America in the Atlantic and Pacific - Wwii

America in the Atlantic and Pacific - WWII

Naval operations in both the Atlantic and the Pacific began with, particularly gunnery battles, where Aircraft Carriers were often left primarily undefended, in the hopes that their flying cargo would provide sufficient defense for the carrier, involving some battles between weak carriers, supported by their aerial support. (freelibrary.com, 2012)

During Operation Torch, the Anglo American attempted to wrest control of the Mediterranean Sea from the Vichy French, French who had allied with the Axis. This would be a test for the regular American infantryman, who had most experience in defense combat. Sailing from England and the USA, landing forces were sent to wrest North Africa from Axis occupation with over 70,000 men and three fleets assigned to capture Casablanca, Oran and Algiers. (MFA Productions LLC, 2012)

Because intelligence had wrongly assumed that the French would side with British occupation, the Americans landed first. However, they discovered the Vichy French were resolute in their defense of their German colonies, which cause landing efforts to slow down as mines had to be cleared and French convoys were neutralized. This also forced to bombard the land in order to assist landing parties who had been pinned down by French defenses and snipers. (Orr, 2005)

Though intense at the beginning, the operation was successful, and for the first time, in May 1943, Americans met German resistance, as Hitler had called up General Rommel in an attempt to break the Allies hold. It is worth noting that Rommel had advised for a retreat in order to fortify Southern Europe. However, Hitler had not relented, and as a result, by the end of the campaign, the Allies, primarily with America’s input, had gained a foothold on Northern Africa.

(Orr, 2005)

While planes were useful for flying in paratroopers, they were essentially outnumbered at the beginning as they had no place to land, until landing strips were...