The Pacific Combat Zone is part of the National Museum of the Pacific War where you can see what it was really like to do battle in the Pacific islands. They have replicated numerous aspects of the terrain, examples of the trenches and fortified cave positions that the Japanese had created to battle U.S. forces on those islands. Presentations at the Pacific Combat Zone include weapons and vehicles used during the Island Hopping campaign that our forces mounted.
The Avenger was designed with a powered wing-folding mechanism for efficient storage. The landing gear, including tail wheel, retracted in flight to reduce wind drag and increase speed. The internal bomb bay carried one aerial torpedo or multiple 250- and 500-lb. bombs or depth charges. On low altitude attacks, the pilot released the torpedo. The bombardier controlled bomb drops. Later modifications allowed torpedo drops at 800 feet and 300 mph, which reduced the threat from enemy fire.
Avengers were capable of a wide variety of missions. The Avenger's good handling characteristics were combined with more firepower in later models to be used as an acceptable fighter. Other missions included scouting, anti-submarine, and night fighting.
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| Ordnance: Bombs |
Prior to 1941, the Army and Navy had separate programs for bomb design and manufacture. "Mark," abbreviated "Mk," was the Navy designation; "M" identified Army bombs. That year, the Army-Navy Standardization Board was created to simplify design and acquisition. Suspension lugs were used for both wing and bomb-bay releases.
Crewmen load a 2000-pound general-purpose (GP) bomb into the bomb bay of an Avenger for a mission against Kwajalein. The torpedo man addressed an inscription to "Hon. Hirohito, Imperial Palace, Tokyo."
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| 16" Battleship Gun Shells |
The 16" Mark 8 shells were only used in the North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa classes of battle. The shell is the projectile that travels through the air the same way a bullet leaves a rifle. The shell is propelled from the gun with up to six bags of smokeless powder, each weighing 110 pounds -- depending on the weight of the shell and the distance to target. The various kinds of shells were painted different colors so they could be easily identified at a glance.
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| USS Saratoga, circa 1942 |
The Pacific Aircraft Carrier Fleet ~~ On December 7, 1941, US Navy doctrine was based on the idea that the battleship was the primary naval offensive weapon, but Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor devastated the Pacific battleship fleet. By necessity, the aircraft carrier became the primary option for taking the fight to the enemy.
The Navy went to war with six carriers in the Pacific Fleet. "Hit and run" carrier raids were the only offensive actions undertaken until President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a strike on the enemy homeland. The Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942 was a psychological victory that boosted American's morale.
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| US Marines aboard USS Yorktown stand ready to fire, 1942 |
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| Men line up at an early US Navy aviator recruitment station |
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas CINCPAC, talks with two officers aboard a Navy transport at Pearl Harbor prior to the Gilberts operation, October 1943.
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| SBD dive bombers prepare to take off from USS Yorktown, April 18, 1942 |
Lessons of War ~~ When USS Lexington and USS Yorktown engaged the Japanese in the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942, it was the first naval engagement in history in which surface ships did not exchange a single shot.
Admiral Nimitz determined that the current doctrine for carrier operations needed change. He assigned Vice Admiral John Towers, the Navy's senior aviator, the task of adapting doctrine and tactics based on the experience of the previous year. Exercises were conducted to test methods for multiple carriers to launch and recover aircraft smoothly.
One tactic involving two carriers assigned one to offensive operations while the other carrier provided defensive air patrols for both ships. The two carriers could rotate between being the strike carrier and the "duty carrier."
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| New Essex-class Yorktown was built in just over 16 months. She was commissioned April 15, 1943 |
A demonstration of America's productive capacity: eight Essex-class aircraft carriers of Task Group 3 sail into the Ulithi anchorage.
The American people contributed mightily to the war effort. In five years, America's shipyards launched 4,600 ships, including 2,710 Liberty ships. By 1944, American production of war material more than replaced losses to the Axis powers.
Four Essex-class fleet carriers and three Independence-class light carriers were manned and ready for battle in the Pacific in 1943 alone. Aircraft factories turned out thousands of planes. The navy had only 234 carrier aircraft available for Guadalcanal in 1942. A year later, the number exceeded 900 for the Tarawa invasion.
