Battle of Tarawa

Battle of Tarawa
Conflict	World War II
Date	November 20 - November 23, 1943
Place	Tarawa
Result	American victory
Combatants United States Japan Commanders Julian Smith Shibasaki Keiji Strength 35,000 2,600 elite, 1,000 Japanese workers and 1,200 Korean laborers Casualties 1,009 killed, 2,101 wounded 4,690 killed, 17 POW and 129 Korean freed

The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was the second time the United States was on the offensive (the Battle of Guadalcanal had been the first), and the first offensive in the critical central-pacific region. It was also the first time in the War that the United States faced serious opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings had met little or no initial resistance. Tarawa was to be different.

Tarawa

In order to set up forward air bases capable of supporting operations across the mid-Pacific, the Philippines, and into Japan itself, the US needed to take the Marianas Islands. The Marianas were heavily defended, and in order for attacks against them to succeed, land-based bombers would have to be used to "soften up" the defenses. However the nearest islands capable of supporting such an effort were the Marshall Islands, northwest of Guadalcanal. Taking the Marshalls would provide the base needed to launch and offensive on the Marianas, but was itself cut off from direct communications with Hawaii by a garrison on the small island of Betio, on the western side of Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Thus, in order to eventually launch an invasion of the Marianas, the battles had to start far to the east at Tarawa.

The Japanese forces were well aware of the Gilbert's strategic location, and had invested considerable time and effort fortifying the island. The garrison consisted primarily of 2,600 Imperial Marines, the elite of the Japanese forces. In order to bolster the defenses, 1,000 Japanese and 1,200 Korean workers were brought in as well. A series of fourteen coastal defense guns, including some 8-inch guns taken from the defenses at Singapore, were located around the island and placed in concrete bunkers. A huge wall was constructed across the lagoon just in from the highwater mark, behind which a series of machine gun posts and pillboxes could fire on anyone trying to get over the wall. A total of 500 pillboxes, "stockades" build from logs, and fourty artillery pieces were scattered around the island. An airfield was cut into the bush along the high point of the island, and a long pier was constructed pointing north from the western end of the island, allowing cargo ships to be unloaded out past the reefs. Trenches connected all points of the island, allowing troops to move where needed, under some sort of cover. Rear-Admiral Shibasaki Keiji, who commanded the garrison, had boasted that it would take one-million men one hundred years to conquer Tarawa.

The American invasion force was the largest yet put together for a single operation, consisting of 17 carriers, 12 battleships, 8 heavy and 4 light cruisers, 66 destroyers and 36 transports. The force carried the Second Marine Division and a part of the 37th Infantry Division, for a total of about 35,000 soldiers.

D-Day, November 20th

The naval forces opened fire on November 20th, 1943, shelling continually for over an hour and a half, stopping only briefly to allow the dive bombers from the carriers to operate against the fixed positions. Most of the larger Japanese guns were knocked out during this period. The island was at most points only a few hundred yards wide, and the bombardment turned much of it into a moonscape. By the time of the invasion, it was thought that no one would be left to defend what was left of the tiny island.

Betio is shaped roughtly like a long triangle, with the point on the east and the base on the west. The lagoon of the atoll lies to the north and east, with the entire northern coast of the island in the shallow waters of the atoll, and the southern and western sides in deeper waters. The attack plan consisted of three major beaches along the northern coast of the island, Red 1 through 3, Red 1 on the extreme west at the "toe" of the island, and Red 3 to the east against the pier. Beaches Green and Black were the western base and southern shore respectively, and not considered suitable for initial landings. The airstrip, running roughly east-west, divided the island into north and south.

The Marines started their attack on the lagoon at 9AM, later than expected, and found themselves stuck on a reef some 500 years off shore. The Japanese, hiding in deep shelters during the bombardment, quickly manned their guns when the naval fire stopped to allow the Marines to unload. Japanese fire from the island soon started up, and the boats caught on the reef were soon burning. Troops jumped out and started making their way ashore, under machine gun fire the entire time. The small number of