The Siege of Hawaii

By December 1942, Japanese forces had successfully reached and begun to blockade the Hawaiian Islands after a skirmish that saw the remnants of the American Pacific Fleet retreat to San Francisco. Following the Battle of Midway, American naval power in the Pacific was at its nadir and unable (some would say unwilling) to hold back the advancing Imperial Fleet of Japan.

Over the next two months, Japan worked at cutting Hawaii's supply lines and eroding its military capabilities. Japanese Zeroes battled a desperate American USAAF. Though they fought valiantly, the American pilots would eventually succumb not due to Japanese superiority but to a lack of fuel and parts. Once air supremacy had been established, the Japanese began to bomb every military target they could find. Special importance was placed on Pearl Harbor's fuel storage, maintenance, and dry dock facilities. The noose became tighter.

An American naval response to lift the siege was not to be had. With the German campaign raging along the east coast and the successful Nazi attack on the Panama Canal, the American fleet was simply not able to be everywhere it needed to be. Dewey reluctantly left Hawaii to its fate as the country rushed to rebuild the shattered Pacific Fleet.

Food supplies on the islands were largely gone by early June 1943. The population of the islands was too big to support natively. Other supplies, such as medical, became scarce leading to a rise in deaths from infection. Black outs became common, the power plants systematically destroyed by the IJN, though often rebuilt with what materials Hawaiians could scrounge up.

The situation would become strained. Some citizens grumbled over the fact that the Army got precedence when it came to food stocks, sometimes forcibly expropriating food at rifle point. Others wanted the Japanese population (Nissei), locked up fearing they were working with the enemy. One radical idea was to use the Nissei as a bargaining chip with the IJN, using them as hostages for food, fuel, and supplies.

Starvation was a cruel weapon the Japanese were all too willing to use. After the death toll of the Midway invasion, the Japanese were not willing to attempt a landing on another island and relive the horrific experience. They were inclined to grind down American forces and then simply step over their emaciated bodies.

SOURCE: Yamauchi, Minoru The Siege of Hawaii