Battle of Makin
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Makin was a battle of the Pacific campaign
of World War II
, fought from 20 November to 24 November 1943, on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands
.
, combined with increasing supplies of men and materials, gave the United States Navy
the resources to make an invasion of the central Pacific in late 1943. Admiral Chester Nimitz
had argued for this invasion earlier in 1943, but the resources were not available to carry it out at the same time as Operation Cartwheel
, the envelopment of Rabaul
in the Bismarck Islands. The plan was to approach the Japan
ese home islands by "island hopping": establishing naval and air bases in one group of islands to support the attack on the next. The Gilbert Islands
were the first step in this chain.
On 10 December 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor
, 300 Japanese troops, plus laborers of the so-called Gilberts Invasion Special Landing Force had arrived off Makin Atoll and occupied without resistance. Lying east of the Marshall islands
, Makin would make an excellent seaplane
base, extending Japanese air patrols closer to Howland Island
, Baker Island
, Tuvalu
and Phoenix and Ellice Islands, all held by the Allies
and protecting the eastern flank of the Japanese perimeter from an Allied attack.
of the 2nd Marine Raider
Battalion under command of Colonel Evans Carlson
and Captain James Roosevelt
were landed on Makin from two submarines, USS Nautilus
and USS Argonaut
. The Japanese garrison only posed 83 to 160 men under the command of a warrant officer. The Raiders killed at least 83 Japanese soldiers, annihilating the garrison, and destroyed installations for the loss of 21 killed (mostly by air attack) and 9 captured. The Japanese moved their prisoners to Kwajalein Atoll, where they were later beheaded. One objective of the raid was to confuse the Japanese about U.S. intentions in the Pacific, but it had the effect of alerting the Japanese to the strategic importance of the Gilbert Islands and led to their further reinforcement and fortification.
After Carlson's raid, the Japanese reinforced the Gilberts, which had been left lightly guarded. Makin was garrisoned with a single company of the 5th Special Base Force (700 - 800 men) on August 1942, and work on both the seaplane base and coastal defenses of the atoll was resumed in earnest. By July 1943 the seaplane base on Makin was completed and ready to accommodate Kawanishi H8K
"Emily" flying boat
bombers, Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" hydrofighters and Aichi E13A
"Jake" Recon-hydroplanes. Its defenses were also completed, although they were not as extensive as on Tarawa Atoll
—the main Japanese Navy
air base in the Gilberts. The Chitose
and 653rd Air Corps were detached and deployed here. While the Japanese were building up their defenses in the Gilberts, American forces were making plans to retake the islands.
. Initially both Nimitz and Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations, wanted to attack right into heart of the Japanese outer defense perimeter, but any plan for assaulting the Marshalls directly from Pearl Harbor
would have required more troops and transports than the Pacific Fleet had at the time. Considering these drawbacks and the limited combat experience of the U.S. forces, King and Nimitz decided to take the Marshalls in a step-by-step operation via the Ellice and Gilbert Islands. The Gilberts lay within 200 miles (300 km) of the Southern Marshalls and were well within range of United States Army Air Forces
B-24 aircraft based in the Ellice Islands, which could provide bombing support and long-range reconnaissance for operations in the Gilberts. With those advantages in mind, on 20 July 1943 the joint Chiefs of Staff decided to capture the Tarawa
and Abemama
atolls in the Gilberts, plus nearby Nauru Island. The operation was codenamed "Operation Galvanic."
On 4 September the U.S. 5th Fleet's amphibious troops were designated the V Amphibious Corps
and placed under Marine Corps Major General Holland M. Smith. The V Amphibious Corps had the only two divisions, the 2nd Marine Division
based in New Zealand
and the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division based in Hawaii
. The 27th Infantry Division had been a New York National Guard unit before being called into federal service in October 1940. It was transferred to Hawaii and remained there for 1½ years before being chosen by Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson, Jr.
