Victory in the Pacific 1944-1945 The tide of war was turning and the Japanese were on the run. Tinian fell and the U.S. captured airbases within striking distance of Tokyo. In October 1944, Japan’s Imperial Navy was effectively knocked out of the war in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. After four months of bitter jungle fighting, next came Iwo Jima and a 36-day battle that was the bloodiest in Marine Corps history. Finally they reached Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, the last strongholds. The empire of the Rising Sun was falling.