World War II: The Pacific Theater

Experience history’s largest naval conflict through 24 gripping lectures covering Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima with a Naval War College historian.

Course Overview (No. 8756)

This 24-lecture series examines the Pacific War’s pivotal battles, strategic decisions, and military leaders from the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings that ended the conflict.

Video Lectures

1. The Road to War in the Pacific, 1931-1941 (33 min)
   Japan’s expansion in China and the oil embargo that led to conflict.
2. Infamy! The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor (32 min)
   Tactical success vs. strategic failure of December 7, 1941.
3. Japan Moves South, December 1941-May 1942 (31 min)
   Rapid Japanese conquests from Philippines to Java Sea.
4. The Doolittle Raid on Japan, April 1942 (29 min)
   America’s morale-boosting bombing mission over Tokyo.
5. Station HYPO: Breaking the Japanese Code (28 min)
   How cryptanalysis gave the US a crucial intelligence edge.
6. Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942 (30 min)
   History’s first carrier battle without opposing fleets sighting each other.
7. Midway: 10 Minutes That Changed the War (32 min)
   The pivotal carrier battle that turned the tide against Japan.
8. Guadalcanal: Jungle Warfare (32 min)
   Marines’ grueling six-month campaign for a critical airfield.
9. Ironbottom Sound, 1942-1943 (31 min)
   Naval battles that turned the waters red around the Solomons.
10. MacArthur, Halsey, and Operation Cartwheel (33 min)
    Dual campaigns in New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
11. The Big Blue Fleet and American Industry (31 min)
    How US industrial might produced overwhelming naval power.
12. Battle for Tarawa: A Square Mile of Hell (32 min)
    Costly lessons learned in amphibious warfare.
13. A Three-Front Pacific War, January-May 1944 (33 min)
    Island-hopping strategy advances through Marshalls and Gilberts.
14. The US Leaps to the Marianas, June 1944 (32 min)
    Securing bases for B-29 bombers within range of Japan.
15. Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 1944 (30 min)
    “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” decimates Japanese air power.
16. Bombing Japan: Fire from the Sky (30 min)
    Strategic air campaign’s devastating impact on Japanese cities.
17. American Submarines in the Pacific (32 min)
    Silent service’s crucial role in strangling Japanese supply lines.
18. MacArthur Returns to the Philippines (30 min)
    Fulfilling the general’s famous promise at Leyte.
19. Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944 (32 min)
    History’s largest naval battle and Japan’s decisive defeat.
20. Admiral Halsey’s Typhoons, 1944-1945 (30 min)
    Nature’s fury versus naval operations in storm-tossed seas.
21. Battle for Iwo Jima, February-March 1945 (30 min)
    Iconic Marine Corps struggle for a volcanic fortress.
22. Battle for Okinawa, April-June 1945 (31 min)
    Bloody prelude to invasion with kamikaze attacks.
23. Kamikazes: Japan’s Special Attack Units (31 min)
    Desperate suicide tactics in war’s final months.
24. Dropping the Atomic Bomb (34 min)
    Truman’s decision and the dawn of the nuclear age.