, the U.S. Army Commanding General in Central Pacific, to take part in the Gilbert Islands invasion
. Captain James Jones (father of former-Commandant of the Marine Corps
James L. Jones
), the Commanding Officer of Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, VAC
served aboard the submarine USS Nautilus
in periscope reconnaissance of the Gilberts, establishing accurate accounts of the beachheads for the upcoming invasion.
The 27th Division was tasked to supply the landing force with one regimental combat team (the 165th Infantry Regiment, the famed "Fighting 69th" of the New York National Guard) reinforced by a battalion landing team (the 3rd Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment
), supported by the 105th Field Artillery Battalion and the 193rd Tank Battalion, under the command of Major General Ralph C. Smith
, a veteran of World War I
, who had assumed command in November 1942. He was one of the most highly respected officers in the U. S. Army at the time. In April 1943 the 27th Infantry Division had begun preparing for amphibious operations.
Planning for the 27th Infantry Division's role in "Galvanic" (the Army portion was codenamed "Kourbash") began in early August 1943, with Nauru Island in the western Gilberts as the original objective. Unlike the other objectives, Nauru was an actual island, much larger in size and more heavily garrisoned.
However, in September 1943 the 27th's objective changed. The difficulty of providing adequate naval and air support of simultaneous operations at Tarawa and the much more distant Nauru, plus lack of sufficient transport to carry the entire division required to take the larger, more heavily defended Nauru, caused Admiral Nimitz to shift the 27th's objective from Nauru to Makin Atoll, in the northeast Gilberts. The 27th Infantry Division staff learned the change of target on 28 September, scrapped the original Nauru plan, and began planning to capture Makin.
Heavy aircraft losses and the disabling of four heavy cruiser
s in the Solomon Islands
meant that the original Japanese plan of a strike at the American invasion fleet by forces based at Truk in the nearby Caroline Islands
(South Pacific Mandate
) was scrapped. The garrisons at Tarawa and Makin were left to their fate.
left Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1943. The landing force, Task Group 52.6, consisted of units of the 27th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Ralph C. Smith
, transported by attack transport
s Neville, Leonard Wood
, Calvert
, and Pierce
; attack cargo ship Alcyone
; landing ship dock Belle Grove
; and LSTs -31, -78, and -179 of Task Group 52.1.
On the eve of invasion, the Japanese garrison on Makin Atoll's main island, Butaritari
, numbered 806 men: 284 naval ground troops of the 6th Special Naval Landing Force, 108 aviation personnel of the 802nd and 952nd Aviation Units, 138 troops of the 111th Pioneers, and 276 men of the Fourth Fleet Construction Department and Makin Tank Detachment of 3rd Special Base Force (3 Type 95 Ha-Go
Light Tanks), all commanded by Lt.j.g. Seizo Ishikawa. The number of trained combat troops on Makin was no more than 300 soldiers.
Butaritari's land defenses were centered around the lagoon
shore, near the seaplane base in the central part of island. There were two tank barrier systems: The west tank barrier extended from the lagoon two-thirds of the way across Butaritari, was 12 to 13 feet (4 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep, and was protected by one anti-tank gun in a concrete pillbox, six machine gun positions, and 50 rifle pits. The east tank barrier, 14 feet (4.3 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) in depth, stretched from the lagoon across two-thirds of island and bent westward with log antitank barricades at each end. it was protected by a double apron of barbed wire
and an intricate system of gun emplacements and rifle pits.
A series of strongpoints was established along Butaritari's ocean side, with 8 inches (203.2 mm) coastal defense guns, three 37 mm anti-tank gun positions, 10 machine gun emplacements and 85 rifle pits. The Japanese expected the invasion to come on the ocean side of Butaritari, following the example of Carlson's raid in 1942, and established their defenses two miles (3 km) from where the raid had taken place. Without aircraft, ships, or hope of reinforcement or relief, the outnumbered and outgunned defenders could only hope to delay the coming American attack for as long as possible.
B-24 bombers of the Seventh Air Force
from the Ellice Islands
. Grumman FM-1
"Wildcat" fighters escorted Douglas SBD "Dauntless" dive bomber
s and Grumman TBF "Avengers" from escort carriers USS Liscome Bay
, USS Coral Sea and USS Corregidor
; followed by 8 inches (203.2 mm) support guns from fire support ship USS Minneapolis
and other war vessels. Troops began to go ashore at two beaches at 08:30 on 20 November.
