American theater (World War II)
The American Theater[1] was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending 200 miles (320 km) into the ocean.
For stage theater in the United States during this period, see Theater in the United States during WWII.Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict (in Europe, the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the Pacific) the threat of an invasion of the continental U.S. or other areas in the Americas by the Axis Powers was negligible and the theater saw relatively little conflict. Military engagements include the Battle of the River Plate, submarine attacks off the East Coast, the Aleutian Islands campaign, the Battle of the St. Lawrence, and the attacks on Newfoundland. Espionage efforts included Operation Bolívar.
Cancelled Axis operations[edit]
Germany[edit]
In 1940, the German Air Ministry secretly requested designs from the major German aircraft companies for its Amerikabomber program, in which a long-range strategic bomber would strike the continental United States from the Azores (more than 2,200 miles (3,500 km) away). Planning was complete in 1942 with the submittal of the program to Goering's RLM offices in March 1942, resulting in cogent piston-engined designs from Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Junkers and Messerschmitt (who had built the ultra-long-range Messerschmitt Me 261 before WW II), but by mid-1944 the project had been abandoned as too expensive, with a serious increase in the need for defensive fighters, needing to come from Nazi Germany's by-then rapidly diminishing aviation production capacity.
Hitler had ordered that biological warfare should be studied only for the purpose of defending against it. The head of the Science Division of the Wehrmacht, Erich Schumann, lobbied for Hitler to be persuaded otherwise: "America must be attacked simultaneously with various human and animal epidemic pathogens, as well as plant pests." The plans were never adopted because they were opposed by Hitler.[46]
Italy[edit]
An Italian naval commander, Junio Valerio Borghese, devised a plan to attack New York harbor with midget submarines; however, as the tides of war changed against Italy, the plan was postponed and later scrapped.[47]
Japan[edit]
Just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a force of seven Japanese submarines patrolled the United States West Coast. The Wolfpack made plans to bombard targets in California on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day of 1941. However, the attack was postponed to December 27 in order to avoid attacking during the Christian festival and offending German and Italian allies. Eventually the plan was canceled altogether for fears of American reprisal. In 1946, an unexploded Japanese torpedo was found near the Golden Gate Bridge, and it has been interpreted as evidence of an attack, potentially targeting the bridge itself, in late December of 1941.[48]
The Japanese constructed a plan early in the Pacific War to attack the Panama Canal, a vital water passage in Panama, used during World War II primarily for the Allied supply effort. The Japanese attack was never launched because Japan suffered crippling naval losses at the beginning of conflict with the United States and United Kingdom (See: Aichi M6A).
The Imperial Japanese Army launched Project Z (also called the Z Bombers Project) in 1942, similar to the Nazi German Amerikabomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America. The Project Z plane was to have six engines of 5,000 horsepower each; the Nakajima Aircraft Company quickly began developing engines for the plane, and proposed doubling HA-44 engines (the most powerful engine available in Japan) into a 36-cylinder engine.[49] Designs were presented to the Imperial Japanese Army, including the Nakajima G10N, Kawasaki Ki-91, and Nakajima G5N. None developed beyond prototypes or wind tunnel models, save for the G5N. In 1945, the Z project and other heavy bomber projects were cancelled.
During the final months of World War II, Japan had planned to use bubonic plague as a biological weapon against U.S. civilians in San Diego, California, during Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night. The plan was set to launch at night on September 22, 1945. However, it was shelved because Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.[50][51][52]