The Ultimate World War II - Pacific Theater Quiz | World War II

Answer: Wake Island

A small garrison of marines put up a valiant effort against the Japanese but to no avail. Out of food, water, and ammunition, the Marines finally surrendered on 23 December 1941.

Answer: December 8, 1941

Answer: Gen. Douglas MacArthur

In spite of being informed about the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, MacArthur did nothing to increase the combat readiness of his troops, pilots, or sailors in the Philippines. Therefore, Japanese planes were able to bomb to rubble the Cavite naval base near Manila, as well as Clark Field near Manilla and several other airfields.

In one stroke, the Japanese destroyed much US equipment and food supplies, rendering the defense of the Philippines impossible for the US garrison.

Answer: The USS Enterprise

Commander McCluskey's dive-bomber squadron from the USS Enterprise saw a lone Japanese destroyer steaming to the northeast. McCluskey, low on fuel, turned his flight of Douglas SBD dive bombers to follow the destroyer. They located the Japanese carriers just as the Zeros were finishing off the slow and vulnerable torpedo planes down at sea level. McClusky and his men, diving from 12,000 feet, hit two of the four Japanese carriers, starting enormous fires that wrecked -- and sank -- both ships.

Answer: June 4 - 6, 1942

This battle, the turning-point of the war in the Pacific, was fought two weeks after the Battle of the Coral Sea. Unlike the earlier battle, Midway was a resounding American victory.

Answer: Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu

The three large carriers were sunk during the morning of June 4th. The smaller carrier Hiryu was not noticed until the afternoon, when her planes attacked and crippled the USS Yorktown. American dive bombers from the Enterprise and Hornet sank the Hiryu later that afternoon.

Answer: The USS Yorktown

The USS Yorktown was attacked by Japanese dive bombers and torpedo planes from the Hiryu in the mid-afternoon of June 4. The Yorktown took a number of bomb and torpedo hits. Her captain ordered her abandoned after two hours. Damage control parties got the fires put out and, with counterflooding, righted the ship's starboard list.

The ship was being towed back to Pearl Harbor when a Japanese submarine put two "fish" into her starboard hull. She rolled over and sank an hour later.

Answer: US Marines invaded Guadalcanal

After the Midway victory, Admiral Nimitz was looking for a land battle. When US Intelligenc realized that the Japanese were building an airstrip on Guadalcanal, thus threatening US supply lines to Australia and New Zealand, the decision was made to send in the US Marines. The battle lasted from August 1942 to February 1943.

Answer: Henderson Field

Henderson was a Marine Aviator based on Midway. He was killed on the first day of the attempted invasion (June 4, 1942) when his fighter was shot down by Japanese carrier aircraft.

Answer: The Grumman F4F Wildcat

The Wildcat was the only available fighter for the "Cactus Air Force" flying out of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal for 1942. It was slower than the Zero, except in a dive. It could not turn or climb with the Zero. But, if flown by experienced pilots who knew both planes' strengths and weaknesses, it was an effective fighter.

The F4U Corsair was introduced to Marine pilots early in 1943.

Answer: The Tokyo Express

Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers from the major Japanese naval and air base at Rabaul, New Britain, traveled down "The Slot", the channel between the islands in the Solomon chain.

Answer: Adm. Chester Nimitz

Nimitz took over as CINCPAC when Admiral Kimmel was removed after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nimitz was shrewd, decisive, calm, and a great judge of talent and leadership skills.

Answer: Betio

Admiral Shibasaki, commander of the Japanese garrison on Betio, the largest island in the Tarawa Atoll, said that "A million men cannot take Tarawa in a million years." The US Marines took it in 76 hours.

Answer: Saipan

After a series of last-ditch banzai charges, Japanese soldiers and civilians began to commit ritual suicide, either by sepekku (ritual disemboweling), or by flinging themselves and their children off of the rocky cliffs and onto the rocks below. They believed their government's propaganda about Marines being barbarians, and decided to kill themselves in order to avoid capture and "dishonor".

Answer: Leyte

Leyte was one of the more southern of the Philippine islands. It had sheltered anchorages and smooth invasion beaches. Later, the US Marines and Army invaded the main island of Luzon.

Answer: Adm. William 'Bull' Halsey

Halsey was impulsive and impetuous. If he had stayed where he was supposed to have been, he could have "crossed the 'T'", meeting Japanese ships with his Iowa class battleships and Essex class carriers, firing broadsides at each Japanese ship as it came through the San Bernadino straight in single file.

Answer: The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

The Japanese had lost many front-line pilots before the invasion of Saipan. Their replacements were green, and their once superior Zero-sen fighter was now outclassed by the Grumman F6F Hellcat. Japanese planes did not have self-sealing gas tanks, so when US pilots hit them during a dogfight, the planes would burn furiously. It was a slaughter of epic proportions.

Answer: Leyte Gulf

It started at land bases on the Philippine Islands. A Japanese flight officer realized that American ships had to be destroyed at all costs.

Answer: Guadalcanal

Raging from August 1942 until February of 1943, the Guadalcanal campaign was the longest battle for the Marines. None of the other campaigns mentioned above came close.

Answer: Col. Paul Tibbets Jr

Tibbets was the pilot-commander of the B-29 which he named after his mother, "Enola Gay". It was he and his crew who dropped the "Little Boy" uranium bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.