The initial landings on RED Beach went according to plan with the assault troops moving rapidly inland after an uneventful trip on the ocean side of the island. Their progress off the beach was slowed only by an occasional sniper and the need to negotiate their way around the debris and water-filled craters left by the air and naval bombardment. The craters in particular stymied tank support of the Red beach forces by the light tanks of the 193rd Tank Battalion when the lead M3 light tank
became partially submerged in a shellhole and blocked passage of all the vehicles behind it.
As the landing craft approached YELLOW Beach from the lagoon, they began to receive small-arms and machine-gun fire from the island's defenders. The assault troops were also surprised to learn that even though they were approaching the beach at high tide as planned, a miscalculation of the depth of the lagoon caused their small boats to go aground, forcing them to cover the final 250 yards (228.6 m) to the beach in waist-deep water. Although equipment and weapons were lost or water-soaked, only three men were killed approaching the beach, mainly because the defenders had elected to make their final stand not at the waterline, but farther inland along the tank barriers.
The invasion plan was conceived in the hope of luring the enemy into committing most of its forces to oppose the first landings on RED Beach and thereby allow the troops landing on YELLOW Beach to attack from the rear. The enemy, however, did not respond to the attack on RED Beach and withdrew from YELLOW Beach with only harassing fires, leaving the troops of the 27th Division no choice but to knock out the fortified strongpoints one by one. Reduction operations were hampered by the frequent inability to use heavy support weapons, including tanks, because of the danger of cross-fire. The regimental commander of the 165th Infantry, Colonel J.G. Convoy, was killed in action
by Japanese machinegun fire on the afternoon of the first day.
In the early hours of 24 November, the Liscome Bay was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-175, which had arrived at Makin just a few hours hence. I-175 fired a torpedo that struck the Liscome Bays aircraft bomb stockpile, causing an explosion which engulfed the entire ship, which sank quickly thereafter. This attack caused the majority of the American casualties in the battle for Makin.
As compared to an estimated 395 Japanese killed in action during the operation, American ground casualties numbered 218 (66 killed and 152 wounded). Losses to U.S. Navy personnel were significantly higher: 644 deaths on the Liscome Bay, 43 killed in a turret fire aboard the battleship
, and 10 killed in action among naval shore party and aviators, totalling 697 naval deaths in the battle. Thus, the overall total of 763 American dead nearly equalled the number of men in the entire Japanese garrison.
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, fought from 20 November to 24 November 1943, on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
.
Japanese invasion and fortification
The end of the Aleutian Islands Campaign and progress in the Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, combined with increasing supplies of men and materials, gave the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
the resources to make an invasion of the central Pacific in late 1943. Admiral Chester Nimitz
Chester Nimitz
Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, GCB, USN was a five-star admiral in the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet , for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas , for U.S...
had argued for this invasion earlier in 1943, but the resources were not available to carry it out at the same time as Operation Cartwheel
Operation Cartwheel
Operation Cartwheel was a major military strategy for the Allies in the Pacific theater of World War II. Cartwheel was a twin-axis of advance operation, aimed at militarily neutralizing the major Japanese base at Rabaul...
, the envelopment of Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
in the Bismarck Islands. The plan was to approach the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese home islands by "island hopping": establishing naval and air bases in one group of islands to support the attack on the next. The Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
were the first step in this chain.
On 10 December 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, 300 Japanese troops, plus laborers of the so-called Gilberts Invasion Special Landing Force had arrived off Makin Atoll and occupied without resistance. Lying east of the Marshall islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
, Makin would make an excellent seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
base, extending Japanese air patrols closer to Howland Island
Howland Island
Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
, Baker Island
Baker Island
Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
, Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
and Phoenix and Ellice Islands, all held by the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
and protecting the eastern flank of the Japanese perimeter from an Allied attack.
Marine raid on Makin
On 17 August 1942, 211 MarinesUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
of the 2nd Marine Raider
Marine Raiders
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines...