The SK radar was long-wavelength seaborne radar designed for air search. Real-life operation revealed a tendency to reflect off the surface of the sea, producing self-interference and gaps (called "nulls") in search pattern at some altitudes. Such loss of contact proved a significant liability during the Japanese kamikaze campaign.
New Technology ~~ New technologically advanced equipment included four-channel, very high frequency (VHF) radios for the fighter-direction teams, position-plan-indicator radar scopes for the new SK (air search) radar, and aircraft equipped with "identify friend or foe" (IFF) transponders.
Crewmen were trained in the use of SG (surface search) radar, which made night and bad weather maneuvers safer. This and other equipment was integrated into a new concept for naval battles -- the combat information center (CIC).
New fighter-direction technology allowed a fighter director to maintain continuous plots of all detected aircraft for evaluation to warn of an impending air attack.
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| Fighting ships were utterly dependent upon supplies of bunker sea, or "black oil" |
USS Essex receives provisions via high line from USS Mercury off Okinawa, April 27, 1945. In the foreground, Essex crewmen stack bags of flour.
The Service Fleet ~~ Keeping task forces in action required "beans, bullets, and black oil." In 1943, Admiral Nimitz ordered the creation of two service squadrons for mobile service to the fleet. This Service Force had to grow in tandem with the battle fleet.
Nimitz called the two service squadrons his "secret weapons." A long logistical "pipeline" delivered ammunition, food, and replacement aircraft from the mainland to Hawaii and other bases and then to the ships at sea. Vessels included oilers, floating docks, and ammunition, supply and repair ships. Service Squadron 8 forced on delivery of fuel oil and aviation gasoline.
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| The Japanese base at Truk under U.S. Navy air attack |
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| Aircraft from USS Saratoga attacked the Japanese cruiser Chikuma during Rabaul raids, November 1943 |
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| TBM carrier aircraft bomb Tokyo in 1945 |
Pacific Carrier Raids ~~ During the first months of the war, Yorktown's raid on Japanese shipping to New Guinea from Rabaul, March 10, 1945, attempted to slow the enemy advance. Japanese troops on the north New Guinea coast posed a strategic threat to Australia.
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| Aircraft fill the flight deck of USS Enterprise ordered to Pearl Harbor in 1939 |
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| SBDs and TBDs prepare to take off from USS Enterprise May 1945 |
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| USS Enterprise prepares to launch TBD torpedo bombers of VT6 during the Battle of Midway |
USS Enterprise, A World War II Aircraft Carrier ~~ USS Enterprise was one of three Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. She was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and commissioned October 3, 1936. As war in Japan loomed, Enterprise transported aircraft to US military installations around the Pacific. The Japanese attacked as she returned to Pearl Harbor. After refueling, she sank the Japanese submarine I-70 while on patrol west of Hawaii. Enterprise's record in the war against Japan was remarkable. She was awarded 20 battle stars for her World War II service, more than any other US warship.
The USS Enterprise was the most decorated ship in the Second World War. She was referred to as the Big E by the Navy and the Grey Ghost by the Japanese.
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| USS Enterprise hit by Kamikazi during Okinawa campaign |
Enterprise was the only US aircraft to survive the entire war, but she did not escape unscathed. Three bomb hits in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 24-25, 1942, killed 74 sailors and wounded another 95.
Two months later, after repairs, she took two bombs hits that killed 44 and wounded 75 in the Battle of Santa Cruz but remained operational, landing planes from the USS Hornet, which was sunk.
Enterprise's luck ran out at Okinawa. Two kamikazes hit her. Damage to her flight deck and forward elevator from the second attack sent her to the shipyard. When Japan surrendered, she was still in Puget Sound undergoing repairs. She put to sea in time to transport war-weary US servicemen home during Operation Magic Carpet.
An F6F crash landed on the flight deck of USS Enterprise. The catapult officer climbed up the side of the plane to assist the pilot from the cockpit.
Carrier warfare was high risk. The ship was a prime target of the enemy and might be sunk or damaged on returning from a mission. Pitching, yawing carrier decks were a challenge both on take-off and and landing. Minimal navigation aids made target location difficult. Zeros and antiaircraft hotly contested attacks. If an aircraft survived, the home carrier had to be located in a vast ocean.
