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