Battalion under command of Colonel Evans Carlson
Evans Carlson
Brigadier General Evans Fordyce Carlson was the famed U.S. Marine Corps leader of the World War II "Carlson's Raiders"...
and Captain James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt was the oldest son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a United States Congressman, an officer in the United States Marine Corps, an aide to his father, the official Secretary to the President, a Democratic Party activist, and a businessman.-Early life:Roosevelt was...
were landed on Makin from two submarines, USS Nautilus
USS Nautilus (SS-168)
USS Nautilus , a and one of the "V-boats", was the third ship of the United States Navy to officially bear that popular ship's name. She was originally named and designated V-6 , but was redesignated and given hull classification symbol SC-2 on 11 February 1925...
and USS Argonaut
USS Argonaut (SS-166)
USS Argonaut was a submarine of the United States Navy, the first ship to carry the name....
. The Japanese garrison only posed 83 to 160 men under the command of a warrant officer. The Raiders killed at least 83 Japanese soldiers, annihilating the garrison, and destroyed installations for the loss of 21 killed (mostly by air attack) and 9 captured. The Japanese moved their prisoners to Kwajalein Atoll, where they were later beheaded. One objective of the raid was to confuse the Japanese about U.S. intentions in the Pacific, but it had the effect of alerting the Japanese to the strategic importance of the Gilbert Islands and led to their further reinforcement and fortification.
After Carlson's raid, the Japanese reinforced the Gilberts, which had been left lightly guarded. Makin was garrisoned with a single company of the 5th Special Base Force (700 - 800 men) on August 1942, and work on both the seaplane base and coastal defenses of the atoll was resumed in earnest. By July 1943 the seaplane base on Makin was completed and ready to accommodate Kawanishi H8K
Kawanishi H8K
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bridgeman, Leonard. "The Kawanishi H8K2 “Emily”" Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0....
"Emily" flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
bombers, Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" hydrofighters and Aichi E13A
Aichi E13A
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Dorr, Robert E. and Chris Bishop. Vietnam Air War Debrief. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-874023-78-6....
"Jake" Recon-hydroplanes. Its defenses were also completed, although they were not as extensive as on Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...
—the main Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
air base in the Gilberts. The Chitose
Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose
was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It should not be confused with the earlier cruiser of the same name. First laid down as a seaplane tender in 1934 at Kure Navy yard, the ship originally carried Kawanishi E7K Type 94 "Alf" and Nakajima E8N Type 95...
and 653rd Air Corps were detached and deployed here. While the Japanese were building up their defenses in the Gilberts, American forces were making plans to retake the islands.
U.S. plans to attack
In June 1943 the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC), to submit a plan to occupy the Marshall IslandsMarshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. Initially both Nimitz and Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations, wanted to attack right into heart of the Japanese outer defense perimeter, but any plan for assaulting the Marshalls directly from Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
would have required more troops and transports than the Pacific Fleet had at the time. Considering these drawbacks and the limited combat experience of the U.S. forces, King and Nimitz decided to take the Marshalls in a step-by-step operation via the Ellice and Gilbert Islands. The Gilberts lay within 200 miles (300 km) of the Southern Marshalls and were well within range of United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
B-24 aircraft based in the Ellice Islands, which could provide bombing support and long-range reconnaissance for operations in the Gilberts. With those advantages in mind, on 20 July 1943 the joint Chiefs of Staff decided to capture the Tarawa
Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...
and Abemama
Abemama
Abemama is an atoll in the central part of the Kiribati Group located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator.- Geography :...
atolls in the Gilberts, plus nearby Nauru Island. The operation was codenamed "Operation Galvanic."
On 4 September the U.S. 5th Fleet's amphibious troops were designated the V Amphibious Corps
V Amphibious Corps
The V Amphibious Corps was a formation of the United States Marine Corps and was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions during World War II. They were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa and Saipan in 1944...
and placed under Marine Corps Major General Holland M. Smith. The V Amphibious Corps had the only two divisions, the 2nd Marine Division
U.S. 2nd Marine Division
The U.S. 2nd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and headquartered at Julian C...
based in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division based in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. The 27th Infantry Division had been a New York National Guard unit before being called into federal service in October 1940. It was transferred to Hawaii and remained there for 1½ years before being chosen by Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson, Jr.