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| A kamikaze attack on an American carrier was a lucky near miss |
Ordnance men of USS San Jacinto push a torpedo into loading position beneath a TBM for a mission during the Battle off Cape Engaño on October 25, 1944.
American and Japanese carriers had hanger decks below the flight deck with two or more elevators. USN fleet carriers were equipped with a minimum of two catapults, although some early-war pilots preferred a taxi take-off.
USN carriers often parked aircraft on the flight deck, leaving space to conduct air operations. UN planes were stowed below for fueling. American aircraft were armed on the flight deck from separate hydraulic lifts for bombs and torpedoes. Japanese crews brought loaded ammunition carts up on the aircraft elevators when arming on the flight deck.
The PT Boat Development ~~ The military purpose for PT boats was to sink large ships with a torpedo hitting below the waterline. Once PTs found their proper role as heavily armed gunboats, their contributions were recognized. PTs carried out multiple missions from injection of scouts into invasion targets to destruction of enemy coastal shipbuilding.
The first torpedo was an explosive mounted to the end of a pole, or spar, driven into a ship's hull below the waterline. On October 24, 1864, Union Picket Boat No. 1 penetrated Confederate defenses and sank CSS Albemarle with a spar torpedo. The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley later sank the Union's Housatonic using a spar torpedo.
Three design breakthroughs contributed to building World War II PT boats: self-propelled torpedo, internal combustion engine, and planning hull. Planning hulls replaced traditional displacement designs for the PT boat. The wedge shape permitted the lift for the bow to clear the surface of the water to reduce drag. Powerful engines provided the surface of the water to reduce drag. Powerful engines provided the speed to reach "planning" position. Racing enthusiasts led the way in applying the internal combustion engine to the planning hull.
English engineer Robert Whitehead shown inspecting a test torpedo in 1875. He used compressed air to propel the first successful prototype of a self-proposed torpedo.
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| Two Huckins torpedo boats under construction |
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| Elco acquired British-built PT-9 to guide design of American PT boats |
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| USS Cushing (Torpedo Boat #1) at the New York Navy Yard in November 1900 |
A Moderate Experimental Program ~~ Until 1936, the military had little interest in PT boats. Rear Admiral Emory S. Land and General Douglas MacArthur were exceptions. Admiral Land was near retirement when asked to lead the design effort. MacArthur was retired from the US Army to assume command of Philippine defense forces. He foresaw the suitability of PTs for patrolling the many Philippine islands.
PT was the designation given MTBs, followed by sequential numbers akin to other US Navy vessels.
Three companies -- the Electric Launch Company in Bayonne, New Jersey (Elco), Higgins Industries, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Huckins Yacht Company, Jacksonville, Florida -- competed for a Navy contract. Higgin's 80-ft. PT-6 and Elco's 70-ft. boat, modeled on a British design, performed best.
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| 20MM Mark 2 Oerlikon Cannon |
The Navy replaced the twin .50 caliber machine guns of early-war PTs with 20mm Oerlikons. The practical rate of fire was 250-320 rounds per minute. The US Navy began mounting 20mm guns or cannons on ships in 1942. The name Oerlikon came from the Zurich suburb where the Swiss manufacturer that built the cannon was headquartered. American manufacturers produced 124,735 Oerlikon 20mm guns or cannons during the war.
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| 40mm Bofors |
The Bofors gave PT boats a weapon to match up with German F-lighter firepower. Operating the gun required four crewmen -- two operators and two loaders. Clips held only four rounds. To conserve ammunition, fire rates varied with target opportunities. Both Allied and Axis powers adopted the Bofors. In the first six months of 1945, 17,365 single-barrel, twin-, and quad-mounts were installed on US Navy ships.
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| Crew of PT-309 at a Mediterranean port |
PT-309 encountered the same difficulties with the heavily armed F-lighters as other boats. Torpedoes set to run shallow at 3-5 feet trailed a wake "like a neon sign ..."
