Pacific War (Of Clockwork and Men)

The Pacific War, also known as the Alaskan War, was a large conflict waged in the early 1950's between the nations of the United States and her allies, and Russia and Japan. The Pacific War would become one of the most deadly wars in modern history, being waged on a large scale across the continents of Asia and Oceania, Alaska, and much of the Pacific Ocean region.

The Pacific War saw the allied nations of the United States, the British Empire, the Netherlands, and the Republic of China pitted against the Empire of Japan and Russia, the latter briefly aided by Thailand.

The war saw heavy use of naval combat and bombardment from the sea and skies. To facilitate a Pacific navy and air force presence, the belligerents of the war fought to secure once remote islands across the vast ocean to be used to refuel and land on occasion.

Alaska
On 2 January 1950 the nations of Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, reverting Japan's borders to the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda in regards to their northern border, and created a military alliance between the two countries.

Later that year the nation of Japan would lay claim to the Aleutian Islands, the chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 57 smaller islands forming part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean. The United States claimed that this region was part of Alaska and their sovereign territory, and would retaliate if attacked. Following this announcement the American and British Pacific Fleets were called to launch a series of maneuvers near the coast.

Pearl Harbor
By the end of 1950 the nation of Japan feared that war was imminent. With support from Russia the Japanese army had managed to secure parts of China and the Pacific, but events such as the Nanking Massacre, in which more than 200,000 were killed in indiscriminate massacres, public opinion toward Japan begin to drop significantly, even leading to several western powers supplying funds for the Chinese army against Japan.

The Japanese created a plan of attack against the United States, calling six aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku) and their respective task forces to depart from northern Japan for Hawaii, an important American territory in the central Pacific. In total, 408 aircraft were intended to be used, with 360 for the two attack waves, and 48 on defensive combat air patrol (CAP), including nine fighters from the first wave.

The Japanese intended to neutralize the US Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, therefor protecting Japan's advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, where it sought access to natural resources such as oil and rubber. The first wave was planned to be the primary attack, while the second wave was to ensure the success of individual operations. The first wave carried most of the weapons to attack capital ships, mainly specially adapted Type 91 aerial torpedoes which were designed with an anti-roll mechanism and a rudder extension that let them operate in shallow water, a natural obstacle that the Americans believed would shield them from most attacks.

As the first wave approached Oahu, it was detected by the U.S. Army SCR-270 radar at Opana Point near the island's northern tip. The formation was reported but largely ignore.

The air portion of the attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time (3:18 a.m. December 11 Japanese Standard Time, as kept by ships of the Kido Butai), with the attack on Kaneohe. A total of 353 Japanese planes in two waves reached Oahu. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked U.S. air bases across Oahu, starting with Hickam Field, the largest, and Wheeler Field, the main U.S. Army Air Force fighter base. The 171 planes in the second wave attacked the Air Corps' Bellows Field near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only aerial opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks, P-40 Warhawks and some SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the carrier USS Enterprise.

Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over, as 2,386 Americans died (48 - 68 were civilians, most killed by unexploded American anti-aircraft shells landing in civilian areas), a further 1,139 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground, including five battleships. Of the American fatalities, nearly half of the total (1,177) were due to the explosion of Arizona's forward magazine after it was hit by a modified 40 cm (16 in.) shell

Concurrently with the attack in Hawaii, Japan launched similar attacks against the American bases on Guam and Wake Island. That same day Japanese forces would attack the British crown colony of Hong Kong, invaded the US controlled Commonwealth of the Philippines, invaded Thailand from bases in French Indochina, and invaded Malaya. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor eight American battleships were now out of action. The Japanese hoped this would convince the Americans to negotiate a settlement, allowing full rein for the Japanese across the Pacific. The Americans however immediately prepared for war. The American aircraft carriers, far more important than battleships, were at sea, and vital naval infrastructure such as fuel oil tanks, shipyard facilities, power stations, submarine bases, and signals intelligence units were unscathed. On 11 December the Netherlands declared war on Japan, followed by Australia the next day.