Robert C. Richardson, Jr.
Robert Charlwood Richardson, Jr., born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 27, 1882, and was admitted as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, from that state, on 19 June 1900. His military career spanned the first half of the 20th Century. He was a veteran of the 1904 Philippine...
, the U.S. Army Commanding General in Central Pacific, to take part in the Gilbert Islands invasion
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
. Captain James Jones (father of former-Commandant of the Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps
The Commandant of the Marine Corps is normally the highest ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...
James L. Jones
James L. Jones
James Logan Jones, Jr. is the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps General....
), the Commanding Officer of Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, VAC
United States Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion
The United States Marine Corps's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, formerly Company, was a specialized team of Marines and Navy Corpsmen that performed clandestine preliminary pre-D-Day amphibious reconnaissance of planned beachheads and their littoral area within uncharted enemy territory for...
served aboard the submarine USS Nautilus
USS Nautilus (SS-168)
USS Nautilus , a and one of the "V-boats", was the third ship of the United States Navy to officially bear that popular ship's name. She was originally named and designated V-6 , but was redesignated and given hull classification symbol SC-2 on 11 February 1925...
in periscope reconnaissance of the Gilberts, establishing accurate accounts of the beachheads for the upcoming invasion.
The 27th Division was tasked to supply the landing force with one regimental combat team (the 165th Infantry Regiment, the famed "Fighting 69th" of the New York National Guard) reinforced by a battalion landing team (the 3rd Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment
53rd Troop Command (United States)
The 53rd Troop Command is an administrative headquarters of the New York Army National Guard that provides direction for units not under another brigade or other formation headquarters...
), supported by the 105th Field Artillery Battalion and the 193rd Tank Battalion, under the command of Major General Ralph C. Smith
Ralph C. Smith
Ralph Corbett Smith was a highly decorated Major General of the United States Army. After receiving early training as a pilot from Orville Wright he served General John J. Pershing's army against Pancho Villa, became decorated for bravery in World War I and commanded an infantry division in combat...
, a veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, who had assumed command in November 1942. He was one of the most highly respected officers in the U. S. Army at the time. In April 1943 the 27th Infantry Division had begun preparing for amphibious operations.
Planning for the 27th Infantry Division's role in "Galvanic" (the Army portion was codenamed "Kourbash") began in early August 1943, with Nauru Island in the western Gilberts as the original objective. Unlike the other objectives, Nauru was an actual island, much larger in size and more heavily garrisoned.
However, in September 1943 the 27th's objective changed. The difficulty of providing adequate naval and air support of simultaneous operations at Tarawa and the much more distant Nauru, plus lack of sufficient transport to carry the entire division required to take the larger, more heavily defended Nauru, caused Admiral Nimitz to shift the 27th's objective from Nauru to Makin Atoll, in the northeast Gilberts. The 27th Infantry Division staff learned the change of target on 28 September, scrapped the original Nauru plan, and began planning to capture Makin.
Heavy aircraft losses and the disabling of four heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
meant that the original Japanese plan of a strike at the American invasion fleet by forces based at Truk in the nearby Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
(South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
) was scrapped. The garrisons at Tarawa and Makin were left to their fate.
Prelude
The invasion fleet, Task Force 52 (TF 52) commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond K. TurnerRichmond K. Turner
-Footnotes:...
left Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1943. The landing force, Task Group 52.6, consisted of units of the 27th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Ralph C. Smith
Ralph C. Smith
Ralph Corbett Smith was a highly decorated Major General of the United States Army. After receiving early training as a pilot from Orville Wright he served General John J. Pershing's army against Pancho Villa, became decorated for bravery in World War I and commanded an infantry division in combat...