Two nights before Operation Dragoon, the amphibious invasion of Nazi-held southern France, PT-309 landed French commandos. PT patrols supporting the invasion came under German coastal artillery fire. Pleasants was hit with shrapnel: "The shrapnel in the boat was gravel. They'd apparently run out of steel."
PT-309 was nicknamed "Oh Frankie" after Wayne Barber, her first commander, met Frank Sinatra at a New York night club before departing for Europe.
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| PT-109 crew in 1943; Lt. Kennedy is shirtless (r) |
The PT-109 Story ~~ Lt. John F. Kennedy commanded PT-109, an Elco similar to "Cowboy." PT boat command offered lower ranking officers the opportunity to develop and demonstrate leadership abilities. When asked to explain how he had come to be a hero, Kennedy replied, "It was involuntary. They sank my boat."
PT-109 was one of 15 boats based at Rendova. Intelligence intercepts indicated a large supply effort for Japanese troops on New Georgia. At 2:30am on August 1, 1943, PT-109 was sailing in pitch-black darkness when Japanese destroyer Amagiri suddenly appeared only 200-300 yards away. The 109 was preparing to launch torpedoes when the destroyer sliced the PT boat in two.
Kennedy and other crewmen were on the stern piece. Kennedy rescued the badly burned motor machinist and a second burn victim while ensigns Leonard Thom and George Ross rescued the two men overcome from gas fumes. After destroying equipment and code books, the crew abandoned the sinking boat the next afternoon and swam 3-4 miles to Plum Pudding Island. Kennedy took the lead, towing the badly burned man. They had pistols, two knives, a pocketknife, and a flashlight, but no first aid kit.
Kennedy and Ensign Ross each swam to small islets closer to the operational area attempting to signal passing PTs. When the coconut supply was exhausted, the crew made a second swim to Olasana Island nearer enemy-held positions. Kennedy and Ross swam to Cross Island to search for food, where they found a one-man canoe, a barrel of water, and a box with Japanese markings containing small bags of crackers and candy.
When they returned, crewmen were trying to communicate to Melanesian Islanders that they were not Japanese. Kennedy then sent the islanders with a note for a nearby coastwatcher, Australian Lt. Arthur R. Evans. Kennedy and Ross were finally taken to see Evans and arranged a rescue. The PT-109 crew reached Rendova the next morning ending a five day ordeal.
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| PT-156 |
80ft. Elco Motor Torpedo Boat Nicknamed "Cowboy" ~~ Elco built the most widely used PT boats in World War II. 80ft. boats served alongside the Higgins and Huckins counterparts. Cowboy was built in November 1942 and served in the South Pacific until May 1944. Later, she was transferred to the Southwest Pacific where she was placed out of service, stripped and destroyed on November 24, 1945 at Samar in the Philippines.
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| Mud hampered operations at Kana Kopa, New Guinea's first PT base. Monsoon rains turned the jungle into a sea of mud |
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| A PT sailor plays solitaire below decks as two prisoners of a captured Italian MAS boat watch |
Living in Close Quarters ~~ Two or three officers and 12 to 15 men in close proximity aboard a small boat forged in a tight-knit community. When the first PTs reached Tulagi in the Solomon Islands, the men built the base from the ground up with limited materials. A radio shack, sleeping quarters, and mess had priority. The first radio shack was cobbled together by barter and scavenging. A Japanese diesel generator provided electricity.
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| A boat crew relaxes on the deck of a PT under a camouflage net in the Morobe River, New Guinea |
"Everybody was doing a little bit of 'midnight small stores.' We would take anything that was not nailed down." ~~ Petty Officer 2nd Class A.D. Brunson
It is Japan's mission to be supreme in Asia, the South Seas and eventually the four corners of the world. ~~ General Sadao Araki
Thousands of islands and narrow water passages characterized the geography of General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area where PT boats proved effective. PT squadrons operated in three areas: Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines.
Pearl Harbor under attack: Japanese bombs explode at "Battleship Row" along the far side of Ford Island Naval Air Station. The submarine base is to the right out of the picture.
PT boats were stationed at both Pearl Harbor and Manila when Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft attacked. Crews were eating breakfast when duty officer Ensign N.E. Ball spotted planes approaching. A petty officer shouted, "They look like Japs." Ensign Ball yelled: "Man the Guns!"
