:: PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY ::

~ THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC ~

I

American battleships during Pearl Harbor attack
This photograph was taken during the first and second waves of the bombing over the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. We can see burning the battleships USS West Virginia USS Tennessee. The Japanese attack over Pearl Harbor turned out to be a mistake that allowed the entering of United States on the conflict, decisive factor for the defeat of the Axis forces.

Australian soldiers
Australian soldiers training for combat in the jungle. The Australian Government pressed upon London and Washington to give priority to the war in the Pacific above the war in Europe. Australia and New Zealand were certainly far from being able to withstand the Japanese invasion, which eventually would have took place if the course of events had allowed this to happen.

American aviators
American pilots onboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington receive instructions before combat. The USS Lexington was put out of action during the Battle of Coral Sea, in May 1942, after being hit by numerous torpedoes, and was finally sunk by American torpedoes.

Fuel tanks burning in Midway
American fuel tanks in flames in the Midway Atoll after a Japanese bombing.

American dive bombers Douglas SBD Dauntless
American dive bombers Douglas SBD Dauntless stationed on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. These aircraft, like the German Stuka, could dive against their targets and hit them with great precision.

American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise
A view towards the prow of the USS Enterprise. On the foreground they can be seen two quadruple 40-millimeter anti-aircraft mountings emplaced in front of the bridge, and a mobile crane beyond them. The USS Enterprise was seriously damaged during the battles at Guadalcanal but unlike her twins she survived until the end of the war.

American fighter USS Wasp
The aircraft carrier USS Wasp showing on her flight deck 38 of the 84 aircraft that she could carry. During the Second World War aircraft carriers took the throne of naval supremacy in detriment of battleships, which after the war would never be built again, as their armor could no longer protect them from aerial threats and the range of their artillery was small when compared with the operational range of combat aircraft.

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