PHG Blog

Greetings PHG fans! Today, 4 April is the 142nd anniversary of the birth of Takano Isoroku, who, as commander of the Imperial Japan's Combined Fleet under the name Yamamoto Isoroku, oversaw the Navy's entry into the wider Pacific War. The last known photograph of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, on Rabaul 18 April 1943 Yamamoto is one of the more famous Japanese figures of the Second World War and probably the most recognizable among Imperial Japan's many Admirals. Perhaps best know

Hello PHG fans! Today we're headed back to the Philippines, and taking a look at a memorial for the USS Stingray (SS-186). This monument is located not far from the northernmost point on Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. On 27 August 1944, Stingray made a secret drop near here of 15 Filipino guerrillas (trained in Brisbane by the Allies) and six tons of supplies. Small deliveries such as this one helped soften the beachhead in Luzon as the plans to retake the Phil

Greetings PHG fans, this week we're marking the anniversary of Operation Hailstone, the Allied attack on Truk Lagoon in the Second World War. From 17-18 February 1944, the US Navy's Task Force 58 engaged Imperial Japanese Army and Navy units and destroyed most of the infrastructure, ships, and weapons located there. A Japanese freighter in Truk Atoll is hit by a Mark XIII torpedo dropped from a Grumman TBF Avenger of Torpedo Squadron 17 (VT-17) from the aircraft carrier USS B

Hello readers of Pacific History Guide! Today we're going to take a brief look at a historic site in the center of Singapore - the grounds of the Ford Motor Company factory. It was here, on 15 February 1942, that the British General Sir Arthur Percival surrendered Singapore to the Japanese under General Yamashita Tomoyuki. The capture of Malaya, the fall of Singapore and Hong Kong, and the subsequent defeat of ABDA all came to define Japanese superiority in Southeast Asia du

Greetings PHG fans, I hope the new year is treating you all well. This week, I was checking out the World War II in the Philippines Facebook group and read about the Dalton Pass Memorial. Although I've been to the Philippines several times, I've not made it into the provinces. Balete/Dalton Pass Memorial, Luzon, Philippines Previously called Balete Pass, Dalton Pass is the only overland route into Cagayan Valley from Central Luzon. A highway crosses the pass from north to so

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....