Armed only with .50 caliber machine guns, PT gunners claimed two low-flying torpedo plane kills. Six boats were lashed to the deck of an oiler bound for the Philippines but still managed to fire 4,000 rounds at the attackers.
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| Cavite Navy Yard on Manila Bay burns after the Japanese attack on December 10, 1941 |
Only hours later at daybreak on December 8, Japanese aircraft decimated US airpower in the Philippines. Two days later, a second strike destroyed the Cavite Naval Yard on Manila Bay. The PT boats raced into the bay as five bombers peeled off to attack. Boat commanders waited for the diving planes to release their bombs before turning sharply to avoid being hit. The US Asiatic Fleet abandoned Manila and sailed south. Bulkeley's PTs were the last US naval presence on Luzon.
Although no boats were hit, the attack took out Squadron 3's equipment and 100-octane fuel. The squadron relocated to Sisiman Bay, Bataan. A small fishing dock substituted for a wharf; native huts provided quarters. Rations were two meals a day.
Boat maintenance was difficult without equipment. Contaminated fuel reduced engine performance. PT-33 grounded on a reef, was stripped of equipment, and burned.
Heading outside, they have a large area where they perform re-enactments. None today, it's winter and too cold. No one was out, not even working. There was a lone front end machine left out.
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| Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tank |
Called the Ha-Go, this small tank was similar in size and armament to the US M3 Stuart tank. Both tanks had a 37mm cannon and machine gun. The Ha-Go's armor was riveted steel plates so its three-man crew was not as well protected. It had a six cylinder diesel engine with a maximum speed of 28 mph. US tanks had gasoline engines using fuel that was susceptible to exploding, while diesel fuel in Japanese tanks would burn but not explode.
The light tanks like the Ha-Go and the Stuart were ideal for warfare on the islands, where the distance between opposing forces was quite often very close and tank maneuverability in tight quarters was important.
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| Japanese type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank |
The Japanese Chi-Ha medium tank was slightly smaller than the US Sherman tank and not as well armed. Sheathed in riveted steel armor plating, the Chi-Ha had a crew of four that was not very well-protected. The tank only weighed about 35,000 pounds and featured a 47mm (or 57mm) main cannon and two machine guns. With the Chi-Ha's diesel engine the underpowered tank's maximum speed was under 24 mph. By comparison the better-armored US Sherman tank weighed over 66,000 pounds and it could manage up to 30 mph with its gasoline engine. The Sherman was better armed with 75mm cannon, on 50 caliber and two 30 caliber machine guns. However, if hit effectively, the Sherman's gasoline could explode and the Chi-Ha's diesel engine would only burn.
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| US Landing Vehicle, Tracked LVT-4 |
The LVT-4 was first accepted in mid-1944. It was a substantial upgrade over the LVT-2, safer for troops departing behind the vehicle and capable of transporting up to 30 men. With a crew of three, the amphibious LVT's were able to crawl over obstructions like coral reefs. They were armed with four machine guns, two 50 caliber and two 30 caliber. Powered by a radial engine, the vehicle could manage 7.5 mph in the water and 20 mph on land. The secret of the LVT was its propulsion double-cupped flanges attached to the tracks, called grousers, which propelled the LVT through the water, effectively "dog-paddling" the craft by pushing water backward.
After the war, this LVT went with US Marines to China for duty until 1949, when it was transferred to the Nationalist Chinese in Taiwan. During its service with the Taiwanese Marine Corps it made 21 resupply missions to the defenders on Kinmen Island. Its unit received a Presidential Unit Citation from the Taiwanese government. It was given to the museum in 1973 by the Taiwanese Marine Corps.
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| British MK10 Hedgehog |
The British developed the MK10 hedgehog to overcome the primary deficiencies of depth charge attack against a submerged submarine. WWII sonar only scanned ahead of the ship so there was no sonar contact once the ship passed over the submarine. Depth charges were dropped blindly based upon estimated location. In addition, the noise and turbulence created by the depth charge attack disrupted any existing sonar contact for up to half an hour. Located near the bow, the hedgehog had the advantage of firing ahead of the ship while the submarine was still in sonar contact.
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