The Aleutians are a chain of 14 small islands and about 55 islets separating the Bering Sea from the main part of the Pacific Ocean. The chain extends in an arc that runs southwest then northwest for some 1,100 miles from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula to Attu Island, westernmost island of the chain. At the time of World War II, the Aleutians were part of the U.S. territory of Alaska and are today part of the state of Alaska.

In June 1942, Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska, which is the next of the larger islands to the southeast. The principal reason for this occupation was to draw U.S. assets of the Pacific Fleet away from the central Pacific in order to facilitate the planned Japanese attack on Midway Island. Secondarily, Japanese strategists had some fear that American forces might use the Aleutians as a forward base from which bombing raids or even an invasion might be launched against Japan. Thanks to U.S. intelligence, which had broken the Japanese Ultra codes, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander admiral Chester Nimitz was apprised of the Japanese plan and quickly acted to send his most powerful forces to intercept and attack the Japanese fleet under Admiral Yamamoto Isoruku in the vicinity of Midway and also formed Task Force 8 (also known as the North Pacific Force) to defend the Aleutians. Of necessity, this force was composed of older ships, some of which were even obsolescent, including five cruisers, 14 destroyers, and six submarines in addition to 85 USAAF aircraft, all under the command of Rear Admiral Robert Theobald.

Opposing his force were elements of the Japanese 5th Fleet, under Vice Admiral Hosogaya Boshiro. These were divided into three groups: Rear Admiral Kakuta Kakuji's Mobile Force (built around two light carriers and a seaplane carrier), the Kiska Occupation Force, the Adak-Attu Occupation Force, and various supply ships, escorted by Hosogaya's flagship, the heavy cruiser Nachi, and two destroyers. For a time, a portion of the Midway Force was detached as a fourth group, the Aleutian Screening Force, but soon had to return to Midway. For both sides, the weather was often a more formidable foe than any human adversary. The islands were almost perpetually shrouded in fog and drenched in icy rain, both hazards to navigation and flight. Stiff storms were also a regular feature of life in the region.

In an effort to force Nimitz to divide his fleet, Kakuta's Mobile Force twice raided a U.S. base at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, in the eastern Aleutians. Kakuta also raided U.S. destroyers in Makushin Bay but was repulsed. These actions induced Theobald to conclude that the Japanese intended to use the Aleutians as a base from which to invade the American mainland. As a result, he deployed his forces to intercept the Japanese supply transports, which thereby allowed Japanese troops to land on Attu (June 5, 1942) and Kiska (June 7) entirely unopposed. Indeed, the Americans were unaware of the landings until June 10. In response, U.S. bombers raided Kiska to little effect. Attu was beyond the bombers' range, and naval bombardment of the island proved largely ineffective. . .

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