, transported by attack transport
Attack transport
Attack Transport is a United States Navy ship classification.-History:In the early 1940s, as the United States Navy expanded in response to the threat of involvement in World War II, a number of civilian passenger ships and some freighters were acquired, converted to transports and given hull...
s Neville, Leonard Wood
USS Leonard Wood (APA-12)
USS Leonard Wood was a Harris-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II.Leonard Wood, ex-Nutmeg State and Western World, was built in 1922 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at Sparrows Point, Maryland; purchased by the War Department in 1939 and renamed...
, Calvert
USS Calvert (APA-32)
USS Calvert was a that served with the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. In addition to her ten battle stars, Calvert was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation....
, and Pierce
USS Pierce (APA-50)
USS Pierce was an that served with the US Navy during World War II.Pierce was laid down as Northern Light by Moore Dry Dock of Oakland, California 22 July 1942; launched 10 October 1942; and commissioned 30 June 1943, Comdr. A. R...
; attack cargo ship Alcyone
USS Alcyone (AKA-7)
USS Alcyone was an named after Alcyone, the brightest star in the star cluster Pleiades. She served as a commissioned ship for 5 years and 1 month....
; landing ship dock Belle Grove
USS Belle Grove (LSD-2)
USS Belle Grove was a of the United States Navy, named in honor of Belle Grove Plantation, the birthplace of President James Madison in Port Conway, Virginia....
; and LSTs -31, -78, and -179 of Task Group 52.1.
On the eve of invasion, the Japanese garrison on Makin Atoll's main island, Butaritari
Butaritari
Butaritari is an atoll located in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati.-Geography:...
, numbered 806 men: 284 naval ground troops of the 6th Special Naval Landing Force, 108 aviation personnel of the 802nd and 952nd Aviation Units, 138 troops of the 111th Pioneers, and 276 men of the Fourth Fleet Construction Department and Makin Tank Detachment of 3rd Special Base Force (3 Type 95 Ha-Go
Type 95 Ha-Go
The was a light tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army in combat operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry, however, like the American M3 Stuart, it was not designed to fight other tanks...
Light Tanks), all commanded by Lt.j.g. Seizo Ishikawa. The number of trained combat troops on Makin was no more than 300 soldiers.
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
shore, near the seaplane base in the central part of island. There were two tank barrier systems: The west tank barrier extended from the lagoon two-thirds of the way across Butaritari, was 12 to 13 feet (4 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep, and was protected by one anti-tank gun in a concrete pillbox, six machine gun positions, and 50 rifle pits. The east tank barrier, 14 feet (4.3 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) in depth, stretched from the lagoon across two-thirds of island and bent westward with log antitank barricades at each end. it was protected by a double apron of barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
and an intricate system of gun emplacements and rifle pits.
A series of strongpoints was established along Butaritari's ocean side, with 8 inches (203.2 mm) coastal defense guns, three 37 mm anti-tank gun positions, 10 machine gun emplacements and 85 rifle pits. The Japanese expected the invasion to come on the ocean side of Butaritari, following the example of Carlson's raid in 1942, and established their defenses two miles (3 km) from where the raid had taken place. Without aircraft, ships, or hope of reinforcement or relief, the outnumbered and outgunned defenders could only hope to delay the coming American attack for as long as possible.
Invasion
Air operations against Makin began on 13 November, with USAAFUnited States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
B-24 bombers of the Seventh Air Force
Seventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
from the Ellice Islands
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
. Grumman FM-1
F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service with both the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy in 1940...
"Wildcat" fighters escorted Douglas SBD "Dauntless" dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s and Grumman TBF "Avengers" from escort carriers USS Liscome Bay
USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56)
USS Liscome Bay , a during World War II, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Liscome Bay in Dall Island in the Alexander Archipelago off Alaska's southeast coast...
, USS Coral Sea and USS Corregidor
USS Corregidor (CVE-58)
USS Corregidor was an Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.She was laid down as Auguilla Bay , was reclassified ACV-58 on 20 August 1942 and launched as Corregidor on 12 May 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, of Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission...
