the American forces only drove the Japanese out after Midway. On 11 May 1943, American and Canadian forces, spearheaded by the U.S. 7th Infantry Division landed on Attu, beginning the operation to take back the islands, by the end of May 1943 and after a series of battles, Allied forces retook Attu. On 15 August 1943, Allied forces landed on Kiska to retake it, only to find the Island abandoned by the Japanese. Having learned important lessons at Coral Sea, the United States Navy was prepared when the Japanese"
"the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, while leading his squadron against a superior force of Japanese fighters and bombers attacking the island. For his heroism, Major Parks was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The citation reads as follows: ""For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty as Squadron Commander for Marine Fighting Squadron TWO TWENTY-ONE, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942. Leading his squadron in a dauntless and aggressive attack against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Major Parks aided in disruption the plans of the"
"in South Atlantic waters. The merit of his service in such responsible positions was recognized with the award of the Navy Cross. In early 1918 Vice Admiral Kantarō Suzuki (who later became the 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from April 7, 1945 to August 17, 1945) brought his two cruisers and to San Francisco and ""banqueted"" with Rear Admiral Fullam after receiving harbor entrance by Rear Admiral Fullam. Continuing his duties as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, throughout the World War until 1 August 1919, he coordinated with the Japanese and British forces all ship movements while patrolling the whole Pacific"