Wake Island was a strategic island in the Pacific to the Japanese in their war with the United States. After the failed attempted by the Japanese to hit the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the IJN struck at Wake, easily taking it while the US was still on alert after the Japanese raid. With the combined efforts of the allied powers in the Java Sea ending in failure, it allowed the Japanese to push as far south as Timor Island, giving the IJN the land bases it required to bomb northern Australia, effectively, cutting the Dutch East Indies in two. Separated from his allies in the west, Admiral Kimmel chose to strike back at the Japanese by gathering all US forces in the Pacific. With what was left of the US Asiatic squadron regrouping at Pearl, the US Pacific Fleet sailed for Wake Island w