All this meant the Allies hadto tread very delicately in Pacific waters. The United States had only recently reached the Pacific coast and several Americans had their eyes on Russian Alaska and Hawaii as territories for future acquisitions.

The Russians in turn also concentrated there, in order to build a base, sending repeated expeditions along the river.īoth China, who claimed to rule along the Amur, and Japan, only just `opened up' by Commodore Perry's expedition, were involved - indeed, the British used a Japanese port as their advanced base. Despite their victory, the Russians withdrew from all their Pacific coastal settlements, and the British and French concentrated on searching for the mouth of the Amur River, thought to be a Russian base. The campaign took a joint British and French squadron from Chile to Kamchatka, to be defeated in battle at Petropavlovsk - where the British Admiral committed suicide. One of the most neglected aspects has been the naval campaign in the Pacific Ocean - as highlighted in this full-scale survey, which brings out the involvement of China and Japan. The `Crimean War' was much more than a series of battles in the Crimea. They start to open up, and it’s like lifting a burden.Survey of the neglected naval campaign of the Crimean War highlights its impact on international relations with China and Japan as well as Russia. A lot of the guys have never told anybody what happened to them. “Two guys found remnants of the fox holes they dug 70 years ago,” he recalled about visiting Belgium.Ī powerful camaraderie grows among these travelers, Jack explained: “They get together at night and they get to talking. Long after the war - and after building and selling a food brokerage business - Jack dedicated himself to fundraising for an organization that takes WWII veterans to visit locations where they served. “The biggest thing you learned is how to get along with all kinds of people.” When the war was finally over, Jack recalled sailors gleefully toasting in celebration with 180-proof grain alcohol that had been used onboard as torpedo fuel. Taking orders and taking responsibility defined life with the ship’s crew of almost 900. His life’s path would lead him straight into the war’s Pacific theater.Īs a Navy sailor, Jack served aboard the USS Kitkun Bay, an aircraft carrier that withstood Japan’s torpedoes and kamikaze attacks, and participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf -WWII’s largest naval battle. Jack was riding on a country road to a football game with friends when news broke of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Navy in the pacific war