ISLAND-HOPPING IN THE PACIFIC 211
Nearly two years after entering the war, the Japanese still held
most of the far-flung defensive perimeter they had established in the
Pacific (see pp.106–107), which stretched as far as the remote Gilbert
and Marshall Islands (right-hand edge of the map). An American
fightback in these islands was initially delayed by a lack of naval
resources, but by November 1943, US Admiral Chester Nimitz was
ready to take the offensive. Operation Cartwheel (see pp.206–207) was
already under way in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea (bottom
right on the map). Nimitz’s first targets were Tarawa and Makin,
tiny coral atolls in the Gilbert Islands. He was able to deploy a fleet
of 17 aircraft carriers and 12 battleships—enough to prevent any
major intervention by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The assault
force possessed an array of landing craft and amphibious vehicles
developed for Pacific operations.Fierce defense
Tarawa was defended by fewer than 3,000 Japanese soldiers, but their
commander, Rear Admiral Keiji Shibazaki, had strengthened the atoll’s
defenses. It took 18,000 US Marines four days to seize Tarawa, at a cost
of over 1,000 dead and 2,000 wounded. The Japanese fought suicidally
to the end; only 17 of the island’s defenders survived. Another 66 US
Army soldiers were killed in the simultaneous assault on Makin Atoll
(Butaritari), while the navy lost 644 men when an escort carrier was
sunk by a Japanese submarine. The scale of the casualties in taking
such relatively minor objectives was a shock to the Americans.
The next targets were the Marshall Islands, which had been a
Japanese mandate since 1920. The main fighting occurred at Eniwetok
Atoll and Kwajalein Atoll. The Americans had learned lessons from
Tarawa, but still suffered over 1,000 casualties. Further west, the major
Japanese naval base at
Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon in
the Caroline Islands was
devastated by US aircraft.
Japan’s defensive perimeter
was disintegrating, and
the path to the Mariana
Islands (see pp.212–213)
was opening up—with the
eventual US aim of closing
in on Japan itself.ISLAND-HOPPING
IN THE PACIFIC
In autumn 1943, the US Navy and Marines initiated a drive
across the central Pacific toward the Marianas. Advancing
island by island, they took the war ever closer to the
Japanese home islands, but at a heavy cost in lives.
▷ Japanese prayer flag
Japanese soldiers in World War II
sometimes wore or carried flags
inscribed with prayers from their
loved ones to bring them luck.US_210-211_Island-hopping_in_the_Pacific.indd 211 19/03/19 5:40 PM