PHG Blog

On this day, December 7th 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy and its Air Service attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Using dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and fighters launched from six aircraft carriers, the Japanese damaged or destroyed all eight American battleships in the harbor. 2,403 people were killed, the majority of whom were Sailors, and most of them were in the USS Arizona. We talk a lot about Pearl Harbor, and most Americans know at least a littl

G'day PHG fans! I was recently going through some old photos on my phone and saw some shots taken during my most recent deployment in 2023. The USS America made port in Brisbane , Australia, as so many ships have, during an international exercise that took place off the coast. My previous visit, in 2013, didn't offer as much free time as I'd hoped and so I didn't do much by way of searching for history. Luckily, this time I was able to make my way to quite a few museums, mon

Greetings Pacific History Guide fans, today I'm happy to unveil our newest location, the beautiful state of Hawai'i . The Hawaiian Islands are comprised of 137 volcanic islands stretching across 1,520 miles of ocean in two separate groups, the Windward Islands in the southeast and the Leeward in the northwest. The state of Hawaii includes both island groups, but for the sake of simplicity, nearly all state maps (and this guide) capture the Windward Islands only; these include

Greetings Pacific History guide fans! This week we're marking the 81st anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which reached its climax on this day with the Battles of Surigao Strait, Samar, and Cape Engano. Taken as a whole, the battle is a complex, multi-faceted series of events that reaches from Brunei to the Philippine Sea, from the tip of Luzon right down to the Sulu Sea. Described as the largest sea battle in history, the Battle for Leyte Gulf featured the first U.S. a

Seems crazy but nearly a year ago now we did a little Second World War history tour around Guam as a family and with the kids' friends. ...

You often hear the word 'roads' in reference to coastal cities, seaports, or bodies of water. Some of the more famous examples include...

On the 15th August 1945, the people of Japan dutifully turned to their radios. It had been announced the day before via all NHK stations...

The second and last use of atomic weapons in combat took place on this day, August 9 1945. A B-29 named 'Bockscar' took off from Tinian...

Greetings everybody, I recently had the pleasure of returning to WW2TV for a talk on the Battle of Guam in 1941, when the Americans lost...

Hiratsuka suffered greatly as a result of all this. On July 16, 1945, 138 B-29's dropped 1,173 tons of incendiary bombs (447,716 in total). Only 5% of the bombs targeted the naval arsenal or aircraft plant, the rest were dropped on the civilian populatio

On this day July 12 1918, the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi 河内 exploded and sank in Tokuyama Bay with the loss of more than...

On May 17th 2025, YCAPS sponsored a trip to historic Liberty Station in San Diego . This is the site of the old Naval Training Center,...

Greetings all! As some of you may have noticed, I recently transferred from Guam to San Diego, California. This is our first time living...

As promised, I've been working on building more locations for the Pacific History Guide, and this week I'm proud to unveil Singapore !...

Good evening everybody, I'm back today with a short post on an auspicious event in Second World War history: the fall of Corregidor....

Greetings all! Last week I took part in a discussion regarding ethical decision-making in my squadron's wardroom. My submission to the...

Greetings all, back today with another book recommendation. On this day April 28th in 1952, the Allied Occupation of Japan ended.  It’s...

On this day April 7th in 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy super battleship Yamato was sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft of Task Force 58 while...

On this day April 6th 1945, the ships of Operation Ten-Go departed Tokuyama. The mission assigned to the super battleship Yamato, light...

On this day April 3rd 1945, the U.S. Army Air Corps 509th Composite Group arrived on Tinian and began training for the missions that...