Operation Watchtower

Thu 12 August 2010

Operation Watchtower

Filed under: #satscene —— Sylvia @ 11:23

On the 7th of August 1943, the Guadalcanal Campaign, codenamed Operation Watchtower, began. Allied Forces landed on the Pacific islands to protect their convoy routes from Japanese interference by denying them access to the islands. Bad weather kept the Japanese patrol planes from spotting the invading Allied armada and they were able to begin their assault on Guadacanal and other nearby islands.

Guadalcanal Campaign – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While the Allies scored their first decisive victory of the Pacific in the Battle of Midway, which also blunted Japan’s strategic initiative and offensive capability, that by itself did not change the direction of the war in the same sense as Salamis or Tsushima. After the Battle of Midway, the Japanese were still in a state of naval parity and continued their invasion in the South Pacific. But the Guadalcanal Campaign ended all Japanese expansion attempts and placed the Allies in a position of clear supremacy. It thus can be argued that this Allied victory was the first step in a long string of successes that eventually led to the surrender of Japan and the occupation of the Japanese home islands.

The “Europe first” policy of the United States had initially only allowed for defensive actions against Japanese expansion, in order to focus resources on defeating Germany. However, Admiral King’s argument for the Guadalcanal invasion, as well as its successful implementation, convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Pacific Theater could be pursued offensively as well. By the end of 1942, it was clear that Japan had lost the Guadalcanal campaign, a serious blow to Japan’s strategic plans for defense of their empire and an unanticipated defeat at the hands of the Americans.

On the 7th of August 2010, the successful implementation of Saturday photography led to this wonderful set of photographs: