Dogfights: Guadalcanal Part 2

The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, was fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. Fiercely contested on the ground, at sea, and in the air, the campaign was the first major offensive launched by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.[8]

On August 7, 1942, Allied forces, predominantly American, initiated landings on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida (Nggela Sule) in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese as bases to threaten supply routes between the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May 1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal.

Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, five large naval battles, and continual, almost daily, aerial battles, culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last Japanese attempt to land enough troops to capture Henderson Field was defeated. In December 1942, the Japanese abandoned further efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by February 7, 1943.

The Guadalcanal campaign marked the first significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theater. For this reason, the Guadalcanal campaign is often referred to as a "turning point" in the war. The campaign marked the beginning of the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive, while Japan was thereafter forced to cease strategic offensive operations and instead concentrate on strategic defense.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• 1942 and February 9
• 1943
• at sea

[whitesox889]

Somebody post the supersonic episode, please.

[Historystartsnow]

I already did

[DamnControl2]

I hope youtube don't delete these videos.

[dj17q]

@bucnomore11 Then you just dont know everything. Time to do a bit of history lesson mate, you certainly need it.....

[Ralfast]

@bucnomore11 More like the Halls of Montezuma bit.

[bucnomore11]

@dj17q only "pro yanks" are the "pro"fessional american fighters like DeBlanc who shit on the Japs

[bucnomore11]

@Ralfast not a fan of the marines? do you find the whole" first one in last one out " to be overrated or soemthing

[SolutreanWarrior]

Great video wonderful ace's Great Warriors !

[StryderK]

@Point50Cal

ACtually M5 model of the Zero had alot of upgrades, but they are all incremental, and only forced on by the ultra conservative Japanese Army when they are being slaughtered by the Hellcats and Corsairs. These included not only the more effective 20mm, but an uprated engine, more armor for the pilot, and better range. But it did nothing to solve Zero's greatest weakness, the lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and armor for them.

[Point50Cal]

@StryderK Very true. Barrel length is a serious difference maker when it comes to effectiveness of a gun, especially since it affected velocity. Thanks for sharing the info on the A6M5s, I always knew they were the better Zeroes, which honestly came too late to make much of a difference.

[StryderK]

@Point50Cal

It also depends on the barrel length of the 20mm. Early A6M2/M3 version of the Zero had piss poor barrel length for its 20mm's. This mean that the bullets stayed in the barrel far shorter and had piss poor initial velocity, meaning that its range were poor and short. This became a big problem when the Japanese had to stare down the barrels of the F4f and later, the P-38 and worse, the Hellcats and Corsairs. By the M5 model, the barrel length was increased, at the expense of firerate

[Finkie147]

@no1kiyoko because of their theatre and purpose. They have big Pratt & Whitney engines, more guns, armour plating, ammo and larger fuel tanks for greater range from carriers. Japanese fighters were designed for aerial combat agility and shorter ranges as Japan was involved in an island-hoping expansion. Overall, the America design was better as they could take more punches and throw more powerful punches. Japanese planes flew well and looked pretty, but looks don't win fist fights!

[Bushy556]

F4f had 6 .50s but only had about 18 sec worth of ammo. The pilots wanted more ammo so they changed to 4 .50s in the fm2 and got 30 sec of ammo. One navy commander said if you can't hit them with 4 50s you can't hit them with 8. The later f6f hellcats had 6 50s.