; followed by 8 inches (203.2 mm) support guns from fire support ship USS Minneapolis
USS Minneapolis (CA-36)
USS Minneapolis was a New Orleans class heavy cruiser built for the United States Navy before the outbreak of World War II, the second ship named for Minneapolis, Minnesota....
and other war vessels. Troops began to go ashore at two beaches at 08:30 on 20 November.
The initial landings on RED Beach went according to plan with the assault troops moving rapidly inland after an uneventful trip on the ocean side of the island. Their progress off the beach was slowed only by an occasional sniper and the need to negotiate their way around the debris and water-filled craters left by the air and naval bombardment. The craters in particular stymied tank support of the Red beach forces by the light tanks of the 193rd Tank Battalion when the lead M3 light tank
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
became partially submerged in a shellhole and blocked passage of all the vehicles behind it.
As the landing craft approached YELLOW Beach from the lagoon, they began to receive small-arms and machine-gun fire from the island's defenders. The assault troops were also surprised to learn that even though they were approaching the beach at high tide as planned, a miscalculation of the depth of the lagoon caused their small boats to go aground, forcing them to cover the final 250 yards (228.6 m) to the beach in waist-deep water. Although equipment and weapons were lost or water-soaked, only three men were killed approaching the beach, mainly because the defenders had elected to make their final stand not at the waterline, but farther inland along the tank barriers.
The invasion plan was conceived in the hope of luring the enemy into committing most of its forces to oppose the first landings on RED Beach and thereby allow the troops landing on YELLOW Beach to attack from the rear. The enemy, however, did not respond to the attack on RED Beach and withdrew from YELLOW Beach with only harassing fires, leaving the troops of the 27th Division no choice but to knock out the fortified strongpoints one by one. Reduction operations were hampered by the frequent inability to use heavy support weapons, including tanks, because of the danger of cross-fire. The regimental commander of the 165th Infantry, Colonel J.G. Convoy, was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
by Japanese machinegun fire on the afternoon of the first day.
Capture of Makin
Two days of determined fighting reduced enemy resistance. After clearing the entire atoll, the 27th Division commander, Maj. Gen. Ralph C. Smith, reported on the morning of 23 November, "Makin taken, recommend command pass to commander garrison force." In the end the most difficult problem in capturing Makin was coordinating the actions of the two separate landing forces, a problem made more difficult because the defenders did not respond as had been anticipated. The lack of suitability of the narrow beaches to support supply landing operations, which was not discovered by pre-invasion reconnaissance, also proved a severe handicap.In the early hours of 24 November, the Liscome Bay was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-175, which had arrived at Makin just a few hours hence. I-175 fired a torpedo that struck the Liscome Bays aircraft bomb stockpile, causing an explosion which engulfed the entire ship, which sank quickly thereafter. This attack caused the majority of the American casualties in the battle for Makin.
Aftermath
The complete occupation of Makin took four days and actually cost more in naval casualties than in ground troops. Despite its great superiority in men and weapons, the 27th Division had considerable difficulty subduing the island's small defensive force. One Japanese Ha-Go tank was destroyed in combat, and two tanks placed in revetments were abandoned without being used in combat.As compared to an estimated 395 Japanese killed in action during the operation, American ground casualties numbered 218 (66 killed and 152 wounded). Losses to U.S. Navy personnel were significantly higher: 644 deaths on the Liscome Bay, 43 killed in a turret fire aboard the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, and 10 killed in action among naval shore party and aviators, totalling 697 naval deaths in the battle. Thus, the overall total of 763 American dead nearly equalled the number of men in the entire Japanese garrison.
See also
- 69th Infantry Regiment (United States)69th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 69th Infantry Regiment was a Regular Army infantry regiment in the United States Army.-History:There have been three different lineages started under this number: The Famous 69th Infantry Regiment , and two under the Federal designation....
- Marine RaidersMarine RaidersThe Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines...
- Makin (islands)Makin (islands)Makin is the name of a chain of islands located in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati, specifically in the Gilbert Islands.-Geography:...
- Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaignGilbert and Marshall Islands campaignIn the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
- Battle of TarawaBattle of TarawaThe Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....