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BATTLE FOR THE MARIANAS 213

THE BATTLE FOR GUAM

The US attack on Guam was set back a month after the heavy Japanese

resistance on Saipan. US forces finally landed on July 21 after naval and air

bombardments. A fierce fight for the island ensued until the Japanese

surrendered on August 10, but resistance continued until December 1945.

By February 1944, the Americans had

secured the Gilbert and the Marshall

Islands (see pp.210–211), and destroyed

the Japanese base on Truk Lagoon in the

Caroline Islands. The next US objective

was to capture the Mariana Islands,

notably the main Japanese bases on

Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. Possession of

these islands would provide the US

with bases for a bombing campaign

against the Japanese mainland and

enable them to cut Japan off from the

Philippines and its other gains in

Southeast Asia— a loss that the Japanese

could not allow to go unchallenged.

The US began its offensive in June

1944, with the landing of Marines on

Saipan, supported by the 5th Fleet. The

Japanese Mobile Fleet under Admiral

Jisaburō Ozawa responded by attacking

the US Navy, but was defeated by

superior US tactics, intelligence, and

technology in the two-day Battle of

the Philippine Sea.

The Japanese suffered a crippling

blow, losing three of their carriers along

with 445 carrier-based aircraft and over

200 aircraft from the Marianas. They

were left with a vastly reduced number

of planes and aircrew with which to

equip their remaining carriers.

The two-day naval battle that took

place in the Philippine Sea was the last

of the five major carrier-versus-carrier

battles of the Pacific War, and the

largest carrier battle in history.

US search

plane range

US fleet movements

US air attack

Japanese fleet

movements

Japanese

ships sunk

THE BATTLE CONCLUDES JUNE 20, 1944

On the second day, the battle moved away from the

Marianas west across the Pacific Ocean as the US fleet

chased the Japanese. In the afternoon, US aircraft

attacked and sank the Japanese carrier Hiyō and two

oil tankers. Realizing that he had lost the battle,

Admiral Ozawa retired his fleet to Okinawa.

4

Jun 15 US marines

launch a feint attack on

the north-west coast of

Saipan before landing

their main forces

to the south.

10:39 am Jun 19

The first Japanese

air raid is

intercepted.

Jul 24 US marines

begin their assault

on Tinian.

Jul 28 The

gap between

the two US

beachheads

is closed.

Jul 21 US troops land

on the west coast

of the island.

Jul 28–Aug 2 US

patrols in the south

of the island find no

organized resistance.

BATTLE FOR

THE MARIANAS

In June 1944, the greatest carrier battle of the war took place in the

central Pacific in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Japanese were

roundly defeated by the US Navy, losing the bulk of their carrier

fleet and control of the strategically important Marianas. The US

moved within striking distance of the Japanese home islands.

US attacks Jul 21–Aug 10

US front lines

Japanese counterattacks,

Jul 26

Japanese airfield

KEY

▷ Alert soldier

Life magazine photographer

W. Eugene Smith’s iconic

photo of US Army Sergeant

Angelo Klonis was taken on

Saipan during the fight to take

the island from the Japanese.

Jul 21 US forces

land on Guam (see

panel map).

Jun 19 A Japanese air

raid is intercepted and the

majority of the Japanese

aircraft return to fleet.

Saipan

Sarigan

US^ Task

Force^58

M a r i a n a I s l a n d s

Guguan

Alamagan

Pagan

Rota

Tinian

Guam

15 Jun–9 Jul

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US 5th Fleet

US Task

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7 AUG
6 AUG
4 AUG
1 AUG
30 JUL
25 JUL
21 JUL
25 JUL
21 JUL
US_212-213_Battle_for_the_marianas.indd 213 24/05/19 1:17 PM