Guadalcanal Campaign

Japanese troops landed on Guadalcanal on July 6, 1942, and began constructing on an airfield. On August 7, 1942, Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal and seized the airfield. The six month campaign was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. The battle was on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater. The Allies intended to use Guadalcanal for supply and communication routes between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It was also to support the campaign to capture or neutralize the Japanese base and to protect Australia from Japanese invasion. Japan threatened to cut off Allied supply and communication routes. The fighting of Guadalcanal proved to be a turning point in the Pacific War. Head of all US naval forces, Admiral Ernest …show more content…
By November, U.S. Navy was able to land reinforcements faster than the Japanese. In December, Japanese abandoned their efforts on retaking Guadalcanal and evacuated many of their forces. By February, Japan was outnumbered badly and were forced to evacuate 12,000 of their remaining troops. Overall, 24,000 Japanese troops were killed. U.S. destroyed 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, 1 light carrier, 11 destroyers, and 6 submarines. There were 1,600 U.S. killed and 4,200 wounded. Several thousands of troops from both dead from Malaria and other tropical diseases. Japan destroyed 8 cruisers, 2 heavy carriers, and 14 destroyers. Japan and United States lost a total of 24 warships. United States and Japan both suffered from severe loss of warships but on February 9, 1943, there was a significant strategic combined arms Allied victory in the Pacific theatre. Japan after Guadalcanal no longer had any hope of withstanding the offensive of the increasing powerful United